An essay about Othello (or Iago, rather)
A house, in the Western — but not too far west — suburbs of Melbourne. May 29th, 2019. Around 11. Up the stairs, in the bedroom furthest back. A student — The Student — no older than sixteen, sits on his bed, his face in his laptop screen. Sweat pools on the corners of his laptop under his palms. His shoulders slump. His school uniform lays in a pile on the icy hardwood floor that he dares not touch, lest it chill him anymore. He reaches down, picking up the crumpled Mount Franklin bottle, taking a sip of days-old, room temperature water from the deformed receptacle. He screws the cap back on, the ridges almost stinging his cold hands. He reads out what currently is of his essay.
“Iago’s most powerful weapon is “words”. Do you agree?” The Student sighs. Keys clack. The essay glares back at him, its face otherwise blank. “I don’t know. Do I? I guess so.”
“Well, you did say it in your plan, didn’t you? And you don’t have much time left before this draft is due.”
The Student jumps back. “Oi! The hell did you come from?”
“I’ve been here the whole time,” The Reliable replies. “And I am you.”
“You sneaky bastard.”
The Reliable peers down at the water bottle. “Hey that water’s tepid and it looks like shit. Like you and your writing.” He looks back up. The Student looks offended. “So, tell me: what’s this?” The Reliable asks.
“An essay.”
“On what?”
“Othello.”
“What topic?”
“We had to choose from like 60 of them.”
“And?”
“This one.”
The Reliable glances down at the screen. The Student butts in.
“Wait, you already bloody know this. Why are you acting like you haven’t seen this before?”
“Still. Wow. Great choice.”
“Gee, thanks. Extremely encouraging.”
“Whatever. You want my help or not?”
“Yeah.” He pauses. “Well I guess you have to, don’t you? I have control of you. You’re like my puppet.”
“Yeah but you’re still the one doing all the work. I’m here for moral support, or some shit like that. Remember that this final copy is due next Friday — June 7th. And you got that science report, that philosophy draft, that careers thing, and that music composition all on that day too. And you have exams around that time as well. And those music things. And that maths presentation. Man, you’re positively stuffed. But here I am, at your service.”
The Student’s shoulders slump further. “I take back what I said about VCE being not too much of a step up.” He laments, exhaling sharply. “This is gonna kill me.”
The Reliable buckles down. “Well, let’s start, why don’t we? You have a topic. You did that weird plan, yeah?”
The Student nods. He brings up the plan. His muscle memory engages as he rapidly presses Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, transferring his contention and topic sentences into the new document. The Essay is no longer so blank but feels empty still. It reads:
Iago uses words in order to control people he considers below him, like Brabantio, Roderigo and Cassio.
Iago’s use of words also ensnares the audience and brings them along to watch Othello fall with his openness towards them.
Iago’s use of words is crucial in formulating a fake persona with which he is able to gain the trust of Othello.
“What?” The Reliable begins. He gathers his words. “Those are your topic sentences? Uh… I guess we gotta work with what we have. Great.” He says the last word under his breath. “Where are we going from here?”
“Honestly, I’m just tryina copy the structure of my year nine essay,” The Student casually remarks.
The Reliable pauses. “The one on Twelfth Night?”
“Yeah, that one.” The Student answers. “Those essays are so dry, though. It’s not helping me much. Or at all, really. I actually hate this so much. Why can’t I write a story?”
The Reliable replies bluntly. “Because that’s not what’s being assessed.” He scrunches his face up and continues. “I guess that’s one way to go, and you desperately need to catch up. Try and see how you wrote that Twelfth Night essay. Copy that introduction structure.” Keys click.
In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, the titular character is deceived and controlled by the devious villain Iago. Whilst Iago is a skilled warrior and officer in the army, Iago’s most powerful weapon, rather than anything physical, is “words”. This is displayed as he —
The Student pauses. He taps the space bar, then backspace key, repeating this several times.
The Reliable pipes up. “How about this?” He picks up the laptop
— controls those like Brabantio, Roderigo and Cassio. Iago also ropes the audience into his schemes and creates a fake persona to fool Othello. All this is done through his manipulation of words.
“Doesn’t the wording seem a bit too similar to the topic sentences?” The Student asks.
“What we have we have. Let’s face it, you’ll get nothing better if this is what your hardworking side gives you. Just get this done.”
“Okay, Big Will. What’ve you got for me?”
“Sorry, what? You’re not calling Shakespeare ‘Big Will’. The greatest writer of all time is not ‘Big Will’.”
