Othello Act 2&3
Comments(6) In Act 2 we see Iago’s evil plan finally taking shape. While Cassio is on guard Iago persuades him to get drunk and leave his post. Cassio returns and stabs Montano after Montano tries to break up an argument between Cassio and Roderigo. As a result, Othello fires Cassio from his position as lieutenant. Iago tells Cassio in order to gain his position back he should persuade Desdemona to plead with Othello on his behalf; therefore Othello frequently sees Cassio suspiciously talking to Desdemona. In act 3 Iago manages to frame Cassio by placing Desdemona’s handkerchief in Cassio’s room; as well as making Othello believe his wife is cheating on him with Cassio. In my opinion, Iago is most similar to Aaron, from Titus Andronicus, because he really seems to revel in his evilness; telling the audience each step in his evil plot. At this point in the play I am almost certain the genre of this play is revenge tragedy because we have several people, Iago, Cassio, Othello, and Desdemona, who have all been wronged and have someone they can exact revenge on.
I think Iago is in a category all on his own. He is novel, in that he has wit, of Richard III along with good looks. He does not have the complex of Aaron as we sort of rooted, his evilness to derive from the fact that he was a moor. There is something worse in Iago than any other villain that I have read this semester. Everyone is a pawn in his game, and his game is ultimately total chaos and destruction. He plays his game all the while with a smile on his face, from within, and the way he presents himself to everyone else.
This was most certainly an interesting play. I’ve never read Othello before, and as I was reading these first two acts, I grew to hate Iago more and more. At some points it was just frustrating for me to read him manipulating Othello. I wanted Othello to just wake up already! This is Shakespeare at his finest because that uncomfortable and inevitable annoying emotion you feel towards an evil character means that the playwright is reeling you into the story. Evil characters like Iago and Richard are very interesting and worth analyzing act by act.
I don’t understand why Cassio just turns Iago down and leaves the situation. It’s almost as if these characters want to be manipulated. They all easily fall for Iago’s tricks without question. Do they ever question his motives? Clearly he doesn’t have their best interest in mind, persuading him to leave his post and not do his job so he can drink, when he is not supposed to be touching alcohol. Nevertheless, why wouldn’t Cassio come clean about the situation. Perhaps that is a longshot, but what else would he have to lose? Why doesn’t Desdemona or Cassio tell Othello why they have been seen together? The character’s seem so ignorant in the play I don’t blame Iago for wanting to cause trouble because it’s hilarious to see how easily they fall for his trickery.
does not turn*
Othello chooses to see what he believes are wrongs that are against him. As an outsider, a Moor that was seen as a hero of the Venetians that will never fit in no matter what his ranks are finds himself always being wronged because of how he is treated as an outsider. Iago is the mastermind and a much more nefarious version of Aaron as they both are Moors. He sees the characters as pawns of a much bigger picture of chaos within the aristocracy of Venetia.
The play is definitely the Tragedy of Othello, as its subtitle was even “the Tragedy of the Moor”. I wholly agree with the comparison of Iago to Aaron, both seem to enjoy the suffering of others. What is very interesting, however, is that Aaron is instantly demonized. Because of his race, he is made to be an evil character. For Iago, however, he is a Christian Venetian, who by definition for the time should be good. Still, he has that evil tendency as well, which goes to show that evil is more than just skin deep.