Who Is Iago's Reputation In Othello

“My lord is not my lord, nor should I know him were he in favor as in humor altered”
(3, 4, 119-120)
Throughout Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’ we observe Othello’s identity and reputation fall to pieces, the way Othello sees himself and the way others perceive him is transformed completely. His qualities of a decisive, dignified and proud man at the beginning of the play are later overtaken by jealousy, rage and irrational thinking. His life and himself as he knows it is destroyed by love and jealousy, the most dangerous weapons known to mankind. Before we even meet Othello we know of him because of the opening conversation between Iago and Roderigo. They speak of their hate for Othello and portray him as a dishonest and lower class man.
They often refer to him being Black with quotes such as “Old black ram” (1, 1, 90). They make it clear in these first few pages that they look down on Othello because of his skin colour. When we are first introduced to the character of Othello we are confronted with a proud, dignified and some would say egotistic man, a complete contradiction to the image of Othello that was conveyed to us by Iago. It is obvious that Othello is a man of high stature. The audience is immediately drawn to his confidence and natural authority. He is proud of his military success and admires his own frankness which is made apparent when he begins his speech with the line “rude am I in my speech…” (1, 3, 81) This comment is a contradiction of himself as he actually presents himself very well and can give a very convincing speech. Shakespeare portrays these qualities of Othello with his use of language and rhythm. The way Shakespeare has presented Othello in his speeches is very clever. The rhythm of the text when Othello speaks is very slow and calm showing that Othello is a very confident and in control man. The beautiful language used such as “’let, by your gracious patience, I will a round unvarnished tale deliver, of my whole course of love” (1, 3, 91-93) exhibits how well Othello holds himself and that he must be an educated man of high stature. The way others respond to Othello enforces these images of Othello. They treat him with respect, especially the duke. Initially when the duke hears of Brabantio’s dilemma he is outraged saying “Who’er he be that in this foul proceeding hath thus beguiled your daughter of herself, and you of her, the bloody book of the law” (1, 3, 67-69), but once he finds out that Brabantio is speaking of Othello his tone changes, he demands evidence and doesn’t want to believe that what Brabantio accuses Othello of is true. This reaction shows what a respected man Othello is. His feelings for Desdemona at this stage are complete infatuation; he is head over heels in love. He has never had someone to love and care for him because he has led the lonely life of a soldier. It is new and exciting for him. He shows this passion for Desdemona with quotes such as “If it were now to die, ‘twere now to be most happy, for I fear, my soul hath her content so absolute, that not another comfort like to this, succeeds in unknown fate.” (2, 1, 192-196) Othello is not an observant man, he doesn’t notice or suspect things in others and Iago cleverly uses this naivety against him to break Othello down “I follow him to serve my turn upon him. We cannot all be masters, nor all masters cannot be truly followed” (1, 1, 44-46). Iago manipulates Othello because he knows Othello believes what he sees, he is a straightforward man and he sees life the same. He even says “certain, men should be what they seem” (3, 3, 133), indicating that he thinks the way people acts is the way they are. Iago takes advantage of this weakness and puts doubts and suspicion into Othello’s mind about Desdemona’s loyalty to him. Straight away this starts eating away at the normally calm and rational Othello. Othello begins to lose his confidence and sense of security in his relationship with Desdemona.
He doesn’t want to believe what Iago is telling but he can’t stop the doubt poisoning his mind. It is at this stage of the play that we see a side to Othello that has not yet been unveiled, irrational rage which he takes out on Iago “Villain be sure thou prove my love a wore, be sure of it, give me the ocular proof, or by the worth of mine eternal soul, thou hadst been better have been born a dog then answer my waked wrath.” (3, 3, 67-71). Othello hasn’t quite turned into the irrational mess of jealousy and anger that we see later on in the play, but we begin to see the
change. To portray this change in Othello, Shakespeare uses soliloquies. By hearing the thoughts and feelings of Othello without the outside influence of other characters it helps to give us a clear idea of what is really going on in Othello’s mind. Shakespeare also uses imagery to convey the change in Othello. An example of this is “I had rather be a toad, and live upon the vapor of dungeon, than keep a corner in the thing I love for others’ uses.” (3, 3, 274-277) This image is a total contradiction to the way he spoke about Desdemona in Act 1 therefore showing a dramatic change in Othello’s identity. Othello begins to resent Desdemona, of course he still loves her and cannot deny her beauty but he feels betrayed and he knows that if she has been unfaithful then he can no longer be with her. He makes this clear in his soliloquy when he says “she’s one, I am abused, and my relief must be to loathe her” (3, 3, 271-271). At this stage Othello is still not completely convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity and demands Iago come to him with some proof. Iago achieves this by convincing Emilia to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief (Othello’s first gift to her) and planting it in Cassio’s room. This obviously outrages Othello in the line “Handkerchief- confessions-handkerchief! To confess, and be hanged for his labour.” (4, 1, 35-37) The thought of Cassio with Desdemona’s handkerchief send Othello over the edge and into a downward spiral of hysterical jealousy and irrational actions. He turns into a totally different person, a green eyed monster with revenge on the brain. Again, Shakespeare uses imagery to portray this anger and hatred in Othello. For example “The fountain from the which my current runs or else dries up to be discarded thence! or keep it as a cistern for foul toads to knot and gender in!” (4, 2, 62-65). This quote shows Othello’s hatred for Desdemona, it suggest that he sees her as impure and polluted with her sins. Othello’s feelings for Desdemona are confused. He both loves her and hates her. His indicates his confusion within himself, he is lost. This confusion is apparent in the speech, “Ay let her rot and perish and be damned tonight, for she shall not live. No my heart is turned to stone. I strike it and it hurts my hand. Oh, the world hath not a sweeter creature, she might lie by an emperor’s side and command him tasks.” (4, 1, 172-176). Which is a perfect example of Othello’s confusion and the contradictions within himself, he is losing himself, and without his identity he doesn’t know where he stands. The way others perceive Othello has also changed dramatically.
At the beginning of the play we observe that Othello is a respected and admired man. But now others are shocked at what they see in him, they cannot believe that this irrational, angry man is the same as the controlled and dignified man they knew in Venice. A good example of this is when Lodovico says of Othello, “Is this the moor whom our full senate call all in all sufficient? Is this the nature whom passion could not shake?” (4, 1, 259-261). Lodovico cannot believe that this is the same man who is known for his rational thinking and ability not to be phased by anything. The change in him is so vast he is hardly recognizable as the same
man. Eventually Othello’s insane jealousy tips him to the boiling point with the help of the manipulative Iago. H kills his beautiful Desdemona. Just when he is sure of his decision, he finds out he was wrong and had in fact been strung in a web of deceit and self destruction. He realizes he has been played like a puppet without the slightest clue. He kill himself, either to do the honorable thing or to escape his misery, probably both. But before he commits suicide he has one last attempt at regaining his dignity.
He says “speak of me as I am...” (5, 2, 358) But who is Othello? Was he a proud dignified man we see at the beginning of the play who was simply tricked and manipulated? Or was this jealous monster always hiding behind the surface waiting for an opportunity such as this to make an appearance. I believe it was the latter. Of course Iago’s clever manipulation did play a huge role in the destruction of Othello but qualities cannot be brought out in a person unless they were there to begin with. I think Othello got it right when he described himself as “Of one whose hand, like the base Indian, threw a pearl away, richer then his tribe.”(5, 2, 262-264)