“Oh, have I struck a chord?” The Student asks mockingly. “Hey, Iago’s just the parrot from Aladdin, isn’t he?”
“That shows Shakespeare’s reach, though, doesn’t it?”
“Wow. Look who’s so cultured now, huh?” The Student teases.
“Okay, let’s not do this friendly thing then.”
“Hey. I’m tired and I need ideas. They’re coming from anywhere right now.”
“Sure.” He pauses. “I mean there’s interests you have that can link, but they’re hardly relevant or literary masterpieces. God, the amount of trivial connections you can make is astounding. Alright. Quotes. Let’s go. First topic sentence.”
Iago uses words in order to control people he considers below him, like Brabantio, Roderigo and Cassio.
The Student begins. “Okay.” He drums his fingers on the laptop surface. “Yup. So… Iago’s like really open with Roderigo at the start, yeah?”
“Yeah. Quote for that?”
“This one.”
“I am not what I am” (Act 1.1)
“Uh-huh. TEEL, remember? Explanation. Come on…” The Reliable prompts.
“If he’s open with Roderigo, he doesn’t feel the need to conceal that much from him.”
“Well, that’s what being open means. We’re moving too slowly here.”
“Wait. Yeah, he thinks Roderigo’s below him.”
“But that doesn’t stop him from utilising his words with him, does it?” The Reliable asks.
“No. The Student replies. “No, it doesn’t,” he says more assuredly. “He still does. Iago’s open with Roderigo because Roderigo’s too blinded by his apparent love for Desdemona. Iago can say a hell of a lot more to Roderigo because at those moments he’s too dumb to really register anything too shady.”
“Good. There’s a point. What else? We gotta fill these paragraphs.”
“Iago can use his words more-ish when he tells Brabantio about Desdemona and Othello.”
“Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags!
Thieves, thieves!” (Act 1.1)
“Yeah…” The Reliable urges him on.
“In that quote,” The Student points at it. “The wording Big Will gives to Iago puts those types of thoughts into Brabantio’s mind.”
“What thoughts?”
“That he’s had property stolen. Because Desdemona is Brabantio’s property, apparently. Iago’s reinforcing this,” The Student explains.
“Yeah, I get you…” The Reliable starts. “Yeah. Decent point. He sets Brabantio on Othello’s tail from the very beginning.”
“Yeah! Exactly.” The Student carries the thought. “Iago’s pressured Othello already by pissing off a senator with a few remarks.”
“Good, you’re getting this…” The Reliable says. “Next quote?”
“Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our
wills are gardeners. So that if we will plant nettles
or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme,
supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it
with many, either to have it sterile with idleness or
manured with industry, why the power and corrigible
authority of this lies in our wills.” (Act 1.3)
“Iago again talks the hell out of Roderigo and shoves some sense at him. I’m not even sure if Roderigo properly understands this.” The Student says. “He gets really poetic here, doesn’t he?”
The Reliable nods. “That garden metaphor is probably how Roderigo comprehends it. Or thinks he does. That probably wasn’t that hard for Iago to conjure up. Come on. Let’s keep going. This one. Iago’s not saying anything to anyone.”
“If I can fasten but one cup upon him
With that which he hath drunk tonight already,
He’ll be as full of quarrel and offense
As my young mistress’ dog.” (Act 2.3)
“But he knows what Cassio will say and do. He’ll quarrel and get into fight if he just gets drunk. Which he does. Bunch of people get stabbed.”
“Well, not a whole lot,” The Reliable corrects.
“This is a pretty good example of Iago, by extension, using words to wield a weapon, huh?” The Student notices. “Wow, it was pretty easy for him to manipulate those guys. But I see it. They’re idiots. Some of them. Hey, that’s the first topic sentence done.”
“Second topic sentence.” The Reliable announces.
The Student nudges The Reliable. “Hey, I need contemporary links.”
“You like musicals.” The Reliable replies. “You can link it to those, right? Both Hamilton and Jesus Christ Superstar have antagonist narrators.”
“I dunno. Iago’s sorta the main character, yeah?”
“Well I mean, there’s that part of everyone that wants to be the smartest, and in this case that’s Iago, isn’t it?”
“Damn. That works…ish. How can I be that smart?”
“You practically are, you numbskull. I’m you.” The Reliable retorts.
“Fair point. But there’s sympathy for both of these musicals’ narrators there. It’s a different sort of thing with Iago. You just kinda feel like you’re along for the ride.”
