Iago's isolation from humanity is an ideological and emotional hermitage rather than physical solitude: he detaches himself from social standards and practices, but continues to weave the his diabolical influence as an actor in the social scene, creating chaos and tragedy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. His moral isolation is visible at the beginning of the show. Iago repudiates Aristotelian virtue and Christian doctrines, adopting instead a utilitarian standard. He tells Roderigo, “Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, / But it seems so for my peculiar end.” Love and duty, the touchstones of morality, are here reduced to mere facades for a selfish utilitarian purpose. The cause of this may be cynicism: a shrewd view of human nature that reveals the inherent hypocrisies of these moral doctrines. “Many a devoted, knee-bent scoundrel… wastes his time… for nothing but food, and when they are old cashiers.” Iago recognizes that love and duty are apparently insufficient reasons for more compassionate treatment of a master's followers; individuals cannot look to morality to obtain happiness, they must still "keep their hearts attentive to themselves", safeguard their own well-being and act according to the principle of utility. If Iago's success lies in his ability to create "the net that will send them all", then his moral isolation can be considered part of this success, since he would be little burdened by moral scruples or, in Lady Macbeth's words, " from milk." of human kindness" in realizing his desires. After urging Cassio to "import [Desdemona's] help to put [Cassio] in [his] place", Iago begins a soliloquy with: "So who says I do the villain, / When this advice is free and honest, / Probal to the thought, and indeed the course / To win the Moor again?" Iago highlights the inadequacy of the moral standards by which he is judged, as he acts according to the moral precept of giving reasonable ("probal to thought"), "free" and "honest" advice while causing undesirable and indeed immoral consequences, making deliberate use of the law of double effect. Cassio's harmless action towards Desdemona becomes an insidious suggestion of adultery towards Othello, who ultimately kills Desdemona By freeing himself from morality, Iago further aids Roderigo's pursuit of Desdemona and helps "satisfy" Othello's need to prove Desdemona's infidelity. , reducing moral rules to mere frivolity. Iago's moral isolation works alongside his emotional isolation. He avoids all emotional attachments and even casts aside Emilia, his wife, with dislike. “It is in ourselves that we are thus or so,” states Iago, choosing to remain uninfluenced by emotions and passions and maintain “power and correctable authority…in our own will.” He mercilessly torments Othello without scruples, reeling in joy rather than horror when Othello falls into a trance with grief and jealousy. Iago's immediate words are “Work, / My medicine, work! Thus are gullible fools caught", revealing his excitement at the successful dénouoément of his "monstrous birth" and his evident disdain for compassion or even gratitude towards his trusting and benevolent master. Othello passes away later, emotionally saturated of visceral repetitions (“yet it is a pity, Iago. O Iago, it is a pity, Iago!”) towards an Iago who remains stoically indifferent. He replies, subtly manipulative, “If you are so fond of her iniquity, give her the license for offend",suggesting that Othello kill Desdemona. Once again, even as the audience watches the great nobleman Othello sink into equally awesome and profound grief, Iago considers only his plan – his story of revenge and tragedy – and his refusal to submit to the whims of the heart that ultimately they will lead him to success. as a villain. Iago must play a role to achieve emotional isolation and maintain his social contact. “For when my outward action proves / The native act and figure of my heart / In outward compliment, it is not long after / But I will wear my heart on my sleeve / For my children to peck” – Iago, with the his utilitarian perspective and emotional detachment, thus plays the part of his plan as required. He concludes the above speech with the phrase: “I am not what I am”, consciously recognizing his role as an actor on the stage of society. Iago disengages from humanity; he no longer interacts as an individual with his own unique and valid identity, but rather as an actor or experimenter who plays with other characters and directs his own story, choosing events and plots. He comforts Desdemona: “Don't cry, don't cry. Alas for the day!” – play the role of the interested friend; he acts like the Old One, “full of love and honesty” and who “sees and knows more, much more, than he reveals” to Othello; and he also ingratiates himself with the male camaraderie to get Cassio drunk. Iago retreats further into isolation by rejecting paradigmatic norms regarding the etiology of intention and action. Throughout the play, readers get the impression that Iago's actions are detached from all intentions: he seems to act for the sake of action, with only a few negligible and flippant references to intentions. Coleridge attributes the term “motivated malice” to Iago, an idea amply supported by the text. At the beginning he cites as the reason for Cassius's fall the reckless desire to "dress my will in double knavery" immediately after a casual "let me see now". Iago here reveals an aesthetic concern rather than a real motive: he seems to regard his actions as a means to an artistic end, entirely frivolous and perhaps non-committal. Iago's claims to hate the Moor all seem parenthetical, and his isolation extends to isolation even from the audience, who are left without any satisfactory explanation as to his motivations. Iago's initial bitterness against the Moor when Cassio was promoted in his place was not at all alleviated after he assumed Cassio's position in the third act. Furthermore, the reasons he gives later, such as "If Cassius stays, he has an everyday beauty in his life that makes me ugly" are so irrelevant and incidental that the audience is inevitably reluctant to accept them. The “everyday beauty” that Iago claims to resent is mentioned four acts after the initial “to adorn my will,” and is given a line before another plausible reason, which is preceded by the parenthetical “furthermore”: “Moreover , the Moor can explain me to [Cassio]; I am in great danger." Iago seems to pander to the audience's need for action to be contextualized in terms of intention, a framework in which action is explained by intention. Iago, however, acts like a director of a play exploring the “what-ifs” – the contingencies of the world, much like Shakespeare himself. He reveals, “There are many events in the womb of time, which will be released,” and uses the words “begetting” and “birth” to describe his actions, as if they were artistic creations. The playwright in him is shown during several scenes where he observes the actions of the other characters in the play as an audience member would. The scene from which he isolates himself also reveals dramatic potential to him – i..
tags