Talk:Iago

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Iago is part of WikiProject Shakespeare, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to Shakespeare on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
B This article has been rated as b-Class on the quality scale.
(If you rated the article please give a short summary at comments to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses.)
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.
Theatre Portal
This article is part of WikiProject Theatre, a WikiProject dedicated to coverage of theatre on Wikipedia.
To participate: Feel free to edit the article attached to this page, join up at the project page, or contribute to the project discussion.
B This article has been rated as B-class on the quality scale.
Mid This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the importance scale.

Contents

[edit] Jealousy

In the Motivations section, it says that he might be jealous of Emilia and Desdemona. Why would he be jealous of them? SolidNatrix 13:15, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Best Friend?"

I'm not a Shakespeare expert, but is "Othello's best friend" factually based? It sure doesn't seems so from the text I have.

I agree. I do not see that Iago is "second in friendship" to Othello. It is an army situation. Iago is Othello's Ancient, not friend. --Wikiadam 08:45, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't know. He's certainly Othello's closest confidant, which to me seems to imply friendship. 137.73.126.221 19:16, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Most lines?

Is that really true about the most lines for a "non-title" character in a Shakespeare play? What about Julius Caesar (play)? Caesar himself had very few lines, as I recall, and Brutus and Mark Antony were the stars. Does Iago have more lines than Brutus and Antony? --UniAce

Iago is roughly the third longest Shakespeare role (see here) at 1097 lines. Brutus has 701; Marc Antony 766. - Nunh-huh 22:22, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Iago's motivations

Hi im studying Othello for GCSE and i was wondering if anyone could offer any insights as to what Iago's motivations are, in a sense what makes him tick. I will be very greatful.--62.7.159.0 20:13, 26 November 2005 (UTC)

Just read the darn first scene, it tells all you need to... I wonder how come so many people wonder as to motives when it's one of the first things the playgoer or reader is exposed to, and he says it himself. If you don't get it yourself, I've spelled it out in the main article too... assuming it does not get edited off. --Svartalf 00:35, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Since several critics have suggested that Iago was motivated by his latent homosexuality, should that also be added to the list? Pyon 10:51, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Iago is jealous of othello because the play is named after othello and not himself. Hey, it's a possibility.

The whole Iago being jealous of Othello because of the play title... now that's just dumb.

The article seems to miss A. C. Bradley's famous suggestion that Iago's motivation is power alone - of being able to manipulate almost every character like a puppet in a plan that gains its incentive through being a plan alone. Sort of a 'power trip' theory, I suppose. I don't think this is covered by the 'sociopathy' header.
People like Andy Serkis always miss the point. If Iago was so jealous, why wouldn't he keep referring to his jealousy? What jealousy he refers to is generally employed post-facto as a pretext to explain or justify a deeper motivation. Gunstar hero 20:30, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Character Analysis

Are you kidding me? This analysis needs a serious makeover by someone who knows what the hell he's talking about. Complicated my ass...

Although very good, the character analysis of Iago is far too complicated for a mere plebian to read, and I think it should be made more, dare I say it, normal. Not everyone is an english literature graduate!

Also, the huge block of text is quite off-putting and I think it could be broken up, again for simplicity and so it looks less like an essay and more like an encyclopedia entry. --Sclaydonuk 17:45, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

I agree. This looks like an undergrad lit paper that's just been copied here. It has no place in an encyclopedia.--64.230.78.95 11:37, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

pardon me if i interrupt, but what does that have to do with a NPOV tag? i mean, it may have style errors, but NPOV? Gorgonzola 17:42, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Oh, please. What do you guys want? Pictures? Nellobanana 02:56, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

Given that the title of that section is "A character analysis of Iago" which sounds very much like an essay title and taking into account the content thereof with specific reference to WP:NOT I have removed the entire section. The information relating to the possible causes for his behaviour has already been stated more succinctly earlier in the article. Any section which contains a statement such as "In the end, it is Iago's failure to grasp the more basic concepts of love, trust, loyalty and spirituality which leads to his downfall" has no place in an encyclopedia. 81.179.227.183 23:43, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

I reinstated my end commment in the motivation section. a) it is not part of the character study, and had no business being deleted with it, unless the whole motivation section is to go. b) it is not an essay, nor original research, as it only recaps what is plainly said in the main text of the play. --Svartalf 19:55, 25 July 2006 (UTC).

