A villain is a character in a play who normally opposes the protagonist or hero. He or she is important to the plot because of his or her evil actions. The villain normally acts out of malice and would deliberately want to harm others.
In Othello, Iago is the epitome of a perfect villain. He is a Machiavellian character, which means that he is intent on deceiving others and plotting against them. In essence, he performs evil for evil's sake and does not need a motive for what he does. Although he does provide sundry reasons for his malice towards Othello to Roderigo, he does this only to manipulate him. He, for example, tells the lovesick fool that he despises Othello for ignoring his request for promotion and when Roderigo asks him why he is still loyal to the general, he says:
O, sir, content you;
I follow him to serve my turn upon him:
This is evidence of his intended rancor. He will deliberately fool Othello into believing that he is trustworthy and devoted in order to be close to him and thus manipulate him more effectively.
Iago is so pernicious and sly that he uses others to perform his evil, making them believe that they are doing it for good or to benefit themselves. This is how he ensnares Roderigo and uses his money for he makes him believe that he is helping him win Desdemona's attention:
Thus do I ever make my fool my purse:
For I mine own gain'd knowledge should profane,
If I would time expend with such a snipe.
But for my sport and profit.
In this excerpt, Iago clearly states his abuse of Roderigo's generosity and lovesickness. He has no compunction about exploiting him and finds pleasure and profit in his vile actions. He and Roderigo later vindictively tell Brabantio that Othello had kidnapped Desdemona and was abusing her, enraging her doting father.
He also indirectly uses the loyalty his wife, Emilia, has to him. She gives him Desedemona's handkerchief, believing that she is being kind and not realizing her husband intends using it as evidence to implicate Cassio for having an affair with Desdemona:
I will in Cassio's lodging lose this napkin,
And let him find it. Trifles light as air
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ: this may do something.
The Moor already changes with my poison:..
Iago is instinctively malicious and despises the good in others. He, for example, clearly states he will abuse other's good to serve his vindictive purpose. For instance, he exploits Desdemona's good nature to create his web of evil. He advises Cassio to seek her assistance in his desire to win back Othello's affection after the general has dismissed him:
...For 'tis most easy
The inclining Desdemona to subdue
In any honest suit: she's framed as fruitful
As the free elements......for whiles this honest fool
Plies Desdemona to repair his fortunes
And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor,
I'll pour this pestilence into his ear,
That she repeals him for her body's lust;
And by how much she strives to do him good,
She shall undo her credit with the Moor.
So will I turn her virtue into pitch,
And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all.
Iago uses Othello's weaknesses against him. He knows the general is insecure about being a foreigner in Venice, his race, and the age difference between him and his beautiful wife. Iago realizes Othello can be easily deceived and driven to irrational acts borne from jealousy.
Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons.
Which at the first are scarce found to distaste,
But with a little act upon the blood.
Burn like the mines of Sulphur.
When Othello threatens him and asks for ocular proof of Desdemona's supposed illicit affair with Cassio, he makes a vow to the genral and promises to do so. He later cleverly uses the handkerchief Emilia gave him as proof.
His acts are unconscionable and he is bereft of guilt. Where a normal person would be overwhelmed by remorse for having committed a wrongful act, Iago expresses pleasure. His purpose is to do harm and he does not care about the consequences of his actions. Instead, he purposefully derives satisfaction if the harm he does is greater than expected.
As the archetypal evildoer, Iago does not make excuses or apologize for his actions. Once he is implicated by Emilia, he turns against her and stabs her, killing her in the process. When Othello asks him why he committed all his evil, he stubbornly refuses to testify or provide reasons for his wrongdoing:
Demand me nothing: what you know, you know:
From this time forth I never will speak word.
In the end, Iago has achieved most of his goals. His malevolence results in the deaths of Othello, Desdemona, Emilia and Roderigo. One feels uncomfortable that Iago was so successful and somewhat dissatisfied that he is not fully punished for his actions. His punishment, it seems, would never equate the damage that he has done:
...For this slave,
If there be any cunning cruelty
That can torment him much and hold him long,
It shall be his. You shall close prisoner rest,
Till that the nature of your fault be known
To the Venetian state. Come, bring him away.
No comments:
Post a Comment