Act 3 scene 3 BIG QUESTION 1

Reflect on Act 3 scene 3 so far. Do you think Iago is an opportunist or a strategist? You must give reasons for your response, with quotations from the play to support your opinion.

Because Iago shows elements of planning his manipulations and of acting out on them so cleverly, I believe that Shakespeare has presented Iago as both an opportunist and a strategist. He does this by cleverly collecting and storing important information from other characters until the time is best to use it to trick people into following his plan. It is evident that Iago collects this information by behaving duplicitously so that he gains others' trust. 

The definition of a 'strategist' is to plan action against people and the audience are made aware from the start that Iago wishes to bring Othello and Cassio down to his level (either in the social hierarchy or the occupational ladder) by manipulating them both. An exmaple of how Iago has pulled Othello down to his social level would be when Othello says that he is 'bound' to Iago forever, like a slave is bound to their master forever. It is no secret that he strategizes how to do this when he reveals his plans to the audience in his dramatic soliloquies. For example in Act 2 Scene 1 he seems to have finalised his plans to portray Desdemona commiting infidelity when he says 'I put the Moor

At least into a jealousy so strong/that judgement cannot cure'. Throughout the play, Iago's soliloquies support the idea that he is a strategist because he plots what his next move will be. 

If Iago is a strategist then it should be argued that he is an opportunist in order to peruse his strategies.This is portrayed through how Iago uses information that he has gathered all at once in order to persuade Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful. Firstly, Iago uses the power of suggestion by saying 'O beware, my lord, of jelousy', to give Othello the impression that whatever Desdemona has done would lead him to be jealous. Cleverly Shakespeare has set up the foundation that the problem lies within Desdemona's loyalty. Although Othello states that he will not be driven mad, iago succeeds in doing so by listing why Desdemona commiting infedility could be true. The list begins with Iago mentioning where Desdemona is from 'In Venice they do let God see the pranks they dare not show their husbands', this links to the idea that when Othello was written, venetian women slept around so who's to say that Desdemona would not do the same? Iago then goes on to use evidence of how Desdemona had deceieved her father when marrying Othello so she has experience to do the same again. Continuing his powers of persuasion, Iago carries on planting seeds of doubt to ensure that Othello is uncertain with Desdemona by highlighting their obvious differences: 'clime, complexion, and degree', in other words using Othello's otherness for more manipulation. This proves that Iago takes advantage of his opportunity to bring Othello down by picking on every ounce of truth that could prove he is correct. He even returns after he has 'left' to ask Othello to keep Cassio and Desdemona distanced, feeding into his plan as he has already told Cassio to ask Desdemona for help in order to get his position back as lieutenant. 

In conclusion, Iago seems to be a combination of a strategist and an opportunist because he gains important information from certain characters throughout the play and only uses his knowledge of this information when the time is right for it to be the most persuasive.

David Tennant as Iago

David Tennant is usually presented as the friendly and bubbly character such as when he played Doctor Who. However in more recent productions, David Tennant plays Killgrave in the tv series Jessica Jones, the evil mind controller. This shows that David Tennant is capable of pulling off a manipulative character who is trusted by his fellow characters but only cares for himself and therefore fitting the role of Iago perfectly. Also, I think David Tennant should act as Iago because he could bring a psychotic characteristic to the role, making the play more modern as he could be mentally ill, explaining why Iago causes so much trouble in Othello.

Act 2 Scene 3

1. Iago switches from verse to prose when he speaks with Cassio, and Cassio follows. What does this indicate about the exchange? What might it indicate about Cassio?
Cassio is a noble gentleman and speaks in verse throughout the play apart from Act 2 Scene 3. Iago speaks in prose towards other characters as it is more persuasive, and represents him as a gentleman. However, when Iago does not need to persuade the character any further he shifts to prose (the colloquial language). Cassio stays very formal in his language towards all the characters but when he very rarely speaks in prose in this scene, it shows that Cassio can be easily manipulated, as he is being brought down to Iago's level in the social hierarchy by speaking in a less formal manner.


2. What language does Cassio use when speaking about Desdemona? How does it compare to the language Iago uses to sexualise her? Why do you think Iago is speaking about Desdemona in this way to Cassio?
Cassio thinks very highly of Desdemona and this is portrayed through his kind choice of words 'she is indeed perfection'. It could be seen that Cassio uses a lexical field of beauty and purity, suggesting that he would not do anything to harm her, or anyone close to her including Othello. However this differs from Iago's descriptive metaphors of Desdemona being a sexual object, which can be seen when he says that she is 'full of game' meaning that she is sexually very active. In fact, Iago up to this point in the play, Iago only ever seems to reference women to sex, securing the patriarchal ideologies that were present during Shakespeare's day.


3. How does Iago persuade Cassio to drink? Use your close reading skills to analyse the language he uses.
Iago says that Cassio should drink because the 'gallants desire it'. Cassio cannot say no to this as he is the lieutenant, and he would be letting his troops down otherwise. Although Cassio is aware that drink will arise anger in him, he agrees because Iago has manipulated him to do so. Additionally, Iago says that he'll drink for him, once Cassio has had 'one cup' but obviously Cassio continues to drink after his 'one cup'.


