my maid of honor speech for my sisters wedding!
13 years ago
Friday, February 27, 2009
Oh Inhuman Dog!
We may love him for his wit, his manipulative skills, his discretion, his mystery, his raw talent or unique perspective, his off-color remarks, or simply his dedication to his goals. We may admire his uncanny ability to keep his hands clean while commanding others to become villains, his questionable treatment of his wife, or even the undeniable rationality of his arguments. But Iago is a villain. Despite this, he is the most fascinating character in Othello if not the most fascinating of all of Shakespeare's character (Cianflone will argue that Hamlet trumps Iago, but you can kiss up to him next year). What do you make of this fascination we have with a villain? Why is it Iago that keeps our interest rather than Othello? Does Iago deserve the title of the play? (Shakespeare does, afterall, title plays after the villains -- Richard III, for example, also considered an "underdog".)
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16 comments:
I think the answer to why we like Iago so much lies in what Grace said in class earlier this week. (Despite the disappointing ending), Iago ran the entire show. Villain or not, he (sort of) deserves the title of the play, because it was he who spun an amazingly intricate web. He proved to be more cunning than the other characters, because he managed to separate them, confuse them, and turn them against each other, and even when they began to have suspicions, or things didn't go his way, he prevailed. He undid the man who was completely valiant and stoic. Like Othello was at first an amazing orator, so Iago took his place, essentially taking the lead, and behind Othello was Iago the whole time. Even when his plot was exposed, it was Iago who won, because Othello was no more.
As for our fascination with villains, it could just be that we like the dark side. :D
In many ways, Iago really reminds me of the Joker from The Dark Knight. Iago has that same cleverness and deceitfulness, yet you still can’t help yourself; you just have to love him! Usually, I hate people who are deceitful. I think it is because Iago is characterized so well in this play. If Shakespeare didn’t make him the way he did, Iago wouldn’t be loved so much. And, as both Grace and Karolina said, Iago runs the entire play. He is the most crucial element to this play. Without him, the play wouldn’t go the way it did. Iago is interesting in that he was able to make puppets out of everyone and control everything they did no matter what. It could also be that we just like villains better than protagonists. Maybe we appreciate villains more because we cannot be like the villains in real life so we admire them from the side.
I don’t agree with Karolina when she says that Iago replaced Othello as a good orator because both Othello and Iago are good orators and we see that in the very beginning of the play. Othello just didn’t get a chance to orate later in the play because it was dominated by Iago and his scheming.
This is the story of how Othello was brought down, but with Iago's assistance. Although Iago plays a big part in Othello's life, the story really focuses on how Othello's life is changed. We never truly figure out all of Iago's motivations and there are a lot of unanswered questions, which makes me think that we don't know enough about Iago for him to be the title of this play. I also think that I can see the play more through Othello's eyes than through Iago's eyes, if that has anything to do with the naming of the play..
I agree with Bhoomi in her comment about how Iago is similar to the Joker in The Dark Knight. Iago really is very clever and knows how to get what he wants, similar to the Joker. I also agree with how she says that we appreciate them more because most of us aren't that villainous. I know I would love to play a villain in a play or something just because it's different from how I normally act. Villains are just so interesting, because in order to be a successful villain you have to be able to think quickly and come up with elaborate plans that keep you safe from harms way. I guess you could say we admire villains for their cunning ability to be manipulative and defeat the protagonist. It's a difficult feat, and we tend to honor those who overcome difficult challenges, despite how "good" they are. Othello is just the victim- he really doesn't do anything except get caught in Iago's trap and eventually destroyed.
I think that so many people root for the villain, publicly or in their heads, because that character always has an element of danger and menace that causes every other character to seem bland in comparison. In a word, Iago is a dynamic character: You can never be too sure what he will say or plot next, unlike Othello, who as the protagonist of the play can always be counted on to do what he thinks is honorable, even, as we see in 5.2, it isn’t what everyone else thinks is too great. Whereas he, Desdemona, Cassio, and the rest of the gang act, basically, as normal as the average person who can differentiate between right and wrong, Iago commits actions that we would probably never do. Iago provides a character that is more exciting and attention- grabbing than the others because he is so unlike anyone. In fact, “anyone” would be the complete opposite of any word to describe him. Maybe Iago might be a more appropriate title for the play. Othello is just another victim of Iago’s manipulations, and the play really centers around the villain in this case besides. To me, it seems that Iago, being the person who causes the entire conflict in the play, should be the one who deserves the title… well, deserves is being kind of nice about it…
I just had to comment on this post, because one day I stayed after with Mr. Alaimo, and we asked him who was his favorite character in Othello. Mr. Alaimo asked "Well, who was the smartest character in Othello? Was Desdemona dumb? If she is, I don't like her. I only like smart characters!"
