my maid of honor speech for my sisters wedding!
13 years ago
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Motiveless Malignity
Coleridge once said that Iago is the purest of villain, a "motiveless malignity" because of the lack of evidence for his motivation to undo Othello. And yet we DO have several motives that Iago reveals in his soliloquies -- his demotion, racist sentiments, rumors of Emilia's affair with Othello, and maybe even sadism or insanity. Stranger yet, however, is the motives he divulges in 2.1.307-334. He first compliments Othello's goodness and then reveals his "love" for Desdemona, promising the audience he will not rest until he is "evened wife for wife". What do you make about this new motive? Is Iago secretly in love with Desdemona? Is he jealous of Othello and Desdemona's love (maybe due to the lack of love in his own marriage...if there is a lack of love)? Or is his looking for excuses?
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I don’t think that Iago is, in fact, in love with Desdemona. Although several of the other male characters around him- Othello, Cassio, Roderigo- are all truly, madly, deeply in love with her, Iago appears to be the only male who is above being blinded by love to be rational…at least, as rational as one can be when they are meticulously manipulating everyone they know in order to carry out their plot for revenge. Iago seems so obsessed with getting revenge on Othello for supposedly sleeping with his wife that he claims that he wants to sleep with Desdemona in return. I doubt that a lack of love in his marriage to Emilia would cause him to be unfaithful to her. While he denounces her as whore and mistreats her, they do share some sexual- though not romantic- moments, such as the scene in which they discuss the handkerchief which Emilia has found. I think that Iago is really only declaring his intention to sleep with Desdemona because he knows that it would work into his plan to bring down Othello perfectly.
I am kind of neutral about the question of whether Iago is in love with Desdemona. It is because of the quote, "Not out of absolute lust." But at the same time I think he is just afraid to admit the fact that he really does like Desdemona out of lust and out of her goodness. She is how Iago describes the perfect woman to be (lines 2.1.163-174), except about her holding her tongue. But I do believe that everyman does what a little spunk in his girl, especially in the modern day. There is proof that he does not love Desdemona to the point of deceiving Emelia he would sleep with her for the sake of revenge. But does he really feel that way or is he just afraid to admit it to himself? I just may be looking for excuses because the audience is so unsure of his motives, he becomes lieutenant which rules out that motive, he is smart enough to see that Emelia is desperate to be his perfect wife, so what is the real motive behind his actions? Something is very wrong with him psychologically, he could be like the Joker in Batman he just likes to see the world fall apart.
For some reason, I just have a very hard time believing that Iago loves Desdemona. Yes, perhaps he would like to have sexual realtions with her (as she is described as the most beautiful woman), but that is not his top priority. His main focus is on Othello and the only reason why he would ever sleep with Desdemona is to rile up Othello, a part in the play which is already played by Cassio. In addition, to ever come on to Desdemona would jepordize Iago's position as friend to Othello. Thus, he would loose his hold over his so called friend.
Personally, I see Iago above the whole "love for Desdemona". To "even wife for wife', I believe that Iago went destroying the love between the Othello and Desdemona as that it what is most valuable to Othello. This may also explain why Iago protested Desdemona's execution as he never meant to go that far. To say the least, Iago may have already accomplished his goal of destroying Othello the moment Othello lost faith (and his love) in Desdemona.
To put it simply, Iago is a frustrating character where even he does not know what he wants.
I don’t believe that Iago is in love with Desdemona. I believe he idealizes her beauty and goodness, and sees her as this goddess that everyman dreams of. Of course, he wants to get his revenge on Othello for ruining his aspiration for becoming the lieutenant of the Venetian army. The reason why he shows such sympathy for Desdemona is because of her good moral character. She is so pure, that it would hurt him to see her in distress. At the same time, in order to get his goals accordingly in plan, he has to demoralize her. By doing this, he has to make Othello think that his wife is a whore. I have two different interpretations as to why he shows such affections toward Desdemona.
1.) The phrase “evened wife for a wife” technically means “an eye for an eye.” I won’t settle down until I get my revenge. When the thought first came to his mind that Othello may have slept with his wife with Emilia, he would do the unthinkable and sleep with Desdemona. This is one of the main schemes as to why this play is considered a tragedy. Both couples lack communication and are not open to one another. Iago here, is making the assumption that his wife has cheated on him, not sure whether it is true, and immediately plans revenge on the man that his wife slept with without further investigating. The easiest way but realistically the hardest way to confirm the assumption is by talking to his wife about it . The reason why he wants to sleep with Desdemona is that he could be even with Othello. He doesn’t settle down for being mediocre. This also relates to him degrading Cassio’s noble image in Othello’s eyes by making assumptions that Cassio is sleeping with Desdemona, so Othello could lose trust on Cassio and replace him as his lieutenant. I have a feeling that Iago’s motiveless malignity is based on revenge. He always wants to get even, and he will do the most clever, most unthinkable, manipulative strategy to get his way.
2.) Iago is not in love with Desdemona the way Othello is, but he is in love with her good moral character. He is not jealous of Othello because he has won Desdemona’s love, he is jealous of their relationship. Their relationship to him seems so idealistic, mutual, loving, that he wants to trigger a plan that would reveal the flaws within it. Thus, he will do this by trying to set off Othello and Desdemona’s relationship to a rocky path. His relationship with Emilia is restrained due to their lack of communication and honesty toward one another that he wants to experiment with Othello and Desdemona to see whether their relationship is not as strong as it seems like. You might not agree with me here, but I believe his jealousy would urge him to sleep with Desdemona to make their marriage end up like his. Jealousy is compared to a monster for both Iago and Emilia, and I feel like at this stage of marriage, they are using each other to get what they want. I think that they are both jealous of Othello and Desdemona’s relationship because they seem to agree in accord in everything and their love for each other is very mutual. Therefore, Emilia may have slept with Othello to put their marriage on the rocks, and Iago is willing to sleep with Desdemona to degrade the moral righteousness in their tranquil relationship.
