Is Iago fueled by vengeance as a motive (because he was not promoted or because Othello slept with Emilia) or is he simply fueled by the desire to cause destruction?
I believe originally he uses the two motives stated above to stir his hatred for Othello; not being lieutenant and the fact that Iago believes Othello has slept with his wife, "For that I do suspect the lusty Moor hath leaped into my seat" (2.i.275). After reading both acts, it is obvious the amount of hatred Iago feels towards Othello so vengeance is definitely a motive, yet I do personally believe that Iago starts to enjoy the excitement he receives from being manipulative and two-faced.
As with what Alana said, I also believe that Iago's motives for being so utterly manipulative and deceiving is primarily that he was not promoted to lieutenant and the fact that he believes Othello slept with his wife Emilia, but I believe it is more than that. Firstly, I think it started out as just something little, like Iago suspected that Othello slept with his wife (he never actually found out if he did). This caused him to have a bit of a grudge which kept getting bigger as he never confronted Othello over this and rather bottled it up. Then there was the fact that Cassio was promoted instead of him. This would have caused more tension to go inside the bottle (when really why would Othello have promoted him as he most likely would have shown his hatred in someway towards Othello). This kept getting worse and worse, I believe, as time went by and things kept appearing to be going wonderuflly for Othello. He got a beautiful wife, Desdemona; he managed to convince her father that he was good; and Othello was generally loved by all who knew him. So I believe this hatred Iago had for Othello ended up deriving from his jealousy- another theme of the play. No matter what happens to Othello, Iago is continually driven by this powerful jealousy and that is what causes his strong desire to destruct everything and anything that means something to Othello. That is what I believe Iago's motives are for continually causing so much destruction.
I agree with Andrea to an extent. It seems that Iago was jealous of Othello, who was someone who excelled at life a lot more then Iago, and Othello did so even with his race dragging him down. I believe that the fact that Othello has come so far, even though he is a moor disturbs Iago, and so he tries to point out to people that Othello not white like them where ever he can. He constantly refers to Othello as "the Moor", and on more then one occasion relates him to a donkey (or an ass). But Iago seems to be very clever, in such a way that he knows not to stir trouble unless needed, even though he greatly desired to do so. So i believe that Iago, on a subconscious level, convinced himself that Othello slept with Emilia, giving him a cause to hurt Othello - which then snowballed to a detailed plan of Othello being driven mad by jealousy. I think this could be true as this affair that Iago is going off only comes up once in the play, by Iago in an expression of his inner thoughts, in Act two scene three. Iago states that "I do suspect the lusty Moor Hath leapt into my seat" (II.i.276-7) Never again do we her of Iago motive to bring down Othello.
I believe originally he uses the two motives stated above to stir his hatred for Othello; not being lieutenant and the fact that Iago believes Othello has slept with his wife, "For that I do suspect the lusty Moor hath leaped into my seat" (2.i.275). After reading both acts, it is obvious the amount of hatred Iago feels towards Othello so vengeance is definitely a motive, yet I do personally believe that Iago starts to enjoy the excitement he receives from being manipulative and two-faced.
ReplyDeleteAs with what Alana said, I also believe that Iago's motives for being so utterly manipulative and deceiving is primarily that he was not promoted to lieutenant and the fact that he believes Othello slept with his wife Emilia, but I believe it is more than that. Firstly, I think it started out as just something little, like Iago suspected that Othello slept with his wife (he never actually found out if he did). This caused him to have a bit of a grudge which kept getting bigger as he never confronted Othello over this and rather bottled it up. Then there was the fact that Cassio was promoted instead of him. This would have caused more tension to go inside the bottle (when really why would Othello have promoted him as he most likely would have shown his hatred in someway towards Othello). This kept getting worse and worse, I believe, as time went by and things kept appearing to be going wonderuflly for Othello. He got a beautiful wife, Desdemona; he managed to convince her father that he was good; and Othello was generally loved by all who knew him. So I believe this hatred Iago had for Othello ended up deriving from his jealousy- another theme of the play. No matter what happens to Othello, Iago is continually driven by this powerful jealousy and that is what causes his strong desire to destruct everything and anything that means something to Othello. That is what I believe Iago's motives are for continually causing so much destruction.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrea to an extent. It seems that Iago was jealous of Othello, who was someone who excelled at life a lot more then Iago, and Othello did so even with his race dragging him down. I believe that the fact that Othello has come so far, even though he is a moor disturbs Iago, and so he tries to point out to people that Othello not white like them where ever he can. He constantly refers to Othello as "the Moor", and on more then one occasion relates him to a donkey (or an ass). But Iago seems to be very clever, in such a way that he knows not to stir trouble unless needed, even though he greatly desired to do so. So i believe that Iago, on a subconscious level, convinced himself that Othello slept with Emilia, giving him a cause to hurt Othello - which then snowballed to a detailed plan of Othello being driven mad by jealousy. I think this could be true as this affair that Iago is going off only comes up once in the play, by Iago in an expression of his inner thoughts, in Act two scene three. Iago states that "I do suspect the lusty Moor Hath leapt into my seat" (II.i.276-7) Never again do we her of Iago motive to bring down Othello.
ReplyDeleteImpressive girls, this is a fascinating dialectic. Zoe, a great question; Alana, Andrea and Katherine, congratulations on your articulate responses.
ReplyDeleteMy view is to draw you beyond the simple concepts of cause and effect.
Iago is dodgy, sure. But why? can anyone articulate a full response which justifies his motivations?