Iago, in Othello, is one of Shakespeare’s most compelling villains. His manipulation of people and events leads to the play’s tragic climax, Desdemona’s death, and the downfall of many characters, including Iago himself. However, critics disagree over his motivation. What drives Iago to scheme and destroy as he does? One of the problems with determining his motivation is that Iago presents several different fronts to the other characters, leaving us wondering which is the real Iago.
Nothing
Some argue that Iago doesn’t have a motivation, and doesn’t need one. This is the tragedy of Othello, and Iago’s function is to bring the tragedy about. Our attention should be focussed on the interior workings of Othello’s character, not the supposed reasoning of a plot function. Iago’s malice is a given element, a convention which enables the play to happen.
Evil Incarnate
Similar to the first point of view is the suggestion that Iago is somehow just evil. Shakespeare’s tragedies are frequently concerned with how evil enters the world, and Iago could be an example of how it arises naturally in humanity. As Ecclesiastes says, “the hearts of the children of men are full of evil” (9:3) When Othello suggests that Iago is the devil in the final scene ( look down towards his feet, but that’s a fable/ If that thou beest devil I cannot kill thee.” V.2) Iago plays along (“I bleed, sir, but not killed.”) Is he merely mocking a superstitious Moor, or suggesting that within him is as pure an evil as the devil?
Racism
Another possible motive is racism. Though the term (and indeed idea) is foreign to the Renaissance, the hatred of outsiders was familiar, and there is certainly what we would call racism in Shakespeare. Iago does harp upon Othello’s race. He tells Brabanzio that “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”, “your daughter [will be] covered by a Barbary horse” (I.1) and comments to Roderigo that “these Moors are changeable”. However, this is not particularly strong language compared to Brabanzio’s comments on Othello’s “sooty bosom” and “practices of cunning hell”. And given Brabanzio’s violent response to Desdemona’s new husband, it seems entirely possible that Iago’s comments were specifically intended to play upon the older man’s attitudes.
Jealousy
The only reason for his actions which Iago gives in his soliloquies is a vague rumour that Othello has slept with his wife: “it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets/ He has done my office.” (I.3) The vagueness of this motivation has caused some critics to look elsewhere for Iago’s reasons, but it could be a compelling drive, if Iago’s discrediting of Desdemona actions are seen not simply as a mechanical revenge for Othello’s wrong-doing, but part of his general distrust of women. Tim McInnery’s performance in the recent Globe production of Othello seemed to emphasize this aspect, as if, by ruining Desdemona’s reputation, Iago could somehow prove that his paranoid view of womankind was correct.
Jem Bloomfield - Jem Bloomfield was educated at the universities of Oxford and Exeter, and is currently working on a PhD on Webster's revenge tragedy "The ...
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