ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
Marriage Videos 32 videos
In The Color Purple, Celie is abused by her father and husband. She leaves her father by marrying Mr. ________, and then leaves Mr. ______, too. Bu...
What is Dracula really about? Just Count Dracula? Or is there more to it than vampires? This video addresses some major ideas in Bram Stoker’s cl...
Meet Emma Woodhouse of Jane Austen's Emma. She’s a rich young woman with a good social life living in 18th-century England. We bet she has an aw...
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...
