Moonlight Catastrophes
Saturday, January 09, 2016
Hate is known to have a cause, some concrete event or insult that
inspires a lasting rage. However, sometimes that hate is motivated by a hatred
that seems to elude any reasonable definition. In simpler terms, that
motivation has a senseless purpose. In William Shakespeare’s tragic work, Othello, Iago [antagonist] has a hatred
and determination to destroy Othello that is out of proportion. His reasons, as
stated in the play, are because Othello did not promote him as lieutenant and
that Othello had slept with his wife, Emilia. Iago's loathing is
"motiveless malignity," redefining our understanding of hatred by
making it seem a self-propelling passion rather than the consequence of any
particular action. His hatred had led him to lie and manipulate Othello, leading
him to do something drastic that cannot be undone. It had led Shakespeare’s
tragic hero to kill his own wife, Desdemona. So who’s to blame? Iago or
Othello? In my opinion, the one to blame for the tragedy is the deceitful man
himself, Iago.
Iago is a two-faced person. He is the type of follower who fakes loyalty to his master until he can stab them in the back later on for his own personal gains. "Others there are Who, trimm'd in forms and visages of duty, Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves And throwing but shows of service to their lords . . . " [Iago: Act I, Scene II]. By taking advantage of Othello's insecurities, how black he was and how much older he is compared to Desdemona, Iago was able to manipulate the tragic hero into believing Michael Cassio and Desdemona were sleeping together. "Damn her, led minx! O, damn her! Come, go with me apart; I will withdraw, To furnish me with some swift means of death For the fair devil, Now art thou my lieutenant" [Othello: Act III, Scene III]. Being the impudent and disloyal man he is, Iago had incited Othello to do the unthinkable, kill his own wife. But along the way, he manipulated also the other characters in order to bring about these tragic situations upon the Moor.
He hated Michael Cassio, the lieutenant the Othello chose instead of him, fueling his demise. In Act II, Scene III, he was able to convince Cassio to drink on the job, knowing it would cause him to lose favor with Othello since he is a light weight drinker. To his favor, Cassio ended up hurting Montano and lost his position as lieutenant. Iago even used his own wife, Emilia, to help! He had his wife steal Desdemona's handkerchief in the same act and scene, and make a copy of it and place the later in Cassio's room. It served as proof later on for Othello when Bianca, Cassio's mistress, comes running in with the handkerchief and accusing Cassio for cheating on her. "By heaven, that should be my handkerchief!" [Othello: Act IV, Scene I].
Iago's goal was to ultimately ruin Othello, but he ruined many others along the way. We must allow the other characters to share some of the responsibility. After all, Iago didn't kill Desdemona himself; Othello did. But, it was Iago that manipulated Othello and the others into creating many of the tragic events which occur throughout the play.
4 comments
I loved that you did not start off you’re essay with, It is Iago’s fault because… Using hatred as a way to start was a great point of view and one I had not related the prompt to. I feel as if in future blogs be careful not to be repetitive and when it comes to a persuasive prompt be ready to persuade all parties. I felt that you had amazing evidence to back up your opinion, you’re use of the quotations were excellent. On the contrary, when writing a persuasive essay you have to acknowledge the other side, I did not see you explain why it was not Othello’s fault. In future blogs do not be afraid to understand what the other side may think and then tangent off on why they are wrong!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the beginning of your post, it was so strong and clear. The way you used hatred to connect to your work was very unique and that's the things that differs your work from many and keeps me wanting to know more about your point of view and ideas! Apart from adding the reason why Othello is not to be blamed, I think could add your feelings, to make it a little personal so the readers know how you feel about the antagonist or if you wished the play had a different ending. Overall I ended reading your work and by the way, I really love your word choices! Cannot wait for you upcoming posts :)
ReplyDeleteBefore I begin on the topic at hand I just wanted to let you know that whenever I read your blogs I feel a sense of maturity and lightness and I want to commend you on that! I don't know why I feel lightness but I do. Anyways, this post was great. I loved that you used direct quotations to help you enforce your side of the argument and persuade readers to actually believe you. I also side with Iago being the one to blame but I feel that if I blamed Othello, you would convict me otherwise. One thing that I see is that you focused only on Iago. Yes, the evidence was strong, but readers still need insight on why they should choose Iago.
ReplyDeleteI always love coming here, your posts are just so insightful and brilliant, and also, the fishes are adorable. Your argument was clear and decisive, and the use of quotations from the book wrapped everything up in a perfect little bow. At the end, you did manage to give a little insight on why you think that Othello was not to blame for the entire situation, but a little insight only goes so far. Your post was brilliant as always and I'm looking forward to more.
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