“Okay, yeah, Aaron Burr was misunderstood by history, and Hamilton just painted a larger picture of him, but the way he’s written is still off to the side, reserved, hiding thoughts, but telling us. Like Iago. In My Shot, he doesn’t rap with everyone else. And for about every other song, Lin-Manuel Miranda writes him into an introductory exposition part — ”
“Wait why’d you say Lin-Manuel Miranda’s full name?” The Student butts in.
“It just sounds right that way. Anyway, as I was saying…” he glares at The Student. “Sure, Burr is the ‘villain’ but he’s human. And the narrator.”
“Right. I get you,” The Student agrees. “Man, it is an impeccably written show. The characters’ falls are so well orchestrated. That video about the motifs was great.”
“There’s another difference, too. Burr’s actually trying to hold Hamilton back for most of the show — for Hamilton’s good. Not like Iago. Burr’s all ‘wait’ while Hamilton’s ‘go’. But, when Burr finally goes for President, Hamilton screws him over, because he believes Jefferson, his enemy, is a better fit. So, when Burr challenges Hamilton to that duel, he’s not really considering the consequences, and I guess both Hamilton and Othello show the power of jealousy.” The Reliable explains. “But, when it comes to Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas is Judas. The villain of villains. The killer of Christ. But I guess Iago is also considered a villain of villains. Get the plot for Jesus Christ Superstar up.”
They both skim and scan the Wikipedia page.
“Ha. Judas feels bad and stuff,” The Student interjects.
“Huh. Okay. They don’t need to share the exact same narrative. They are different characters. It makes him more human. Iago’s arguably a psychopath. Like the Unabomber. That’s what those questions in your essay plan were about, yeah? Wow, how dated is that book the questions are from?”
The Student chuckles. “Yeah, some of them were about that.”
The Reliable begins again. “If Iago’s a psychopath, then it’s even better on Shakespeare’s part that we be with Iago for the majority of the story.” His eyes light up. “The soliloquies…” he says with realisation. “That’s how he does it. Your second topic sentence, this is great for that! Go check your quotes.”
“Yeah, here are some. Looks like a bunch of soliloquies Big Will would write,” The Student says. They read.
“I hate the Moor:
And it is thought abroad, that ‘twixt my sheets
‘Has done my office. I know not if’t be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety.” (Act 1.3)
“That one,” The Reliable starts, “Shows how Iago’s motives could be anything. He doesn’t know if Othello slept with his wife. But he doesn’t care. A rumour’s good enough evidence. Anything to take Othello down.”
“Cassio’s a proper man. Let me see now:
To get his place and to plume up my will
In double knavery — How, how? Let’s see.
After some time, to abuse Othello’s ear
That he is too familiar with his wife.
He hath a person and a smooth dispose
To be suspected, framed to make women false.
The Moor is of a free and open nature,
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose
As asses are.
I have ‘t. It is engendered. Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.” (Act 1.3)
“One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
A fellow almost damned in a fair wife,
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster” (Act 1.1)
“There! Put those in,” The Reliable suggests. They’re easily at least a couple hundred words. There, Iago gives us, admittedly, quite good reasons to doubt them. Shakespeare sort of blurs the line with how reliable everyone but him is. Is he even reliable, though?”
“See, there, it does make us question whether Cassio should be out there in the field working above Iago. And in doing that, it can also make us begin to question Othello’s judgement.” The Student says.
The Reliable raises his eyebrow, then refocuses. He strokes his chin. “But you know what I think is a powerful move too? We never learn Iago’s full motives. The audience, who he soliloquises with. Soliloquise? Is that a word?” The Student shrugs. The Reliable continues. “Anyway, it’s left open to us and the characters in the end. Shakespeare — ”
“ — Big Will.”
“Shut up.” The Reliable snaps. “Shakespeare brings us back to the not-villains once he’s done showing us Iago. Iago himself does it too. He tells us he’s finished.”
“Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word.” (Act 5.2)
“When he says those lines, they’re to Othello and us. He unhooks us after he’s dragged us along behind his boat with everyone else who is in the play, after pulling us in with some dramatic irony and his soliloquies where we’re forced to listen to all of his rants, which start to seem right.”
“I get it, I get it.” The Student says as he types, nodding. “God, I hate this so much. I swear I’m just gonna implode on June 7th.” His head shoots up. “Oi, do you reckon there’s a link from Othello to the process of writing an essay about Othello?”
“What the hell are you thinking? Don’t be an idiot. Who’d try and find a link there? That’d be so immensely and painfully contrived and tenuous.”
“Wow, sounding so poetic there. Morale’s doing great here. Thanks for asking.”