I think Mr. Alaimo summed up what I was intending to say... Iago is smart, Othello is not, which makes Othello an utterly boring, bland, annoying character! Iago's character simply has more depth; we aren't able to read him as clearly. We can't guess what he wants to do next, what he's thinking, his motives, or his nature. It's human nature to be perplexed by the foreign and unknown. As for characters like Desdemona or Othello, they lack character; everyone probably could guess that Othello was going to kill Desdemona. However, I'm sure no one predicted that Iago was going to kill Roderigo.
A villain makes everything more interesting, and humans are just greatly infatuated with other people's drama. I think everyone just admires Iago for being such a genius.
I think that the title of play is appropriate because the play is about the fall of a great man, Othello. Although Iago is a much more interesting character and is the basis for all of the problems, as the reader we never understand his true motives. Iago fascinates us as a reader because his actions are warped and questionable. We feel a strong and slightly morbid curiosity towards someone who has no qualms with killing or ruining others lives (somewhat like looking at an accident). To add to his mystique we do not even understand why he is ruining his “friends” lives. His motives vary and seem more like excuses than they do reasons for his actions. Since we do not understand this villainous character I do not believe that he ever deserved the title of the play. We understand Othello and his motives much better than we understand Iago’s character. We are able to sympathize and identify with Othello even though he is not as interesting of a character. His fall from a god-like being to an animal amazes us because it shows that anyone can fall from their podium with the influence of others. Although everyone finds Iago interesting, Othello is the true story of the play and deserves the title for his failure.
I think it's better that Othello keeps the title because technically he's the main character who undergoes a transformation. Iago is behind the entire transformation and he runs the show (woot Karolina!) and his wife has a secondary role in the running of the community. I think it would be a different play if it was titled Iago, because people would focus too much on him, instead of viewing his asides as, well, asides and little additions to the grand scheme. Plus, many of his lines are fake so it's not like they show his true character. Othello would look even dumber if it wasn't named after him because it would basically be a ballad to Iago (which I admit would be amazing but hey someone could always write a sequel ;)) and Othello just becomes so inhuman himself (ironyyyy). I think the focus as reader should stay on Othello. This also makes Iago "better" as a character because you see him on the side and yet he does run all of the events of the play.
Ok, so I’m one of those people who will watch a movie, or read a book and actually want the villain to win. I mean where’s the excitement if the good guy ALWAYS wins in the end, seriously, what would happen if the Joker did destroy Gothem? If Voldemort did kill Harry? If James killed Bella? If lago got away? Humans are fascinated by villains because they supply the “what if”. We watch the villains dupe the heroes time after time, and we wait and watch until they make that one false step, one wrong move that lets the hero catch them. I think that lago holds our attention because a little part of us is thinking “Wow, that guy is a genius, he’s got everyone eating out of the palm of his hand, what is he going to do next?” Othello is a predictable character, and aren’t the unpredictable ones more interesting?
I don’t think that Iago deserves the title of the play more than Othello. Othello is the central character; without him, Iago would have no ultimate sadistic goal (if there even is one) and the story would not even be possible. Even though Iago is a more interesting and memorable character than Othello, he still is not worthy of the title. The story focuses on a tragedy, and at the center of that tragedy is Othello. Though Iago poisons Othello’s mind, it is Othello’s subsequent actions that are at the heart of the tragedy, and without certain fatal flaws in Othello’s character, the story simply could not have happened (I know I kind of said that already, but it really is true). For instance, if not for Othello’s pride, he would have simply confronted Desdemona about her “infidelity”, and the whole story would have been different. Othello would not have taken everything that Iago said to heart if it hadn’t been for Othello’s sense of self-importance and ownership of Desdemona.
