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Of all the villainous villains to ever create villainy, the most awesome has to be Iago from Shakespeare’s Othello. This guy managed to conspire a plot that would kill his captain’s wife, Desdemona and strip Othello’s position as captain from him, and (in theory) move Iago up the ranks and into Othello’s old position all while never allowing suspicion to land on Iago, the mastermind himself! Of course, if you’ve read Othello, you know that his plan doesn’t work out for anyone in the long run. Even though his plan failed, Iago and still a super awesome villain and all good villains need a motive; so, what was Iago’s?  Throughout Othello, it is revealed that Iago is upset that Othello was promoted to captain since Iago wanted that position and that Iago suspects Othello of sleeping with his wife, Emilia. These reasons, on the surface, may seem logical and may be excused as enough evidence to allow the story to progress but if you dig a little deeper, you’ll notice that these reasons don’t have quite enough support to make sense… Iago’s excuse that he wants Othello’s position is a good excuse for being so villainous but when he finally slinks his way into the captain’s position, he doesn’t seem all to excited. He gets promoted and yet continues to cause chaos throughout Cyprus so what could be the reasoning behind that? Well, he did make his excuse about Othello sleeping with Emilia but last I checked, Iago doesn’t seem to care too much about Emilia’s love. Even when he did bring up the idea of Othello with Emilia, Iago didn’t go into any detail and left the thought hanging, unexplained. It seems that if he cared about it, he would have made the affair into a bigger deal but Iago doesn’t. So if Iago’s reasons for causing all this trouble are neither Emilia’s possible affair or Iago’s jealousy for Othello’s position, what could it be? Maybe Iago’s not jealous for Othello’s rank but he is jealous for his love?  After all, Iago does hint at the idea of him being homosexual. While talking to Othello, Iago makes some weird comments such as saying “I am yours forever” (iii.iii.488). While he could referring to his duty to serve Othello, it is quite an odd way to say it… He could have said “I’ll always be loyal to you” or “I’ll serve you forever” but he said “I am yours forever”. That’s a pretty romantic comment, let alone to end a scene with. Iago also says that he hates women and constantly upholds his idea by mocking Desdemona, emotionally separating himself from Emilia, and showing little interest in sexual appeal. He does say that he “I do love her too” (ii.i.216) but justifies himself with mention that he loves her “Not out of absolute lust—though peradventure I stand accountant for as great a sin— But partly led to diet my revenge, For that I do suspect the lusty Moor Hath leaped into my seat.” (ii.i.217-221). Basically, he would love her in order to make Othello sad so I’m not counting that as true love in my book. Iago even gets Othello to kill Desdemona for no apparent reason other than to make Othello even more angry at himself. Desdemona wasn’t standing is Iago’s way on his rise to captain status, so killing Desdemona must have been because he wanted Othello to be lonely again… But why? So Iago could swoop in and take Othello as his true love, living out their days as lovers in Cyprus!  Iago being homosexually attracted to Othello would explain everything; his hatred for women, his romantic remarks to Othello, his unnecessary side-mission to kill Desdemona. All his hard work to gain Othello’s love, gone to waste as Othello killed himself! The facts add up; Iago, the greatest super-villain mastermind to ever grace the stage, quite possibly have been homosexual. Interesting, am-I-right? Citations:
CyberGhostface. Othello and Iago Movie Scene. Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., 21 Mar. 2005. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Othelloiagomovie.jpg#filehistory>. "I hate the Moor...". Digital image. The Lantern of Knowledge. N.p., 28 Oct. 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <https://thelanternofknowledge.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/beware-the-iago-in-all-of-us-how-to-see-evil-in-people-and-in-ourselves/>. Leighton, Edmund Blair. God Speed! Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., 1900. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtly_love>. Shakespeare, William, Sir. Othello. 1604. SparkNotes. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/othello/section5.rhtml>.
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Shakespearean plays; written in riddles and rhymes, Shakespeare has defied nearly every rule of English literature with the swapping vowels and adjectives in a sentence, ending sentences with propositions, writing with indirect tone and action, and even making up his own words.  His literature can be a pain in the butt to comprehend but once you learn the art of reading Shakespeare, his plays will be some of the most memorable literature you’ll ever encounter. His plots are complex but realistic, dramatic but humorous, and filled to the brim with dramatic irony and sex puns.  Good question, sixteenth-century-man-on-a-computer! There is no dictated procedure to reading Shakespeare but the following tips can help you get around that learning curve and send you down the road to reading his plays like a pro! Tip #1: Don’t be afraid to skip a word or two While reading, you are bound to encounter words such as “zounds”, “gage”, and “wot” but do not fear! While these words can be important to understanding the meaning of a sentence, you can almost always ignore words like these and still comprehend what is being said. Take for example this passage from Romeo and Juliet, where the nurse is talking to Juliet about Romeo; “...I’ll find Romeo To comfort you. I wot well where he is. Hark ye, your Romeo will be here at night. I’ll to him...” Even though this passage contains some Shakespearean words like “wot” and “hark ye”, it is still very readable and the general idea, that the nurse is going to get Romeo, is very clear. Even if you skip a word and find yourself confused, there is this wonderful tool called the “Internet” which allows you to finds the definition of a word and the explanations for any scenes you might have not quite of understood. Tip #2: Read like you are watching a play Shakespeare wrote plays, not novels, meaning his literature was meant to be acted out on a stage.  