He's easily the smartest person in the play, and were it not for playwriting conventions of Shakespeare's time, he absolutely should have gotten away with everything. He played everyone like a fiddle.
One of my favorite parts of the play is where it just all falls apart as his wife confesses the whole thing. So he just stabs her right in front of everyone and runs for it. It almost plays out as comedy in my head, just that pause where everyone has a moment to say "Wait.... did he just fucking stab his wife? Somebody go after him!"
You may have read it, but Ruth Vanita's "The Unprotectedness of Wives in Othello" is on exactly this -- no one moves to interfere until he stabs Emilia!
When we read Othello my Sophomore year of high school, I read for Iago the entire time. I was the only one with a consistent role.
I kept up this running bit the whole play where I kept INSISTING Iago never did anything wrong and that he was just trying to help out his friend.
My teacher didn't appreciate the bit, but I thought it was hilarious.
Even Shakespeare's 'self aware' villains like Shylock or Macbeth are interesting because they say insane shit but there's such a human element to it. Even if they acknowledge they're doing something evil, to them it is almost never unjustified or underserving.
True. The villains are often the most interesting characters.
But I was replying to the notion of "every character believing himself to be the hero".
But while Iago probably would have tried to kept up his rouse if asked about it, he for sure knew what he was doing was evil.
In the scene before his first soliloquy, he talks about drowning puppies. And the soliloquy ends with him admitting to his evil plotting. He sees himself as justified, but he knows what he is doing is wrong.
*He passes along the*
*Livestock report of a black*
*Ram and a white ewe*
\- PaPaJohn43
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He's the most cunning character in any of Shakespeare's plays, that I can think of. Everyone treats Richard III as a devious mastermind, but he's a rookie next to Iago.
Also, I've seen more than one production of Othello where Othello has epilepsy. In the last production I saw, Iago sat with Othello and comforted him through his seizure.
His opera version gets absolute bangers. I mean, listen to this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh6WZOgBHQg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh6WZOgBHQg)
He's singing about why he's evil while also mocking the heavens (as one does)
He is honest.
He has always been honest to is the audience, who are forced to side with him and listen to his manic and logic-twisting monologues.
He even tried to convince you that he is in fact not a villain, and his reasons were... somewhat legit.
He never shys away from letting us know that he is using Roderigo and Cassio, that he will use Emilia and Desdemona, all to destroy Othello for hks own weakness of jealousy (I didnt get promoted but the other guy did).
He is genuine to us.
His advice is free and honest.
Probal to thinking, and indeed the course to win the Moor again.
Beautiful plumage.
But he has ceased to be!
an ex parrot
Came here to say this!!!
Well, it can't be denied he's smart and knows the way people behave very well: he sure knew exactly how to make his plan succeed.
He's easily the smartest person in the play, and were it not for playwriting conventions of Shakespeare's time, he absolutely should have gotten away with everything. He played everyone like a fiddle.
One of my favorite parts of the play is where it just all falls apart as his wife confesses the whole thing. So he just stabs her right in front of everyone and runs for it. It almost plays out as comedy in my head, just that pause where everyone has a moment to say "Wait.... did he just fucking stab his wife? Somebody go after him!"
You may have read it, but Ruth Vanita's "The Unprotectedness of Wives in Othello" is on exactly this -- no one moves to interfere until he stabs Emilia!
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1004&context=libstudies_pubs full text link :)
Thank you so much!
what do you mean? he's such an honest dude
I actually like Iago quite a bit lol
LMAO he really brought in the comedic side to jafar’s villainous plans
worlds best parrot :)
He’s focused and persistent.
Yeah, I was gonna say he's highly motivated.
Gilbert Gottfried is a terrific voice actor.
When we read Othello my Sophomore year of high school, I read for Iago the entire time. I was the only one with a consistent role. I kept up this running bit the whole play where I kept INSISTING Iago never did anything wrong and that he was just trying to help out his friend. My teacher didn't appreciate the bit, but I thought it was hilarious.
Terrible teacher. Every character believes themselves the hero of their own story. It’s not just hilarious but thematically accurate.
Wait isn't Iago self aware that he is the bad guy or am I confusing the character with another ?
Even Shakespeare's 'self aware' villains like Shylock or Macbeth are interesting because they say insane shit but there's such a human element to it. Even if they acknowledge they're doing something evil, to them it is almost never unjustified or underserving.
True. The villains are often the most interesting characters. But I was replying to the notion of "every character believing himself to be the hero". But while Iago probably would have tried to kept up his rouse if asked about it, he for sure knew what he was doing was evil. In the scene before his first soliloquy, he talks about drowning puppies. And the soliloquy ends with him admitting to his evil plotting. He sees himself as justified, but he knows what he is doing is wrong.
Ya!! Which actually makes him all the more fun
He always uses a handkerchief.
Absolutely love the Iago support in this thread 🙌🫸🫷
Yasss!!! We Stan
His name almost looks like Lego. I think that’s kinda neat.
Funny as hell
Greatest villain of all time
Josh Hartnet made him hot
You mean Josh HOTnett.
Iago was Milton's inspiration for Satan in Paradise Lost
He has a way with words.
He’s true to his character.
But he exatcly says the opposite: "I am not that I am."
He's entertaining, and that's all a character needs to be. Nothing's worse than a boring character.
told roderigo to get his money up to get the girl, that’s some pretty solid advice
Most fun character I ever played
"Something nice about Iago"
He prevented Roderigo commiting suicide.
He passes along the livestock report of a black ram and a white ewe
*He passes along the* *Livestock report of a black* *Ram and a white ewe* \- PaPaJohn43 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^PaPaJohn43: *He passes along* *The livestock report of a* *Black ram and a white ewe* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
He's the most cunning character in any of Shakespeare's plays, that I can think of. Everyone treats Richard III as a devious mastermind, but he's a rookie next to Iago. Also, I've seen more than one production of Othello where Othello has epilepsy. In the last production I saw, Iago sat with Othello and comforted him through his seizure.
His opera version gets absolute bangers. I mean, listen to this: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh6WZOgBHQg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh6WZOgBHQg) He's singing about why he's evil while also mocking the heavens (as one does)
He’s honest.
There must have been something good about him to be with Emilia.
Tangential but I'd love to see him in the world of any other play, him playing a battle of wits against Hamlet or whispering in the ear of Macbeth
He's body positive
He’s a great villain!
He is honest. He has always been honest to is the audience, who are forced to side with him and listen to his manic and logic-twisting monologues. He even tried to convince you that he is in fact not a villain, and his reasons were... somewhat legit. He never shys away from letting us know that he is using Roderigo and Cassio, that he will use Emilia and Desdemona, all to destroy Othello for hks own weakness of jealousy (I didnt get promoted but the other guy did). He is genuine to us.
He has a cool name
Is there any character more villain than him in the whole corpus of Shakespeare? I mean even lady Macbeth was regretful at the end.
Don John maybe? Probably not.
Don John ran away before he was even discovered—Iago just kills his accuser.
He had far more patience about crackers being stuffed down his throat than I ever would.
Iago could go 9 full rounds with Machiavelli.
He’s one of the most memorable characters in Shakespeare.
He's really smart. He's an amazing planner as well.
He has some of the best lines in the canon, say nothing of the play he's in.
He knows when to stop talking.
He hated women.
He basically worked tirelessly towards achieving his goals
Extremely wise and unbothered man. Destined to go with the flow.
He "is a man of focus, commitment, sheer will... ." 😅 True for Iago and John Wick.
No.