It is hard not to want to warn the characters of the traps
they are falling into, such as Cassio or Roderigo. Though I know it is fictional play, the
suspense is still troublesome. Though
the scenarios seem to extreme and unlikely, when in reality we can see this
kind of deception and manipulation in the relationships in the world today.
Cassio’s
role in Othello is interesting. He has a
strong enough connection to Othello to be his lieutenant and a past with
Desdemona. It is these relationships
with Othello and Desdemona that seem to make the perfect target for Iago. Cassio appears to be respectable person and ultimately
a potential casualty of Iago’s deception.
Through the use of character, Shakespeare
intends to show how easily people can be deceived when one tells them the
things they want to hear, whether they are true or not. Iago’s character is very deceiving, and for
his purposes he plays into the insecurities of those whom he is using. Roderigo
is a frequent victim of Iago and being Roderigo’s character is naïve, he falls
quickly to the luring of Iago. When Iago
convinces Roderigo that Cassio is flirtatious with Desdemona and that he is her
kind of guy, Roderigo finds it too hard to believe, “she’s not that kind of
woman, she is very moral” (par. 245).
Then Iago convinces Roderigo that it’s a very likely situation, and
plays into Roderigo’s fears of again loosing Desdemona to another man. Then
Iago tells Roderigo how he can secure his chance with Desdemona by killing
Cassio. This is something Roderigo
probably would have never considered doing, but as a result of their characters,
Iago a deceiver and Rederigo the victim, he agrees to eliminating Cassio for
what he believes to be for his benefit, but ultimately it is to the benefit of
Iago.
Wow I really love your analysis about character. I definitely agree about the fact that Shakespeare uses character to show that people can easily be deceived when one tells them things they want to hear. We see that everywhere in our society today. Iago uses the weaknesses of people to manipulate them into doing things he wants them to do. He'll use any innocent human being to hurt Othello.
ReplyDeleteI had the same feeling about wanting to warn the characters, it almost seems like it should be abvious for them to figure out the conflicts. It seems to perfect for Iago to pull off all of his intentions, except at the end, and the story seems to hold together and flow just though this character alone. I like the way you put it about being deceived by hearing what satisfies us even though it may not be the correct way to go. It seems like the use of character is very dominat in this story becasue without Iago alone the story would fall apart.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Angel, the story would be so boring and simple without Iago. The mask that Iago puts on in order to deceive those around him is his way of recovering the evidence he needs in order to create Othello's demise. It's funny how you mentioned "this kind of deception and manipulation in the relationships in the world today" because I never really considered how much people will do in order to believe what they want to believe. Great insight!
ReplyDeleteI really like how you started your journal. I agree that it is very tempting to "warn" the supporting characters about Iago's traps. For us readers, it is very obvious that Iago is planning something that will tear the main character's personality. The symbolism and character that he used easily triggered the idea of revenge and jealousy. Us human beings unfortunately easily fall into traps. Just like how easily Cassio and Roderigo fell into Iago's bad intentions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said. Because of the relationship that Cassio has with Othello and their history, it does leave them as a perfect target ofr Iago and his scheme. Iago is a mastermind of manipulation and it is very true that people can be easily deceived by others that are close to them and when they are motivated by certain things.
ReplyDelete