Iago Essay Plan

Question 1

Introduction

Answer 1

• Motivated by jealousy
• evil - racism and misogyny
• manipulator (perhaps commands some admiration)
• stock villain in Shakespearean tragedy - Machiavellian Villain (The Prince - Machiavelli)

Question 2

Point 1

Answer 2

• Iago is motivated by jealousy
• sexual jealousy
• jealousy with regards to Cassio’s promotion

Question 3

Point 2

Answer 3

• Iago is evil
• Fuelled by racism and misogyny

Question 4

Point 3

Answer 4

• Iago is a manipulator
• Othello’s fatal flaw
• commands respect from the audience
• audience complicity

Question 5

Jealousy Critic 1

Answer 5

‘The very voice of jealousy itself’ - Godfrey

Question 6

Jealousy Critic 2

Answer 6

‘Othello is a play obsessed with social class and hierarchy and this is reflected in Iago’s motivations’ - Daniel Wright

Question 7

Jealousy Critic 3

Answer 7

‘Iago wants to get back at a society that has wronged him’ - Nicholas Marsh

Question 8

Jealousy Quote 1
‘I know my price, I am worth no worse a place’ - Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 8

• keen sense of superiority
• arrogance - cannot cope with the fact that Othello is superior and that Cassio was chosen for lieutenant over him

Question 9

Jealousy Quote 2
‘Twixt my sheets/he’s done my office’ Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 9

• connotations of work or duty
• authority and respectability as a man relies on the loyalty of his wife
• male ego
• ‘my’ - repetition - possessive pronoun
• men crave control over women’s bodies
• women are solely sexual objects
• jealousy is a symptom of male anxiety
• threat of cuckoldry
• mouthpiece for the misogynistic attitudes of Venetian society in the 1500s

Question 10

Jealousy Quote 3
‘The lusty moor’ Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 10

• derogatory
• link to the possible rumour of Othello sleeping with Emilia
• sexual jealousy
• feeding on the stereotype that ‘Moors’ are lustful and cannot control their sexuality

Question 11

Jealousy Quote 4
‘The thought whereof/ doth like a poisonous mineral gnaw at my inwards/ and nothing can or shall content my soul/ till i am evened with him, wife for wife’ Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 11

• metaphor - power of emotion over Iago
• competition between men
• evenness - women are objects of little worth - they are purely to facilitate a man’s ego
• transaction

Question 12

Jealousy Quote 5
‘O beware my lord of jealousy; it is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on’ Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 12

• Iago is a victim of jealousy and wants to replicate the feeling in Othello
• Jealousy will become all-consuming
• wants to drive Othello to complete jealousy
• Jealousy is destructive ‘monster’

Question 13

Jealousy Context

Answer 13

• Venetian women are promiscuous
• attitudes towards women in 1500s
• The Great Chain of Being
• Cuckoldry - men are shamed if their wives are unfaithful
• male anxiety
• need to dominate
• war
• is he evil or a product of societal expectations

Question 14

Evil Critic 1

Answer 14

‘Iago is motivated by more than a mere desire for revenge’ - Frank Kermode

Question 15

Evil Critic 2

Answer 15

‘The motive hunting of motiveless malignity’ - Coleridge

Question 16

Evil critic 3

Answer 16

‘Here Iago is a being who hates good simply because it is good, and loves evil purely for itself’ - AC Bradley

Question 17

Evil critic 4

Answer 17

‘Iago represents the discourse of misogyny in the Renaissance’ - Valarie Wayne

Question 18

Evil critic 5

Answer 18

‘Iago is not motiveless but clearly motivated by racism and hatred’ - JR Andreas

Question 19

Evil critic 6

Answer 19

‘Iago is monstrous because he has no motivation and only desires to manipulate’ - Godfrey

Question 20

Evil critic 7

Answer 20

‘The issue of race in Othello cannot be ignored. Iago represents the worst of Venetian prejudice against Moors’ - K. W. Evans

Question 21

Evil Quote 1
‘My sport and profit. I hate the Moor’ Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 21

• entertainment and money - Iago has no real motive
• other than his hatred for Othello
• potentially fuelled by racism

Question 22

Evil Quote 2
‘Good wench’ ‘foolish wife’ ‘villainous whore’ ‘filth’

Answer 22

• dismissive and contemptuous regard for Emilia is evidence by his explicit exclamations
• encapsulate the disrespect Iago feels towards women
• abusive treatment
• his belief in the distrust of Venetian women and their promiscuity

Question 23

Evil Quote 3
‘We have reason to cool our raging motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts’ Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 23