When you read his plays, try to imagine the characters in whatever situation they are in. The actors on a stage would enter and exit, use props, move their arms, and change their position around the stage so in order to pick up the mood of a scene, being conscientious of these things is vital to keep from getting lost. Tip #3: Read and then watch a play If you’re imagination can’t conjure up a stage and actors while you are reading, actually watching the play acted out can help you better understand just what is going on. Shakespeare is still a pretty popular guy so his plays are still being live acted today. If you are lucky enough, maybe you can buy tickets and go see the acted out version of whatever play you are reading. If that is not an option, you can always go back to the trusty ol’ Internet! YouTube has thousands of screen adaptations of scenes from Shakespeare, free to watch, that you can search for online. While this is a great opportunity and tool for understanding Shakespeare, keep in mind that Shakespeare’s plays are very interpretive and the way you read the play may be very different from the way a director portrays the same play on screen. These are just a few of the many Romeo and Juliet screen adaptations. They don’t even look like the same movie, do they? For this reason, I highly suggest that, if you decide to watch a Shakespearean play on YouTube, you watch multiple in order to compare and decide which adaptation is closest to how you interpreted. Just watching one adaptation of a play can distort your understanding whenever you think about the play again, which could be really bad if you are reading Shakespeare for school; You don’t want to mistake the star-crossed lovers for arm-wrestling comedians! To sum it all up... Shakespeare can be confusing and can be pretty difficult to just sit down and read but that doesn’t mean that his literature is any less amazing! As long as you can accept that fact that you won’t understand everything, reading Shakespeare is a very possible feat. If you struggle, go online and see what other people have to say or find a screen adaptation of the play you have read. Shakespeare’s plays were meant to be controversial and to be talked about with others, so don’t be afraid to ask an experienced reader what they thought of the play. Just remember; Reading Shakespeare isn’t easy. If it was, I wouldn’t have written this post! Just sit down, open up one of Shakespeare’s many plays, and remember the tips I’ve given you. I promise it won’t kill you. Citations:
Captainisbee. Shakespeare Confused By Computer. Digital image. William Shakespeare Things. Tumblr, 2014. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://williamshakespearethings.tumblr.com/post/68834197495/captainisbee-shakespeare-confused-by-technology>. Captainisbee. Shakespeare Mad at Computer. Digital image. William Shakespeare Things. Tumblr, 2014. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://williamshakespearethings.tumblr.com/post/68834197495/captainisbee-shakespeare-confused-by-technology>. McGlone, Peggy. Shakespeare on Stage. Digital image. NJ.com. NJ.com, 6 July 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/07/all_the_states_a_stage_nj_perf.html>. Romeo and Juliet Tamil Movie. Digital image. Kerala9.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://www.kerala9.com/movie/romeo-juliet-tamil-movie/wallpapers/page-1>. Ryan, Shane. Romeo & Juliet - 1968. Digital image. Paste Magazine. N.p., 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/04/the-7-best-shakespeare-film-adaptations.html>. Ryan, Shane. Romeo + Juliet - 1996. Digital image. Paste Magazine. N.p., 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/04/the-7-best-shakespeare-film-adaptations.html>. Like any tragedy ever, people are always looking for someone to blame. The terrorist attack on the Twin Towers? Blame the Muslims. Great Depression? Blame the U.S. government. Even something as miniscule as a student getting a bad grade? Blame the teacher, the school, anyone at all as long as someone takes the blame. Shakespeare’s Othello is no different in the fact that all the death and misfortune that happens throughout the play needs to originate from something. Identifying that something is what we’re here to talk about.  In my A.P. Literature class, we all would take roles, read through Othello outloud, and would normally discuss our thoughts after each act. Throughout the play, it’s pretty safe to say that almost everybody would agree that Iago carries some of the blame; After all, he was the one who actually planned the whole thing out and went through with it. But then there was always that one student who would point out that “Iago’s plan really sucked and he got pretty lucky, so is it entirely his fault?” and it’s true. Iago’s plan could have been stopped in its tracks by so many possibilities; like what if Cassio didn’t have another drink? Or if Desdemona didn’t nag Othello about Cassio’s demotion, or if Desdemona never dropped the handkerchief or if Emilia didn’t give it to Iago or if Othello could not be convinced? There are so many if”s in Iago’s plan that Iago alone could not have made his plan go as far as it did. Of course, Roderigo was sided with Iago throughout the play but, other than attempting to kill Cassio (keyword: “attempt”), he didn’t make that much of an impact on the whole situation. So, considering all the reasons previously mentioned, I think there is only one option for who to blame for this tragedy… Everyone is to blame. Iago set the whole thing into motion but if you stop and do some solid, deep thinking about this, the ignorance and stupidity of all the other characters is what really makes Iago’s plan pick up pace and go crashing through their lives. Still don’t believe me? Othello wouldn’t listen to Desdemona, Desdemona wouldn’t just tell Othello the truth about Cassio, Cassio couldn’t resist alcohol and fought Roderigo, Roderigo was too much of a wuss to stand up for himself, Emilia gave the handkerchief to Iago to get his respect, and Iago is… Well, we already covered him and I think you get the idea. If just one person had some common sense and looked at the bigger picture of the situation, they could have noticed that Iago was setting them up and no one would have had to get killed or injured. Therefore, The Blame Game winner is everyone! Everyone wins, everyone loses; HOORAY!  Citations:
Swedloff, Michael. Blame Game: Blame Everyone Else. Digital image. MichaelSwerdloff.com. Michael Swerdloff, 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://www.michaelswerdloff.com/the-relationship-blame-game/>. Oprah Winfrey Meme. Digital image. Meme Generator. Meme Generator, n.d. Web. 1 Feb. 2016. <http://memegenerator.net/instance/60248254>. |