4. Why does Iago try to subvert the social order and bring others down to his level, rather than try to climb the ladder and raise himself up?
Iago could be described as a proletariat compared to Cassio in Othello. This would explain why he is so jealous of Cassio and Othello because he is of a lower ranking in the social hierarchy to them so he misses out on important opportunities such as becoming Othello's lieutenant. Iago's wish is to come out on top, to be the highest in power and in order to do this he brings the other characters down to his level, by reducing their reputations - or in other words reducing their masculinity. This way he will have more masculinity, which was what was desired of someone to be a leader during Shakespearian times. 


5. Othello says “My blood begins my safer guides to rule/And passion, having my best judgements collied/Assays to lead the way.” (lines 201-203) What does this quotation reveal about the effects of Iago’s knavery in this scene?
Othello describes himself as to be irrational and being uncontrollable once he is led by emotions, which links Othello as John Porey's stereotype of black people, highlighting Shakespeare's era as being racist. This gives the audience clues as to what Iago's plan is because he wants to mess with Othello's emotions in order to lower him in the social hierarchy, although he is black he is still more powerful than Iago because of his high reputation. In summary, Othello is admitting that he often let anger take over himself, which is his hubris. This scene reveals that Iago has been wanting to play with the character's emotions from the start by being duplicitous towards them and so far he is succeeding.


6. Why is the scene important in relation to the play as a whole?
The audience can see just how evil a character Iago is by him causing chaos for the other characters and then coming out as the innocent one towards the end of the scene by manipulating the situations to his favour. In this scene, Iago has managed to present Cassio as a bad lieutenant towards Othello by getting him drunk and provoking him to fight through Roderigo. He also manages to convince Roderigo even further that Desdemona's second choice is Cassio, resulting in Roderigo having no second thoughts to Iago telling him to cause trouble. This has a knock on effect with Othello withdrawing lieutenant responsibilities, leading Iago to succeed in his plan.
Overall, the character's are revealed as all being very different. Cassio is seemed as a push over and very easily manipulated and Iago takes advantage of his kindness/hospitality. Iago cleverly makes himself look innocent even though he took his whole time to incriminate Cassio.  

Act 2 - Scene 1

1. Re-read Act 2 Scene 1 lines 95-100. What sort of person is Cassio?
Cassio is from Florence, different to everyone else who are from Venice. In Florence, people act differently to how people act in Venice. Cassio has been brought up to be very kind, open and friendly so it is no surprise that he is always kissing and hugging the women. This does not necessarily  mean that he is a womaniser, but he is just very welcoming to his friends.


2&3. How does Iago plan to use Cassio’s character traits to usurp and ensnare both Cassio and Othello? What does Iago tell Roderigo to do, and why does Iago say it will help Roderigo to win Desdemona’s heart?
Iago convinces Roderigo that Cassio is bound to be Desdemona's second choice when she grows bored of Othello because they are so close and he has such 'hidden loose affection'. Iago soon figures out that he can trick everybody into thinking that Cassio and Desdemona are together behind Othello's back, and so far he has already convinced Roderigo. Because Iago believes that Othello 'hath leap'd into my seat', he feels that he must get revenge and he plans to do this by making the Othello mad with jealousy.
Iago knows that Cassio has a bad reputation as a drunk, and this is shown when he says 'he's rash and very sudden in choler'. Iago has no trouble with getting Roderigo to agree to anger Cassio during a celebration for beating the Turks.
Overall, Iago plans to use Cassio's goodwill and friendliness to his advantage by making it seem out of lust for Desdemona.
4. What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in Act 2? What is the effect of having him share his thoughts and plans with us through his soliloquies? Pay attention to the language used in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of descriptive language does he use? How does it contribute to the picture of Iago that Shakespeare is drawing?

Iago is a very duplicitous character as he is deceitful towards all of the other characters, including his wife! Although he acts as the trustworthy good friend, he is nothing but the opposite! By sharing his thoughts and plans to the audience in his many soliloquies, the audience become aware of his plan, whilst the other characters on stage are unknowing. This creates dramatic irony because we know more about what is going on than the characters do, adding to the effect of the play being more tragic and dramatic towards the end.
Additionally, Iago speaks in prose whilst talking to the fellow characters but when he is only speaking to the audience (in his 'asides') he is speaking in prose. By speaking in prose he automatically sounds more sophisticated compared to whilst he talks in prose, which is more informal and friendly. This gives the audience an idea of his manipulative character and the way he can switch his 'personality' on and off to accommodate his plans. By doing this, Shakespeare has made it clear that he intends Iago to be the villain in Othello.
Iago uses numerous pronouns in his final soliloquy 'I' giving the impression that he only cares about himself, which is shown by how he uses characters to get what he wants. In conclusion, Shakespeare is drawing an image of a character who only cares about getting what he wants, and will not stop until he gets it.