OTHELLO: CHARACTER OF IAGO

IAGO:



I follow him to serve my turn upon him:


We cannot all be masters, nor all masters


Cannot be truly follow'd. You shall mark


Many a duteous and kneecrooking knave,


That doting on his own obsequious bondage


Wears out his time, much like his master's ass,


For naught but provender; and, when he's old, cashier'd.


Whip me such honest knaves. Others there are,


Who, trimm'd in forms and visages of duty,


Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,


And throwing but shows of service on their lords


Do well thrive by them; and when they have lined their


coats


Do themselves homage. These fellows have some soul,


And such a one do I profess myself.


For, sir,


It is as sure as you are Roderigo,


Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago.


In following him, I follow but myself;


Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,


But seeming so, for my peculiar end.


For when my outward action doth demonstrate


The native act and figure of my heart


In complement extern, 'tis not long after


But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve


For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.






Act 1, Scene 1, Lines 43-68






Summary


As the play opens, Iago has been passed over for promotion by his commander, Othello, in favor of an untried Michael Cassio. Despite his military experience, Iago says, he has been deemed of lesser worth than a mere “arithmetician,” and Iago must take the lesser position of “ancient” (ensign). When Roderigo states that he would rather be Othello’s hangman than to be humiliated by being placed in a lower position, Iago says that it is the “curse of service.” It is in response to Roderigo’s view that it would be better not to serve Othello at all that Iago makes the above speech. He confesses he does not serve Othello out of duty to Othello but rather out of self-interest. Iago professes disdain for those who serve out of “duty,” such a course being obsequious and fawning. Iago holds the view that there is a better class of servants—those who give the mere appearance of self-denying service but are in fact in service to themselves above all. Iago professes himself to be of this class. Although he may seem to be serving out of devotion to Othello, Iago would consider himself reproachable for submitting to the whims of any other person, no matter how noble that person may be. He confesses freely, “I am not what I am.”






Analysis


Iago is one of the most disingenuous characters in the works of Shakespeare. He never presents his true self to anyone, nor does he reveal the true motives for his actions. The one exception is in this section, in which he is transparent to Roderigo about his non-transparency. He flatly states that he is not what he appears to be. With this confession, the audience is warned not to take anything he says at face value. This sets the stage for the observation of continuous irony in many instances and many conversations. Knowing him to be false, the audience can see through his words although the other characters are blind.






Iago states baldly, “I follow him to serve my turn upon him,” which means that he follows Othello to use him for Iago’s own ends. There is no sense of duty involved; it is pure self-interest and self-advancement. Iago’s sole virtue is the "virtue of selfishness," to borrow a phrase from the author and founder of the philosophy of Objectivism, Ayn Rand. Self-interest is the only foundation that one’s life should be built on. Altruism is a lie, because even in aiding another, one is expecting some form of reciprocity, either from the individual, others, society, or God. There is no truly unselfish person. Iago is the epitome of pure selfishness.






Iago then goes on to say, “We cannot all be masters, nor all masters / Cannot be truly followed.” In the first phrase, Iago is being a bit disingenuous because he expects that he, and indeed all men, are to be masters of their own fate. In stating that not all masters can be truly followed, the insinuation is that not all masters (in this case, specifically Othello) deserve to be followed. Iago expected to be rewarded by an advance in rank. Othello has denied him, and thus Othello has proved himself not worthy of his leadership role.






Iago denigrates those servants who claim they serve out of love of their master. He is sickened by the fawning manners of those who seek only the advancement of their leader. Such service is unworthy of any decent human being. Being a servant is one thing; to be a “slave” is totally reprehensible. To Iago, there is no virtue in being virtuous, especially in unselfish devotion to a leader. Yet Iago freely chooses to appear to be virtuous, for without this dissemblance there is no chance of advancement. But to be so in truth would make him too vulnerable, “wearing his heart upon his sleeve for daws to peck at.”






“I am not what I am,” Iago says, a very bold and significant statement. On the surface, he plainly warns Roderigo not to believe what he sees in Iago. His message to his friend is, “Don’t trust anyone, especially me.” But on a larger scale, this statement portrays the character of Iago as one of pure evil. Contrast this statement with that of Jehovah in the Book of Exodus: “I am what I am.” Jehovah is presenting himself to Moses with total transparency, the very nature of God. In stating the negative of this pronouncement, Iago takes upon himself the role of Lucifer, particularly as related in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Lucifer has been slighted by God, and put down into a lower position, in a very literal way. Because of this humiliation, Lucifer proclaims himself the enemy of God and vows revenge. Yet he does not personally place himself in the battle. Rather, he uses Adam and Eve as tools to bring about his revenge. In the same way, Iago has been brought low and takes revenge on Othello (his master and commander, one might say his “god”), not by personal action, but through the manipulation of others. His sin is knowingly and purposefully causing others to sin. As Othello is a tool for Iago’s own advancement, other people are tools for his revenge.






In many ways, Iago has sold his soul to the devil. He has no virtue that is not a mask of vice. He has no contemplation of the benefit of others, but only for his own, and he bartered away his soul for the good of himself. In the words of Milton’s Lucifer, “Better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven.” The only good is good to himself. Therefore, in this passage, Iago sets up the play’s plot structure and conflict; all the action stems from Iago manipulating other characters and wreaking havoc in their lives so that his own life may be what he feels is owed to him.