THEME: appearance vs reality/deception

Question 1

“Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago,/ In following him, I follow but myself”

Answer 1

• IAGO 1:1:58-59
• “Iago” - he refers to himself in the third person (illeism). This emphasises his narcissistic nature.
• Iago is only following Othello for his own gains.
• Use of contrasts with “in following him” (appearance) vs “I follow but myself” (reality), which shows his duplicitous nature.

Question 2

“But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve/ For daws to peck at”

Answer 2

• IAGO 1:1:65-66
• “Daws” - symbolic of all of the other characters which “peck at” his manipulations. Link to Great Chain of Being, as this comparison degrades these characters, making Iago the superior character, at least by his own perception. This may also even link to how jackdaws are associated with vainess in folklore.
• “Peck” - may be polysemic, in the sense that “peck” can also be seen as a kiss, an affectionate action. Perhaps this is the idea again that all of the characters fall for Iago’s duplicity and instead respect and even admire him.
• “Wear my heart” - “wear” suggests you can take it off and put it back on again, like a costume. Iago’s heart (symbolic of his kindness and helpful nature) is merely a costume.

Question 3

“I must show out a flag and sign of love,/ Which is indeed but a sign”

Answer 3

• IAGO 1:1:156-157
• “Flag” - has connotations of military, which links to this idea of comradeship. This reflects the relationship between Iago and Othello. However, the flag is “indeed but a sign” - this makes Shakespeare’s use of this noun ironic. Othello is fooled by their military bond.

Question 4

“Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters’ minds/ By what you seem them act.”

Answer 4

• BRABANTIO 1:1:170-171
• “Act” - clear connotations of pretending and deception.
• “Daughters’ minds” - becomes a criticism on not only daughters but also women’s minds as a whole. Women were seen as flighty and fickle as well as hysterical and hormonal. The focus on “minds” goes into this psychological element of the criticism of women in a patriarchal society. The mind is supposedly the most important part of one’s body, and they can’t even control that.

Question 5

“By Janus, I think no”

Answer 5

• IAGO 1:2:33
• Janus was the Roman God of beginnings, transitions and change, often depicted with two faces: one face looking back to the past, and the other looking forward to the future. This reflects Iago’s two-faced nature, as well as his insistence on looking back at the past, looking for motivation.
• Janus embodied the middle ground (represented dualities like war/peace, life/death, youth/adulthood). Through this, we can see Iago on the threshold of life and death, referring to how he has control over people’s lives and deaths, referencing how he orchestrates the play (linking in with the contextual feature of the Machiavel).

Question 6

”I am not merry; but I do beguile the thing I am by seeming otherwise”

Answer 6

• DESDEMONA 2:1:137-138
• Contextually, women were supposed to hone their emotions, and act as examples for men. They were indoctrinated into a ‘cult of sensibility’, in which it was expected for women to remain quiet, and keep their emotions private.
• A form of positive deception, which Desdemona is capable of. Iago twists her inbuilt instinct to keep her emotions private in order to more easily convince Othello of her unfaithfulness.
• As a noblewoman, Desdemona would’ve been encouraged not to share her feelings; she was raised in a male-dominated household, and so the expectations of her, as a woman, would’ve been overbearing.

Question 7

“I am not what I am”

Answer 7

• IAGO 1:1:66
• Alludes to Exodus in the Bible, in which God says: “I am what I am.” In saying the opposite, Iago is going against God, and aligning himself with the devil.
• Further stresses the duplicity of his nature; his loyalty to Othello is nothing but an illusion.