Explore Shakespeare’s dramatic presentation of Iago in Othello
Iago is presented to the audience as duplicitous and conniving, which clearly marks him as an
antagonistic character, exercising an impressive control over the action of the play. In Act 1, Scene 1,
Iago denounces his General Othello for promoting Cassio, a “bookish theoric” who demonstrates
“mere prattle without practice”, to the position of Lieutenant, over him. Iago reveals that he intends
to betray Othello, and states “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”, foreshadowing his
exploitation of Othello’s trust. The audience may recognise Iago as an archetypical Machiavellian
villain, conducting immoral acts in order to further his own personal position. Iago goes on to state “I
am not what I am”, a direct inversion of God’s words in Exodus – “I am what I am”. This presents
Iago as the antithesis of God – the embodiment of chaos and evil - and supports Samuel Johnson’s
interpretation that “The character of Iago is so conducted, that he is from the first scene […] hated
and despised”.
However, it could be argued that the audience is also encouraged to respect Iago’s motivations and
masterful techniques. Iago claims that the nepotism that resulted in Cassio’s promotion is the “curse
of service” and seems to conform the role of the ‘malcontent’, popular in Early Modern drama, as he
criticises corrupt social structures. Within the first Act, Iago begins to catalyse the downfall of those
he thinks have wronged him. He rouses Brabantio to anger, telling him that Othello has kidnapped
his daughter, in an attempt to get Othello into trouble with the state. He tells Brabantio that “an old
black ram/ Is tupping your white ewe” and that “you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary
horse”. This repeated orientalist animal imagery, combined with the stark contrast between the
pure whiteness of Desdemona with the blackness of Othello – with the Medieval notion that
blackness equates to evil still being powerful in the Jacobean mind – is effective in rousing
Brabantio’s anger toward Othello. In this way, Iago masterfully exploits Jacobean prejudices toward
Moors in his symbolic imagery for his own benefit.
Iago seems to dominate the stage and exercise authority in his dialogue – in Act 1 Scene 1 he swiftly
redirects Roderigo’s anger toward him, for not successfully promoting his interests to Desdemona,
into anger toward Othello. Immediately after, Iago redirects Brabantio’s anger toward him for
waking him into anger toward Othello. He adapts his tone in order to create the desired response
from his companion, switching from verse to informal and intimate prose in his conversation with
Brabantio – “Zounds, sir” – to illicit a sense of trust. Charles Lamb suggests that when we encounter
Shakespeare’s “criminal characters”, we “think not so much of the crimes which they commit, as of
the ambition, the aspiring spirit, the intellectual activity” that they exhibit. Indeed, Act 1 reveals Iago
to be a villainous character, but also introduces us to the linguistic and inter-personal skills that
make for an impressive malcontent figure.
Iago is presented to the audience as duplicitous and conniving, which clearly marks him as an
antagonistic character, exercising an impressive control over the action of the play. In Act 1, Scene 1,
Iago denounces his General Othello for promoting Cassio, a “bookish theoric” who demonstrates
“mere prattle without practice”, to the position of Lieutenant, over him. Iago reveals that he intends
to betray Othello, and states “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”, foreshadowing his
exploitation of Othello’s trust. The audience may recognise Iago as an archetypical Machiavellian
villain, conducting immoral acts in order to further his own personal position. Iago goes on to state “I
am not what I am”, a direct inversion of God’s words in Exodus – “I am what I am”. This presents
Iago as the antithesis of God – the embodiment of chaos and evil - and supports Samuel Johnson’s
interpretation that “The character of Iago is so conducted, that he is from the first scene […] hated
and despised”.
However, it could be argued that the audience is also encouraged to respect Iago’s motivations and
masterful techniques. Iago claims that the nepotism that resulted in Cassio’s promotion is the “curse
of service” and seems to conform the role of the ‘malcontent’, popular in Early Modern drama, as he
criticises corrupt social structures. Within the first Act, Iago begins to catalyse the downfall of those
he thinks have wronged him. He rouses Brabantio to anger, telling him that Othello has kidnapped
his daughter, in an attempt to get Othello into trouble with the state. He tells Brabantio that “an old
black ram/ Is tupping your white ewe” and that “you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary
horse”. This repeated orientalist animal imagery, combined with the stark contrast between the
pure whiteness of Desdemona with the blackness of Othello – with the Medieval notion that
blackness equates to evil still being powerful in the Jacobean mind – is effective in rousing
Brabantio’s anger toward Othello. In this way, Iago masterfully exploits Jacobean prejudices toward
Moors in his symbolic imagery for his own benefit.
Iago seems to dominate the stage and exercise authority in his dialogue – in Act 1 Scene 1 he swiftly
redirects Roderigo’s anger toward him, for not successfully promoting his interests to Desdemona,
into anger toward Othello. Immediately after, Iago redirects Brabantio’s anger toward him for
waking him into anger toward Othello. He adapts his tone in order to create the desired response
from his companion, switching from verse to informal and intimate prose in his conversation with
Brabantio – “Zounds, sir” – to illicit a sense of trust. Charles Lamb suggests that when we encounter
Shakespeare’s “criminal characters”, we “think not so much of the crimes which they commit, as of
the ambition, the aspiring spirit, the intellectual activity” that they exhibit. Indeed, Act 1 reveals Iago
to be a villainous character, but also introduces us to the linguistic and inter-personal skills that
make for an impressive malcontent figure.