Alright, but I have qualified the final comment which rather stated conjecture as fact, I grant I should have done that in the first place rather than ommiting it, it does state some important information. 81.179.227.183 20:45, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Homosexuality?

Can someone please provide a source for the statement that Iago is a homosexual? I don't remember coming across any indication of that in the play itself. RobbieG 10:34, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

The theory dates back to the 1940s in psychoanalytical accounts of the play, notably an essay in which Martin Wangh argued that Iago's resentment derives from "a projection of Iago's unconscious homosexual wishes for Othello and Cassio."[1] The main basis for it is Iago's highly eroticised description of sleeping with Cassio, when Cassio in his sleep is alleged to mistake Iago's body for Desdemona's. It has been repeated in numerous articles and debated and disputed ever since.[2] [3]
It is how Orson Welles directed Micheál MacLiammóir to play Iago in his film. LamontCranston 13:54, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
I doubt MacLiammóir needed much encouragement. Paul B 10:06, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

HA!

[edit] Unsourced Quotes

There are unsourced quotes in this article: Andy Serkiss and Ian McDiarmud notably. These need to be sourced in a Note. Blueberrycalendar 11:37, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

I can't speak for McDiarmid, but Serkis's quote came from his Gollum book.--CyberGhostface 14:26, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks - is it possible to add this as a note in the article, showing that book as a source? Blueberrycalendar 16:10, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Torments will ope thy lips

As I recall, in the edition of Othello I have (which I can't seem to find at the moment), the responses to Iago's claim that he will never speak again are

What, not to pray?
Torments will ope thy lips

The edition footnotes "torments" with the single word "tortures", suggesting, as this article does, that the Venetians intend to torture him and make him, if not talk, then at least scream.

It seems to me, though, that while that could be a secondary meaning, the primary meaning, after "not to pray?" has to be that since Iago will not pray, he will surely go to Hell, and there he will not be able to keep from crying out. I thought it was very strange that the edition did not mention this, I thought, obvious interpretation. Is it a standard interpretation in other commentary? --Trovatore 07:26, 6 May 2007 (UTC)


I'd not actually thought of that before. Every edition I have seen assumes it refers to torture; I still think torture is the most obvious implication of Gratiano's comment. It is intriguing, however, that Othello responds to Iago's affirmation by saying "Well, thou dost best". Admittedly, this would seem to agree with the Hell interpretation - Othello wants Iago to go to hell so it is better for him never to repent.
However, Othello already assumes Iago to be a devil on some level, so this doesn't make complete sense. We could argue that this represents an extension of Othello's now inverted ethical views - that it is 'happiness to die', and therefore better to go to hell than to heaven. However his earlier words acually contradict his wish for Iago's fate:
I am not sorry neither. I'd have thee live;
For in my sense, 'tis happiness to die.
I still think torture must be the most obvious option, despite the order of Lodovico and Gratiano's comments. It is only logical that the Venetian judiciary system would wish to clarify the matter, and, particularly to a common soldier like Iago, outside of the nobility, torture would undoubtedly have been used. The quote confirming this comes twenty lines later from Lodovico, when he says:
........ For this slave [Iago],
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 away.
This certainly doesn't rule out the possibility of double-entendre from Shakespeare, but Gratiano's first meaning must be torture. Indeed, Lodovico's 'What, not to pray?' could be his own attempt to remind Iago that he will surely die, and probably in excruciating pain, as a result of his crimes.
It's an interesting ambiguity, though. Gunstar hero 13:41, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
I think it's saying that Iago may not be a praying man now, but torture will cause him to pray. I'd have to look it up. Wrad 13:53, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Another motive

Another motive, not listed in the article but developed in detail by Bradley, was Iago as a warped, possibly solipsistic artist who delights in having everybody believe his fictions, and ultimately makes real life follow his "script" CharlesTheBold 04:46, 7 July 2007 (UTC)