Essay
Iago and Othello's Relationship in "Othello"
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A complete A* A-Level essay on Iago and Othello's relationship in Shakespeare's play, "Othello" for Pearson Edexcel English Literature A Level.
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Explore how Shakespeare presents the relationship between Othello and Iago –redraft
The relationship between Othello and Iago is an ‘unholy alliance’, I agree with this
statement. In a succinct fashion, Draper encapsulates the nature of Othello and
Iago’s relationship as one which not only defies the Christian doctrines upholding
Elizabethan society but a relationship that causes Othello to succumb to the evil
aspect of the dichotomy of good and evil omnipresent within him in the play.
Shakespeare presents the relationship between Othello and Iago through Iago’s
sexualised language and fixation on Othello’s sexual relations with Desdemona.
Shakespeare utilises animalistic imagery from the beginning of the play when Iago
describes Othello as a ‘black ram’ to Roderigo. Shakespeare explores the theme of
race by constructing Iago to portray Othello as a ‘ram’, an animal rather than a
human being, linking to the contemporary racist discourse at the time which
reduced black people to a subhuman level. In Shakespearean England, society was
arranged hierarchically according to the great chain of being; God was at the top,
followed by the King, followed by civilians and then animals. Black people were
commonly placed beneath other civilians and human beings in that hierarchical
structure, stripping them of their rights. This is further communicated by Leo
Africanus, a Berber diplomat, who attributes Black Africans to only being able to
‘leade a savage and beasty life’, confirming the racist discourse at the time.
Furthermore, Iago was using extremely sexualised language to display Othello and
Desdemona’s sexual relations ‘an old black ram tupping your white ewe’.
Shakespeare using this sexualised language to link to bestiality and the savagery
associated with black Africans – they were believed to possess a large sexual
appetite due to their savage nature. This connotes to sex being a primitive and
basal desire, linking to their savagery. Dollimore correctly describes Iago’s
sexualised language and fixation as ‘intensely voyeuristic’ – I agree with his
critical viewpoint as Shakespeare formulates Iago to incessantly mention Othello’s
sexual relations. This suggests a voyeuristic undertone to his motive. In addition,
Iago repeats the sexualised animalistic language numerous times in the beginning
of the play, including his description of Othello as a ‘Barbary horse’. Interestingly,
Shakespeare establishes Roderigo as the first character in the play to mention race,
and after this Iago does the same. Shakespeare does this to illustrate Iago as an
opportunist, and to possibly suggest that Iago has an underlying reason for his
obsession with Othello instead of race – sexual jealousy stemmed from homoerotic
desires. This idea is feasible as it explains Iago’s ‘intensely voyeuristic’ imagery –
Iago uses race alongside this to conceal his homoerotic desires. This is ambiguous,
however, as Shakespeare may have constructed Iago to use racial imagery to
explore the racial tension in Shakespearean England, or may have used racial
imagery to accentuate Iago’s intellect; the racial imagery being a ruse to let his
ideas fit in with society’s and conceal his homoerotic desires, which do not conceal
with a Christian Shakespearean England. Overall, Shakespeare presents Othello
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