“How good of a writer do you need to think of yourself as being to try and tackle something like that in Year Ten? Plus, there’s no coherent, let alone interesting, narrative you can find here, is there? Just you talking to yourself. But you do already talk in a way that’s at least fractionally closer to dialogue from a screenplay than most. But, how meta are you trying to go here?”
“Aight, I dunno. Do I? Doesn’t matter. I need a shower.”
The Student gets up. He walks to the bathroom. He is jolted wide awake as his feet hit the floorboards, then the tiles. Brushing his teeth always seems to wake him up, he’s noticed. He takes a shower. His face’s reflection is distorted as he turns the chrome handle toward the red line on the left. The water takes a while to warm up, as it does. He steps under, relishing its warmth. It turns ice-cold. He jumps forward, turning around. “Obey me! Give me the bloody water! Let me have one thing go the way I want,” he begs.
Several minutes later, the Student steps out of the shower, tiptoeing back to his room. The Reliable looks up. “The hell took so long in the shower?”
“It’s bloody cold today!”
“And the yelling?”
“Oh, that? Nothing. Just the casual outburst of rage and questioning everything and everyone, then the anxious collapse onto the floor near-tears.”
“Fun.”
“God, I can’t do this.”
“There’s no time for tears or punching the bed. You have to get this — and everything else — done. And how weak can you be if you start crying over a couple essays?”
The Student grits his teeth. “Last topic sentence. Home stretch. let’s go.” He punches the top of his thigh three times. “Wait. I gotta get something.”
“Of course you do,” The Reliable scoffs.
The Student heads downstairs. He opens the fridge, the glow illuminating the whole half of the otherwise pitch-black kitchen. He fetches a cup of jelly. Going to close the door, he hesitates. He grabs another cup. And some cream. And some fruit. He slops them into a bowl, trudging back upstairs.
“Did you mix and set the jelly while you were down there?” The Reliable exclaims.
“Oi, stop hassling me. It’s not your essay.”
“But it is. I’m you, you idiot.” He shakes his head. “I have to stay up with you. Next topic sentence.”
“Well I’ll keep you here longer, whether I want to or not.” The Student begins to eat. “This is the last topic sentence.”
Iago’s use of words is crucial in formulating a fake persona with which he is able to gain the trust of Othello.
“Jesus Christ, this isn’t that great,” The Student remarks.
“What even is that monstrosity of a bowl?” The Reliable enquires.
“Trifle, I think.”
“Wow, how posh.”
“Yeah, this isn’t good.” The Student gets up, and picks up his iPad, still reading up on Jesus Christ Superstar. He skips down the stairs. Getting to the kitchen again, he scarfs down the jelly, and pours the cream and some fragments of fruit from a height, feeling dramatic. They float through the air down into the sink. He bounds back upstairs.
“What a waste,” The Reliable comments.
“Well we do have to get to work, don’t we? Let’s get more quotes from the plan out. There’s someone in my class who’s finished already. God, if I could do that, I would bloody buy myself a treat or something.” The Student replies.
“Sounds great. And you sound jealous.”
“Well, yeah,” The Student admits.
“What’s the next quote?” The Reliable asks. They read it.
“Trifles light as air
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ. This may do something.” (Act 3.3)
“Easy.” The Student says. “We covered this one in class. Iago’s already got Othello in his vices. He starts to turn up his dodgier side. Othello’s starting to go blind with rage and jealousy. Iago’s pulled him with his suggestions, so he knows Othello can be manipulated with even smaller and less significant suggestions. There’s another quote, actually.”
“I know, Iago, thy honesty and love doth mince matter” (Act 2.3)
The Student continues. “It’s from earlier on, and it shows how much Othello trusts Iago already. Because of how Iago always chats himself into the role of the nice, reliable underling, like he says with these quotes — all the way from the start and the middle, too.”
“Though I do hate him as I do hell pains,
Yet, for necessity of present life,
I must show out a flag and sign of love —
Which is indeed but sign.”’ (Act 1.1)
“I hope you will consider what is spoke
Comes from my love. But I do see you’re moved.
I am to pray you not to strain my speech
To grosser issues nor to larger reach
Than to suspicion.” (Act 3.3)
“Iago asks Othello not to strain his speech. He feeds him these things on a spoon, so Othello has to accept them. If Iago’s already saying don’t take what he has to say out of proportion, then Othello obviously, even if subconsciously, will.
“The same effect as being told not to do something, and immediately doing it. Yeah,” The Reliable says. “I like this apologetic subordinate thing that you noticed Iago does. He helps Othello and self-deprecates at times to gain his trust. Othello thinks he’s his most reliable soldier. Hey, do you need more links to stuff you like?”
