iago Flashcards
‘iago, who hast my purse as if the strings where thine’
stolen money - accused of dishonesty
continued imagery throughout - heart strings - of roderigo to desdemona and her love - rationale why he allows this to happen
accepts manipulation- satan’s manipulation of god’s word to deceive eve.
unrestricted access to his money and is in control
purses carry something valuable is inherent in this play – everyone that comes into contact with iago is, to some extent, a ‘purse’.
‘i know my price, i am worth no worse a place’
believes he deserves it - pompous attitude of upper class
hierarchy of the very important men, who should have had more power of persuasion over othello.
alliteration of the ‘w’ sound gives the line a more mellow tone, and the effect it makes is to put us in a sort of a dazed state. iago uses this when he talks about himself which suggests his infatuation with himself
jealousy rooted in hatred
racist - black people seen as inferior
‘i am not what i am’
declarative tone
not as he appears
constantly referred to as ‘honest iago’ by the characters he deceives,
only the audience are ever allowed to hear his true thoughts, in his soliloquies
like a false god, iago views himself as the puppeteer and the other characters as puppets
biblical quote, in which moses asks god his name and god offers an enigmatic response. by transforming god’s words into a negative formulation, iago indicates his identity as a diabolical figure.
‘yet I do hold it very stuff o’ th’ conscience to do no contrived murder’
talking about conscience is highly ironic
as the play progresses, he commits more and more crimes against his peers - he has a guilty conscience.
all of the murder and death in this play is contrived by him
foreshadows the rest of the play.
links to Iago’s position as puppeteer- he never does any of the difficult parts of his plan himself
‘by janus, i think no’
roman god of two facedness transitions, beginnings, doorways etc. but, it can be believed that Iago has used this apostrophe because ‘janus’ is also known to have two faces.
traditionally assumed because janus looks into the future, and into the past, but iago could worship janus for the act of having two faces in moralistic terms: being immoral.
the fact that this god is pagan (and therefore false) highlights the hollow, false nature of iago’s promises
the image of a white venetian swearing to a Pagan god juxtaposes the stereotype of pagan africans associated with othello
whilst, othello appears very aligned with the christian doctrine
shakespeare disproves stereotypes
’tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. our bodies our gardens to which our wills are gardeners’
love is not virtue - we control who we are
we tend to our bodies like gardens
show something about his perception of desdemona and matters of love - impatient and quick to dispel roderigo’s negativity.
metaphor of the body as a garden that can be tended to, adapted and changed by one’s will and intent, is evocative here to explain iago’s actions and his ideas about emotions and control.
reason must dominate passions and ‘cool our raging motions’ in life - love is no different to any other emotion
iago is unromantic and considers one shouldn’t be spurred on by matters of the heart.
cleverly manipulates roderigo through devilish similes such as ‘luscious as locusts’ and acrimoniously derides that desdemona will be put off othello ‘when she is sated with his body’
‘with as little a web as this will i ensnare as great a fly as cassio’
he can use tiny things to get people into trouble
spiders weave an inescapable web for flies, iago plans to construct a web of lies to similarly trap cassio, and frame him for adultery - wrong at the time
‘make the moor thank me, love me and reward me, for making him egregiously an ass and practicing upon his peace and quiet even to madness. tis here, but yet confused: knavery’s plain face is never seen till used’
sets the stage for the knavery of the rest of the act: a brawl in which cassio will debase himself to the point of demotion
keeping up with his tradition of ending scenes and speeches with a rhymed couplet, iago reminds us of his slippery identity: Recalling his motto of ‘I am not what I am’, iago removes his mask and reveals his ‘plain face’ only to the audience
you can never see the end of an evil plan until the moment comes
‘if i can fasten but one cup on him with that which he hath drunk tonight already’
shakespeare uses a clever metrical device here.
two lines of iambic pentameter have eleven syllables, so that each has an unstressed syllable hanging of the end
gives these lines a loose, uncontrolled feeling.
this is fitting, for in these lines Iago plots to get cassio drunk.
‘reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit and lost without deserving’
why are you so worried?
people get it without deserving and lose it without deserving
iago doesn’t care - he just needs a good reputation to get revenge
dramatic irony - iago adds insult to injury
not only did cassio lose his rank ‘without deserving’ as a result of Iago’s scheming, iago subtly indicates that cassio achieved his rank in the first place ‘without merit’.
‘a punishment more in policy than in malice’
machiavellian streak
needs to protect venice’s reputation
‘his soul is so enfetter’d to her love, that she may make, unmake, do what she list, even as her appetite shall play the god with his weak function’
desdemona is othello’s weak point
he’s so in love that he’ll believe anything
her actions control his emotions - follows everything she says
perceptive nature allows him to notice the vulnerabilities and desires of all characters
combining of everyone’s insecurities/fears which will bring about the success of his plan
‘how am i then a villain to counsel cassio to this parallel course, directly to his good? divinity of hell! when devils will the blackest sin put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows, as I do now’
iago again uses the tension between heaven and hell to describe his motives. iago is a ‘divinity of hell’, a devil whose ‘blackest sins’ project ‘heavenly shows’.
shows why iago is such a perplexing character.
whereas many unfavorable characters think themselves noble, Iago is a villain who owns his villainy. he is a devil who admits to his sins and relishes them
the path to hell is paved with good intentions
‘i’ll pour this pestilence into his ear, that she repeals him for her body’s lust; and by how much she strives to do him good, she shall undo her credit with the moor’
plot enters its next phase.
cassio to plead to desdemona for his position as lieutenant.
going to tell othello that desdemona is in love with cassio
connotes disease and virus - the effect his lies have on othello
‘nothing my lord’
makes you want to know more - removes responsibility from iago
rhetorical devices
layers of manipulation
temptation - snake in garden of eden
