5/15/2023 0 Comments Othello a desdemona![]() ![]() It's possible that Iago considers Desdemona a "prize" just because she's beautiful. At first glance it may seem that Iago is saying that Othello married Desdemona for her father's money, but that possibility is never mentioned again, not even by evil Iago. Othello values his freedom highly, but Desdemona more highly.Ī little later, when Cassio asks Iago what Othello is doing at the inn, Iago says, "'Faith, he to-night hath boarded a land carack: / If it prove lawful prize, he's made for ever." (1.2.50-51). "Gentle" means kind, refined, and of a good family. When Iago tells Othello that Brabantio will try to annul Desdemona's marriage, Othello says, "But that I love the gentle Desdemona, / I would not my unhoused free condition / Put into circumscription and confine / For the sea's worth" (1.2.25-28). Iago portrays Desdemona as a "white ewe" in order to make Brabantio angry enough to punish Othello. Christianity has made the white sheep a powerful symbol of innocence and purity. Weller, an Eastern Washington University professor of English and Shakespearean scholar for more than 50 years.įrom the street in front of Brabantio's house Iago shouts out, "Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe" (1.1.88-89). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2020.Welcome to my web site, now under development for more than twenty years.ĭr. “Rereading Othello through Bernard Jackson’s Iago.” Sungshin Humanities Research, vol. Being in a race with Othello for promotion, the hero uses the hatred of other characters towards mixed races and black people, such as Othello, to achieve the loss of the latter’s position. ![]() Speaking of racism as a possible motivation for Iago’s behavior, it is worth noting that it is not the primary and only source of its manifestation. In short, he can understand or explain friendship or kindness only in connection with some selfish goal or plan. So the courtesy of Otello and Cassio to Iago’s wife is sufficient proof for the latter that they are on intimate terms with her. And so, from his point of view, politeness and kindness to women are forerunners of lust (Kim 200). ![]() Indirectly, this conclusion flows from the fact that Yago suspects that everyone has an excess of sexual desire he thinks this desire overrides everyone else’s and is as strong as his own. Moving on from the way other people see Iago to the way he is by nature, it must be mentioned that Iago is an exceptionally erotic character, understood in the most vulgar sense of the word. He does this gladly as it flatters his vanity, feels his superiority in this, and finds in it a reinforcement of the correctness and steadiness of his cynical view of life (Kim 199). As long as his interests do not influence Iago, he can genuinely make a difference to all who ask him for advice with his knowledge of the world and the clarity of his views. In Shakespeare’s portrayal of Iago’s character, the readers immediately notice an apparent contradiction: even though he is the meanest and most vile scoundrel imaginable, he nevertheless enjoys the unconditional trust of everyone around him. In complement extern, ’tis not long afterįor daws to peck at: I am not what I am (Shakespeare, lines 95 – 98). “For when my outward action doth demonstrate ![]() He has no desire to seize the treasure – his intention is only to deprive the possessor of the prize of the pleasure that his possession provides. ‘Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus (Shakespeare, lines 426 – 427). ![]()
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