ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Plays Videos 14 videos
This video summarizes the play A Raisin in the Sun. It discusses the Youngers, members of an African-American family trying to better themselves wh...
Love potions are tricky business (not that we've ever tried using one, of course). They can make you fall in love with the wrong person…or, in th...
In the world of Shakespeare, pretty much everyone either dies or gets married. Hamlet and co. got the short end of that stick.
Othello 94908 Views
Share It!
Description:
Why did Iago want to destroy Othello? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Transcript
- 00:04
Othello, a la Shmoop: Sex, Lies and That Pesky Handkerchief.
- 00:12
We all know that jealousy can be a problem . . .
- 00:13
. . . especially when it makes us lose control. And our hero Othello sure knows something
- 00:21
about losing control. When his buddy Iago starts spreading nasty
- 00:26
rumors . . . . . . about Othello's wife, Desdemona . . .
Full Transcript
- 00:28
. . . he goes a little nuts . . . . . . and the poor girl doesn't have a chance.
- 00:32
But why would Iago do such a thing? Why would he go to so much trouble to bring
- 00:36
Othello down? Maybe he's just a racist - angry about a
- 00:39
black man's success. He does refer to him as a "black ram"
- 00:44
and "the devil" when talking to Desdemona's father.
- 00:47
No doubt, a black man in a position of power . . .
- 00:49
. . . would have gotten more than a few people riled up.
- 00:53
Speaking of hatred . . . . . . Iago makes his feelings for Othello
- 00:55
pretty clear from page one. Right from the beginning, Iago complains about
- 01:00
being passed up for a promotion. So was he ticked off enough about Othello
- 01:04
giving his job to Cassio . . . . . . that he would actually destroy poor
- 01:08
Cassio's life? Could be, but some people think Iago's lust
- 01:14
wasn't just job related . . . . . . that he orchestrated Desdemona's death
- 01:18
so he could have Othello for himself. After all, Iago tells Othello in Act 3, and
- 01:23
we quote, "I am your own forever." Sounds like more than a dedicated employee
- 01:28
to us. Could all that tragedy have sprung out of
- 01:31
a simple case of unrequited love? Possibly. But Shakespeare's hints about
- 01:36
Iago's motivation may have left out one other possibility.
- 01:39
Maybe he's just a really, really bad guy . . .
- 01:43
. . . a guy who loves stirring things up more than anything. . .
- 01:46
. . . a complete sociopath . . . . . . who delights in others' misery . . .
- 01:49
. . . and gets pleasure from being the smartest person in the room.
- 01:53
From his comments to the audience, it's clear that Iago enjoys controlling every situation
- 01:57
. . . . . . even if we're never really sure why
- 02:01
he's doing it. So, what was behind Iago's master plan of
- 02:04
destruction? And why did Shakespeare leave it for us to
- 02:07
figure out? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...