• doesn’t believe in love only lust
• love is a weakness - villainous portrayal
• lush is an animal instinct separate from human intelligence - sign of weakness and inability to act with reason
• Jacobean racist preconceptions that ‘Moors’ were savage ‘beasts’ who had little self control and therefore were more sexually active
• views of Venetian women as promiscuous and weak-willed - Eve’s original sing - biblical references
• Presents both Othello and Desdemona as uncontrollable sexual beings - discontent
• stereotypes allow for the effectiveness of Iago’s plan as he twists pure love into sinful lust
• racism and misogyny

Question 24

Evil Quote 4
‘You rise to play and go to bed to work’ Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 24

• Iago holds the belief that women are universally flawed and intrinsically prone to immoral behaviour
• Links to prevalent male fear of cuckoldry at the time

Question 25

Evil Context

Answer 25

- Iago is the villain - Machiavelli - Tragedy - Reputation of Venetian women - attitudes towards women - racist attitudes - The Great Chain of Being - disrupted

Question 26

Manipulator Critic 1

Answer 26

‘The audience becomes complicit in Iago’s intention, and, like it or not, is soon involved in his vengeful plotting’ - Sean McAvoy

Question 27

Manipulator Critic 2

Answer 27

‘Mere puppets in his hands’ - AC Bradley

Question 28

Manipulator Critic 3

Answer 28

‘Iago’s manipulation was artfully natural’ - Samuel Johnson

Question 29

Manipulator Critic 4

Answer 29

‘Diabolical stage manager’ - Kott

Question 30

Manipulator Quote 1 ‘Honest Iago’

Answer 30

- epithet - Highlights Iago’s manipulative abilities as he is successful in appearing trustworthy to all - Iago is a master of deception and manipulation - Irony

Question 31

Manipulator Quote 2 ‘I am not what I am’ Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 31

- Biblical - corruption of the words of God - blasphemous - appearance and reality - cannot always trust reality - Deception of Iago - boasting of his ability to hide his true feelings and motives by acting falsely - Insight into Iago’s character early on - audience is aware - He is not God and therefore he is the Devil - Foreshadows his evolution into his true evil self - Audience would have recognised these words

Question 32

Manipulator Quote 3 ‘An old black ram is tupping your white ewe’ Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 32

- praying on Othello’s weaknesses in order to get ahead - Using Othello’s insecurities - contrast between black and white - pure vs evil - age - ‘your’ - women are a possession of their fathers or husbands - patriarchy - imagery of animals - Iago’s superiority complex, he thinks he’s better than everyone else - The Great Chain of Being - animals are below, comment on race? - Iago uses imagery of animals to describe those around him quite often

Question 33

Manipulator Quote 4 ‘I’ll pour pestilence into his ear’

Answer 33

- poison - corrupting Othello - aware of his plan - aware of his role as the villain

Question 34

Manipulator quote 5 ‘Our bodies are gardens to the which our wills are gardeners’ Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 34

- metaphor - express the unconventional belief i free will and the fact that a person has complete control over their actions - clever, witty character - Iago intends to plant seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind, poisoning Othello’s rationality and ability to make his own decisions, connoting original sin at the Garden of Eden - Iago is representative of the serpents who’s temptation causes the fall of Adam and Eve (Othello and Desdemona)

Question 35

Manipulator quote 6 Iago’s ability to use language to manipulate characters Act 3

Answer 35

- he turns abstract love into physical love, leading Othello to picture his once honest wife in bed with another man - causes Othello to take this as truth

Question 36

Manipulator context

Answer 36

- Biblical - Tragedy - Attitudes towards women - Attitudes towards race - Male anxiety - Desire for power - Stock character of the Vice in Medieval Morality plays - Machiavelli - In order to gain or expand power, one may have to do immoral acts

Question 37

Manipulator quote 6 ‘Play the villain?’ Act 2 Scene 3

Answer 37

- the two sided nature of Iago - link to his praying by ‘Janus’ who was often depicted with two faces - his manipulation and success of his plan relies on the fact he appears trustworthy on the surface but in fact is not - he has just given Cassio some advice (pursue Desdemona in order to get his position back), which seems like an innocent bit of advice but Iago is aware of its implications and the damage it will do

Question 38

Jealousy Quote 6 ‘Bookish theoretic’

Answer 38

- implies his jealousy of Cassio and not only the fact that he received the promotion to lieutenant but that Othello was a better fit for the job, especially as Cassio has had no actual experience on a battlefield

Question 39

Jealousy Quote 7 ‘For I fear Cassio with my nightcap too’

Answer 39

- sexual jealousy - cuckoldry - Cassio may have slept with Emilia - euphemism

Question 40

Jealousy quote 8 ‘He hath a daily beauty… that makes me ugly’

Answer 40

- Cassio possesses looks, popularity and everything that Iago almost aspires to - sense of vanity - seems trivial - a play about looks and jealousy - race etc

Question 41

Manipulator quote 7 ‘Double knavery’

Answer 41

- highlights his intention to deceive both Othello and Cassio - cunning nature - idea of doubles