I agree with Meghan. Where's the fun when it's always the good guy who win? The villains, I think, are generally clever. In this play, Othello was a gullible idiot, while Iago was so clever in making people think what he wants them to think while not drawing suspicion to himself. Joker had his little "heads or tails" game and his signature card left at all crime scenes, but yet it took Batman and the rest of Gotham a while to capture him. (I don't know why they didn't just cut the rope when Joker was hanging) Villains get away so much and keep the "heroes" chasing for them. I got so annoyed with Othello because he's so gullible for being a military person. Why does he have to believe everything Iago says? We're more fascinated with Iago then Othello because he was so manipulative. It's like one of those "how did you do that" things. I mean anyone can be a fool like Othello, but not few can be a master of deception.
*not many
We as reader’s like Iago because he embodies the things that we ourselves would like to do but can’t. Everyone has been burned in life just like Iago is and for most revenge is just not in the question. Nobody has the time nor the willingness to devote our lives to the revenge of the ones who have burned us. Iago was burned by Othello and therefore spent the entire book plotting his revenge and as much as we hate the villain something in all of us wishes we could be Iago doing the things he does to Othello to someone who has betrayed us.
Being the evil villain that Iago is, we can't help but not love him. And why do we love him? We love him because he gives us conflict-addict readers what we want. No one likes to read a story where everything goes perfectly swell for the protaginist (Othello, and please, do excuse my spelling). We want to see people fail, we want to see people pitted against each other, we want to see a brutal, bloody murder. If this play did not contain any of that, then would we even be reading it right now? The only reason why Othello has survived throughout the ages is because of the character of Iago and creating the down fall of Othello.
However, Othello is a good name for this play, because the story is about how Othello went from god like status to an animal, all because of the behind the scenes minipulation of Iago. So it makes sense that Iago would not be included in the title because he's secretive and working behind the scenes while all the other characters think that there the ones in control.
Even though Iago is a villain he really is the only person that you hope is speaking next. The main reason for this is probably that he made the story what it was. The way that he played everyone and spun such an intricate web of lies was just so fascinating, and the fact that you didn’t know what would come out of his mouth next kept you wanting more. If he was a boring villain then I don’t believe that anyone would like him, but the fact that he is so fascinatingly evil I don’t think that anyone can not be awestruck by his villainy. The book definitely should have been named after Iago. That would have been awesome, he really is the main character in the story, everything that happens is because of him and I all revolves around him, if Iago was any different or did anything a different way, then he wouldn’t deserve the title, but he is just so brilliant that he could get anyone to do anything, even get Shakespeare to name the book after him.
Ms. Winkler, Carl wanted you to know that he messed up on his post. He said, "Being the evil villain that Iago is, we can't help but not love him. And why do we love him?" But meant, "Being the evil villain that Iago is, we can't help but love him. And why do we love him?"
Now that that's cleared up...
Personally, I hate all the characters in this story, but the one I respect most and admire beyond belief would be Iago. He's SO talented! The way he manipulates those around him... yea, I'm a little jealous. We seem to always obsess over the villain, because no one likes a story where everything turns out perfectly. Other characters are just BORING in comparison. Iago RUNS this play. He controls what happens and because he plays such a crucial role in it, you have to observe everything he does and the more you analyze, the more addicted you get.
I have to agree with Grace on the whole title thing. The story is about the downfall of Othello by Iago. Had Iago been the title character, too much focus would be put on him and the reader wouldn't fully grasp the transformation Othello undergoes. It just wouldn't be the same.
I hate Iago. I think he is a vile, evil human being who completely deserves hanging. Obviously, the hate I bear towards him shows that I'm fascinated by him. I like to think that people are not innately bad. When we see someone who makes us shudder at their villainy, we become drawn towards them. They represent a part of us that we try keep hidden so we don't hurt others. Iago is someone who has let his dark side loose. He gives us an example of what it would be like to give in to ideas like hate and revenge, things that we all have contemplated but generally don't let out.
Othello, on the other hand, is someone we hear about all the time: the brave, valiant hero who sweeps the girl he loves off of her feet and still always looks good. No one wants to hear about someone who's so much more perfect than them. Othello is a person that people strive to be; however, no one is going to say "I wanna be the Joker when I grow up." Granted, we might not have been as successful as Iago [or the Joker] were at manipulation and deciet, but it's still morbidly fascinating to imagine what it would be like to have so much power over others while being an evil person.
That said, I think Othello still deserves the title of the play. I'm going to disagree with a few people and say that there were other factors at work other than Iago that ruined Othello's and Desdemona's relationship. The basis of their bond can be called into question, as can be Othello's own insecrities about himself. He wasn't perfect, and that might have been Shakespeare's point all along: even the greatest of us have flaws.
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