Iago - Critics Flashcards
Name: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Quote: “The motive-hunting of motiveless malignity.”
Explanation: Coleridge suggests that Iago’s evil actions lack a clear, rational motive; he embodies pure malice without justification.
Name: Sean McEvoy
Quote: “The audience becomes complicit in Iago’s intention and, like it or not, is soon involved in his vengeful plotting.”
Explanation: McEvoy argues that Iago’s manipulation extends to the audience, making them unwitting participants in his schemes.
Name: Fintan O’Toole
Quote: “Iago’s brilliance lies not in what he puts in Othello’s mind, but what he draws out of it.”
Explanation: O’Toole believes that Iago exploits Othello’s existing insecurities, bringing latent fears to the surface.
Name: Simon Bubb
Quote: “Iago is able to wreak such terrible havoc in the world of the play because of his ability to use language better than anyone else.”
Explanation: Bubb emphasizes Iago’s mastery of language as his primary tool for manipulation and destruction.
Name: Sonia Massai
Quote: “Othello can be read as Iago’s revenge tragedy; a revenge tragedy typically revolved around ‘a clash between the revenger’s pursuit of personal justice and the legal system which had failed him.’”
Explanation: Massai views the play through the lens of revenge tragedy, with Iago seeking personal vengeance outside the bounds of law.
Coleridge (1818):
“Iago’s malignity is an exaggeration of real-life villainy, where the causes of hatred are either too small or entirely imaginary, and where the results are disproportionate to the alleged cause.”
Coleridge (1818):
‘Motiveless malignanty’
E.A.J. Honigmann (1997):
“He is the play’s chief humorist. His humor makes him particularly dangerous because it renders him irresistible. He is a seductive character who can get the audience to collude with him.”
Samuel Johnson (1765):
“The character of Iago is so conducted, that he is from the first scene to the last hated and despised.”
FR Leavis
Iago displays ‘a not uncommon kind of grudging malice’
