In Iago, I see a criminal on instinct but of an entirely different kind; his motive is a thirst for destruction. He does not seek to seize the treasure – his intention is only to deprive the possessor of the treasure of pleasure. Iago is a tiger who kills only to cause others to suffer, to see the blood and grief around him, without any intention to make any profit out of the destruction he makes for himself and others. In this regard, he is reminiscent of wild volcanic forces, those terrible enemies of humankind, destroying everything and turning places where life and happiness thrived into a dead desert. In Iago, I cannot find universal human motives that could explain his crime: he is guided neither by hatred nor by feelings of enmity nor, ultimately, by a feeling of subordination.
Iago hates Othello because he is more fortunate than he and Othello’s very existence is a hindrance to his career plans. Spurred on by this hatred, Iago mobilizes all his feelings to its aid, including jealousy. In the same way, Iago’s feelings for Cassio, with whom he also becomes jealous, are formed. The protagonist considers Cassio’s promotion inappropriate because he is unable to assess the latter’s qualities, and the decision was made impulsively.
The protagonist is not cast out of the circle, a circle into which he wants to re-enter. The people he ruins are his own friends and comrades, people who favor and trust him: he belongs to their company, and he commands their respect. In the same way, there is no reason for me to think that he loves Desdemona, that his love is rejected by her, and that he is desperate for revenge. Shakespeare reveals his most immediately suggestible motif, thus emphasizing that he does not think of it as an explanation for Iago’s actions. The only remaining remark that Iago makes in passing is that he feels an attraction for Desdemona, but he immediately adds that it is not decisive for him.
Another of Iago’s special motives is that he suspects the Moor’s liaison with his wife, Emilia, has no particular significance. After noting that the Moor asked them to leave because he was in love with Desdemona, Iago continues: “He hath not yet made wanton the night with her, and she is the sport for Jove” (2.3.18–19). Here, scholars note that the protagonist cannot believe anything of the sort since he knows the Moor intimately enough. These arguments point to the invalidity of the hero’s motive.
Iago is a cynic in his views on the relationship between a man and a woman; the same cynicism he displays in his reflections on all other human relationships and feelings. In his opinion, the artful way he treats his lady is a forerunner of lust. He calls a servant, taking advantage of his position and lining his pockets, a man of intellect, and he views honor as an empty and deceitful concept.
Each time Iago acts according to his evidently immoral and despicable goals, but he always passes them off as moral and unselfish: “Virtue? A fig! ‘Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus” (1.3.6–7). A noble nature, easy of influence and meek, is good only for feeding fools; praise of the virtue of others, and virtue itself, is nothing more than empty talk. A cynic to the depths of his brain, he sees only the flipside in people and in good human qualities.
Shakespeare paints Iago’s philosophy from the very beginning of the play. It is built solely on hatred of man. Iago seems to preach the power of reason over the passions. However, his mind in Iago’s delivery is of a special kind: Iago needs it to manipulate people, for Iago himself is devoid of emotion and affection. He knows of love only by hearsay. He is as attached to his wife as he is to his cats and puppies, whom he is prepared to drown at any moment.
It is worth noting that Iago, guided in his actions by cynicism, belongs to a special group of cynics. In the depths of his soul rises the tower in which dwells the Mephistopheles of his egoism, looking out with his fiery, scorching eyes at people’s vanity. His heart is filled with joy when he sees the results of the activity of the spirit of discord, hatred, rage, and destruction. But when he sees kindness, indulgence, love, and happiness, his heart sinks, and as much as it depends on him, he destroys everything so that it can no longer flourish.
He does not even want all this for himself, for it is impossible to achieve what you hate. The seeds of cultivated grain cannot sprout in his petrified soul, and only the lower forms of life can grow in it. That is why he views only this life as real, true, and undeviating, while he views cultural life as a hateful falsity. But, hating cultural life, he at the same time treats negatively all of the qualities on which it is based; he detests all of those human qualities that support and develop cultural life. I see the protagonist as the personal enemy of human culture; consequently, he personifies crime and its apotheosis; he is the base and source for all individual criminals; he is the personification of all that is consciously criminal in man.
Work Cited
Shakespeare, William. Othello. The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly Mays, Norton and Company, 2021. pp. 1455-1543.