The AP Literature class of Palm Valley has recently finished reading a classic Shakespearean play–Othello. As the instructor of the class, Mr. Griffin shares with us this incisive essay written by our outstanding senior, Amber Zheng, in which she talks about the play’s main villain–Iago–as being a genius of manipulation.
–Edited by Ashley Zhou
In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the villain who plots the entire evil plan that ultimately causes the death of Emilia, Othello, Desdemona and Roderigo. Iago is a person who only cares about himself, is extremely confident about himself, and is good at using other people’s weaknesses.
Iago is a perfect example of a self-centered person. He does everything in order to gain himself advantages. This characteristic is shown in the beginning of the play
when he says to Roderigo, “In following him [Othello], I follow but myself” (1.1.64). Iago follows Othello because he wants higher positions and more power, rather than to be a loyal officer of Othello. When he admits, “I am not what I am” (1.1.70), not only does he mean that he is not this seemingly good honest person that Othello believes him to be, but also that he is not the person who seems to care about others; he implies that what he truly cares about is only himself.
Iago’s self-centered trait is revealed more frequently as the play goes on. After Roderigo says that he wants to drown himself because Desdemona and Othello are married, Iago says, “I never found man that knew how to love himself” (1.3.355-356). From this sentence, we can see that Iago thinks every man around him doesn’t know how to treat himself properly, because they all care for others. In Iago’s view, Othello loves Desdemona to the point that he is willing to “renounce his baptism” (2.3.363) for her; Roderigo is ready to kill himself because of his ”loss” of Desdemona; and Cassio lets Desdemona’s beauty appear in his mind every day. From Iago’s perspective, all these behaviors are absurd, as men should only care about themselves, as he does.
That’s also why Iago says to Roderigo, “Ere . . . I would drown myself for the love of a guinea hen (he means Desdemona!), I would change my humanity with a baboon” (1.3.356-358). While Iago says this to manipulate Roderigo into following his bidding, his words actually express his true feelings: men who are willing to sacrifice themselves for others are stupid, and these people are indeed no better than baboons, certainly not supposedly smart human beings. As Iago tries to persuade Roderigo to abandon the suicide idea, he also tries to get himself as many benefits as possible by telling Roderigo to sell lands and get cash. When he succeeds, he reveals his motivation: “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse” (1.3.383). Again, Iago never does anything without the intention of getting himself advantages.
Being a self-centered person, Iago is also confident and good at using others’ weaknesses. Iago knows the difference between appearance and reality very well and establishes a plan based on his knowledge. He is confident about the success of his plan because “The Moor is of a free and open nature/ That thinks men honest that but seem to be so” (1.3.443-444). And, Desdemona is just as gullible, “framed as fruitful/ As the free elements” (2.3.361-362). Because he knows all the other characters so well, he is able to conduct his evil plan by exploiting their weaknesses. Also, because his perceptions are in fact correct, his confidence never disappoints him: everything always goes as he plans. When he says that he is a Satan – “When devils will the blackest sins put on,/ They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,/ As I do now” (2.3.371-373) – he shows his talent – indeed, his genius – for manipulating others.
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