The Student thinks. “Thor! That’s Kenneth Branagh, right?” He exclaims.
“Great, you’re showing proof that you’ve seen a bit of the movie adaptation we had to watch in class. That’s like only quoting the scenes we read in class. Definitely makes you look like the most dedicated and diligent student in the class.” The Reliable remarks.
“Well, at least they read the lines well. It brought it to life and made it a little more compelling.”
“If you say so.”
“Nah but going back to Thor. The first one — ”
“The arguably boring one,” The Reliable jokes.
“That’s beside the point. Kenneth Branagh loves to bring that Shakespearean flair to everything he does. So why not make the bombastic, mythical Asgardians be Shakespearean? Loki’s sorta like Iago. He’s literally a trickster; the God of Mischief.”
“Okay, we’re getting somewhere…”
“Loki has cool Asgardian powers. Iago’s just a dude who can talk well. But I guess words are powerful.”
“Well, yeah. That’s the point you’re arguing for.”
“Is Thor like Othello? He’s naïve and falls for Loki’s tricks all the time. But they’re kind of played as jokes.”
“That’s just Marvel’s tone,” The Reliable replies.
“I guess they simplified it quite a bit, too. Loki — because he’s a Joten — is actually the minority there. And Thor’s reasons for being so gullible are more clear-cut and less muddy than Othello’s. He’s too privileged, being the son of the king. And with him being the protagonist, he has to have a journey to go on for the story to progress nicely.”
“See, you can have decent points. Good tangent,” The Reliable admits.
“I was just thinking that at least this is more interesting than that science prac write-up, The Student remarks.” I actually wanna kill that thing so much.”
“Killing the report and this’d be like killing two birds with one stone. Or really the second bird gets back up because you still have to write the report up.”
“What are you trying to say? The Student asks. “You’re the intelligent side of me. That’s just convoluted and confusing.”
The Reliable exhales. “Like how Iago tries to stab Cassio then stabs Roderigo but Cassio’s not dead, and — ” He gives up. “Just write this goddamn essay.”
“Hey look!” The Student notices. “Iago isn’t too great with a knife then, is he?”
“Write.”
“Hey but I guess Loki’s also remembered as a good villain because he was memorable.” The Student continues. “He was charismatic, and he had clear, defined goals. Maybe Iago isn’t as charismatic — or it’s fake charisma, rather — but Loki ends up tricking a bunch of people in the first Avengers. I guess his sceptre is a metaphor for it. One touch to the chest and it gives him control of you. That’s essentially what Iago can do too, but with one word.”
“Maybe not one word, but yeah. Good points, I guess.” The Reliable admits.
“Hey, I think we’re just about done. Finally… this took forever.” The Student says as he types. He looks at the rubric as he goes to submit the essay. His eyes go wide, and his face ruby. His brow then furrows, his fist clenching. “You goddamn tricked me, you villain. This is meant to be an informal essay! You’ve killed my chances at any respectable mark!” He erupts, “Go to hell! Why would you do this to me?”
The Reliable speaks. “You’ll get nothing from me.” He pauses. “Except…” His words creep up and out of his mouth. “You can’t even bloody focus on anything. This is already late. Why not swindle you? And it was so easy.”
“How did I get screwed over by my rational self?” The Student exclaims, bewildered.
“Because you’re an irresponsible, gullible, bumbling idiot. You’ve procrastinated the hell out of everything. You’re that bad that even I gave up on you. Just submit it. You still have a buttload of other assignments to get done. What can you do now? Just ‘Exeunt’. Do you even know what that means?”
The Student attaches the file, and firmly clicks ‘submit’. He replies. “Yeah. It means you can piss off, you ‘Execun — ‘“
Bibliography:
Boston Review. (2017). Hamilton’s Choice. [online] Available at: http://bostonreview.net/forum/martha-c-nussbaum-hamiltons-choice [Accessed 1 Jun. 2019].
Io9.gizmodo.com. (2019). [online] Available at: https://io9.gizmodo.com/kenneth-branagh-explains-why-thor-really-is-like-shakes-5798190?IR=T [Accessed 1 Jun. 2019].
Nostbakken, F. (2002). Understanding “Othello”: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Greenwood Publishing Group, pp.1–25, 171–221.
Shmoop.com. (2019). Othello Iago Quotes Page 1. [online] Available at: https://www.shmoop.com/othello/iago-quotes.html [Accessed 22 May 2019].
The British Library. (2019). Character analysis: Iago in Othello. [online] Available at: https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/character-analysis-iago-in-othello [Accessed 28 May 2019].
