character motivations in othello

8/3/2019 Character Motivations in Othello

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CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS IN OTHELLO

Iago: General Motivations

Iago gives three main reasons for his hatred of Othelloo Being passed over for a promotion in favour of the younger, less

experienced Cassio.

o Suspicion of Othello having slept with his wife.

o Hating the inherent “goodness” within Othello.

However these reasons seem insufficient and we cannot fully trust his

justifications, and his hatred is unexplainable.

Ironic that Iago uses jealousy to destroy Othello’s life, when jealousy is

likely the cause of Iago’s original hatred.

Soliloquies give us insight into Iago’s motives and allow us to understand

the subtext beneath his superficially innocent words.

Othello: General Motivations

Iago can manipulate Othello’s gullible and jealous trait to make him

jealous and become more and more suspicious of Desdemona until he

will never have peace of mind again.

Other characters are gay and aren’t worth my time

Passage One

Iago’s motivation for putting Othello “into a jealousy so strong that judgement

cannot cure” is primarily revenge for Othello having wronged him in two ways.

The reason given in this passage is that he suspects Othello has slept with his

wife, Emilia. He is not completely sure this is true; however he plots to destroy

Othello’s happiness regardless. This flimsy reasoning suggests that this is not

the real reason for his anger towards Othello. Furthermore, earlier on in the



play Iago gives a completely different reason for his anger, in being passed

over for promotion for a younger and inexperienced Cassio. The fact that Iago

lists two incompatible reasons for his hatred means that we as the audience

cannot fully trust his justifications. It is ironic that Iago uses jealousy against

Othello, yet jealousy is likely the source of Iago's hatred in the first place. This

is likely because he understands first-hand the destruction jealousy can cause,

using poison imagery, “like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards” . This

imagery is repeated throughout the play and we come to associate it with Iago

and his methods of manipulation. He demonstrates his knowledge of jealousy

many times throughout the play, and correctly predicts its results “ Trifles, light

as air are to the jealous confirmations” .

The fact that Iago unfolds his plan to us in a soliloquy means that we gain

insight to his motives in his words and actions towards the other characters in

the play. We know now that his words, which would superficially sound

innocent, are all part of his plot which adds significant dramatic irony to all his

actions. Iago addresses this directly in his last line of the soliloquy, “Knavery’ s

plain face is never seen till used” .



Passage Two

In this soliloquy, Iago unfolds the specifics of his plan to manipulate

Desdemona, Cassio and Othello for Othello’s downfall. Before this soliloquy he

gives two main reasons for his hatred of Othello and desire for revenge. These

are his being passed over for a promotion for the younger and less experienced

Cassio, and his suspicion of Othello sleeping with his wife. Both these reasons

(especially the latter, which is merely a rumour yet he decides to act on it

anyway) are seemingly insufficient justification for the level of loathing he has

for Othello. In this passage he tells us that he detests the inherent goodness in

Cassio, Desdemona and Othello and because of this he shall “enmesh them

all” . Iago’s hating of goodness points towards his evil nature, which is

reinforced by the fact that he recognises the evil in his plan by using religious

contradictions “Divinity of hell!” and religious imagery “When devils will the

blackest sins put on they do suggest at first with heavenly shows” . He also

seems to be pushed forward by his enjoyment of the power and control he has

in manipulating the other characters and driving the action of the play. We can

see his glee in the line “So will I turn her virtue into pitch” . It is ironic that Iago

uses jealousy against Othello, yet jealousy is likely the source of Iago's hatred

in the first place. This is likely because he understands first-hand thedestruction jealousy can cause, using poison imagery, “I’ll pour this pestilence

into his ear” . This imagery is repeated throughout the play and we come to

associate it with Iago and his methods of manipulation. He demonstrates his

knowledge of jealousy many times throughout the play, and correctly predicts

its results “Trifles, light as air are to the jealous confirmations” .

The fact that Iago unfolds his plan to us in a soliloquy means that we gain

insight to his motives in his words and actions towards the other characters inthe play. We know now that his words, which would superficially sound

innocent, are all part of his plot which adds significant dramatic irony to all his

actions.



Passage 3

In this passage Iago continues to plant the idea of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness

in Othello’s mind. His motives throughout the play are seemingly ambiguous,

as up to this point he has given three very different and very insufficient

justifications for his hatred and desire for revenge. These are his being passed

over for a promotion for the younger and less experienced Cassio, his suspicion

of Othello sleeping with his wife, and his general disdain for the inherent

goodness in Othello. However what we do know is that Iago carries a deep

hatred of Othello that drives him and his plot to destroy the Moor’s life. We

also know that he enjoys his influence over Othello and his mischievous and

manipulative nature also pushes him forward in his plans. We can see how

manipulative he is as he subtly attacks Othello’s racial insecurity “Not to affect

many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion and degree” .

At this point in the play Othello is becoming quite troubled by his own

jealousy. We can see that he is suspicious of Desdemona as he asks for her to

be watched. This is reinforced by his questioning his marriage, “ Why did I

marry” . This

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