Iago is a very intricate character, and he can play up any type of personality extremely well. Through evidence by his soliloquies, Iago probably is uncertain himself of his motives. Demotion is probably one of the reasons, but it is more of a justification for his wrongs. I keep questioning why Iago consistently persists with his scheme - when will he ever have enough? Othello has already promoted him to the ranks of General, and he has ruined Cassio's reputation. I don't think that Iago loves Desdemona, for I don't feel that the two characters present any sort of chemistry or connection. Iago is obsessive with Othello; one minute he praises Othello and the next he degrades Othello by his skin color, often comparing him to an animal of inferior status.
This jealousy that Iago possesses has probably accumulated throughout the years that he has known Othello. Similarly, this can be compared to thinking, "Wow, my best friend is so pretty or smart or talented", yet deep inside there is evidence of jealousy or dislike towards that person, because it's just human nature. Usually, this kind of situation does not evolve into an evil masterminded plan to destroy that best friend of yours. However, the "sadist" element that Iago possesses takes his dislike to the next level. Reasons like demotion or Emilia cheating on him, I feel, are just justifications for why he can or should be able to help Othello. He doesn't feel remorse.
As with Desdemona and Othello's relationship, it is very idealistic. Maybe Iago is jealous, but I don't think this is his main motive, because he seems to have already given up on marriage or relationships. What benefits would be achieved by breaking up Othello and Desdemona? The only motive that comes to my mind is self-gratification or secretly laughing at Othello's misery.
Iago is very manipulative and very smart, and he knows it. He feels that he should be of higher status than the "Moor".
Marvi -- I think you pose an interesting question. I've been noticing that many of you in your journals have stated that you think Emilia is betraying Des by not divulging that SHE, in fact, took the handkerchief because of Emilia's own bitterness towards Des and Othello's "happy" marriage. Marvi, you are suggesting that Iago's jealousy is rooted in the happiness Des and Othello share, as well. What do the rest of you think about this speculation?
I don't think that Iago is in love with Desdemona for herself, but rather for the essential part she plays in his master plan. For the "wife for wife" comment, I think that he means that Othello used Emilia however he wanted, so why can't Iago use Desdemona however he wants? Iago and Emilia have a sort of love-hate relationship and know how to "manipulate" each other, which is why I don't believe that Iago is really jealous of the relationship that Othello and Desdemona have. Iago and Emilia have a relationship: very small and not really desired by many, but strong nonetheless. He wouldn't give her away, even though he always puts her down..that's just how he is [and they have been married after all]. This is why he gets so mad with her for her supposed cheating: because he actually cares for her [at least a little bit].I also believe that Iago is making excuses for himself, just like he did when he convinced himself that he was not a villain. Although he's evil, he's still committed to what he does and to his relationship with Emilia, even if he doesn't show it that much. Desdemona is just another stepping stone across his river of destruction.
I don't think Iago is in love with Desdemona. Iago is definitely insane and brilliant. This whole plan is by far too thought out and calculated to be driven by emotion. When people are driven by emotion, they don't think logically, like Othello is completely blind to how obvious it is that Desdemona did nothing wrong. He is in such an emotional craze that such very clear things pass by. Iago, on the other hand, is thinking perfectly clearly. So I think he is just doing this out of pure insanity. He knows what he is doing is wrong and yet can't stop. So he's just trying to make excuses for himself, find reasons for doing this because he doesn't understand it. I think the reason he repeats Emilia's possible affair with Othello as a motive because it best fits the circumstances of trying to destroy Othello's relationship.
There are several motives but we just don't know what it is exactly. I think that Iago has more than one motive, not just one. It's just that he continuously changes it. He finds a reason for this and then a reason for that. Yet I think his original motive was the thought that Emilia was having an affair. But what set him off was how he wasn't picked for the position Cassio got. I don't think one of them was that he was secretly in love with Desdemona. I just didn't see any feelings he had for her. Yet I remember wondering about his hatred for women in general. I believe that one of his motives was the fact that he thinks that Emilia cheated on him with Othello. So that caused him to have this particular view on women, and it's not that good. So he wanted Desdemona to suffer. That's how I took the "evened wife for wife" part. With that said, I don't think it was just an excuse. It's more than that.
I don't think Iago is secretly in love with Desdemona. He never truly reveals his motives at all. By the end of the play, he has gained his lieutanancy and told Othello to get rid of Desdemona. Perhaps when he said that he wanted to be "evened wife for wife," he was stating that he'd somehow make Othello hate his wife just the way he hated his. However, I don't think that's the case. I think that Iago is jealous of Othello's and Desdemona's love. His obsession with hating Othello has proved him insane, and he could very well be yearning for love that he can't have. It's pretty ironic, because Emilia hints quite a few times that she has true affection for Iago - he can't see it. Iago seems a bit insecure [he must have had his fair share of tramatizing events to become such a villain when he grew up] and probably hates the fact that Othello has so much more than him even though he is a Moor. At the same time, Iago is drawn to a person who can make so much out of themselves. He could very easily be in love with Othello and all of his accomplishments. His revenge on Othello might not just stem from Cassio gaining the lieutanancy or Emilia cheating on him but maybe just the fact that Othello does not pay attention to him anymore now that he has found Desdemona.
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