OK, this is a very fascinating topic to discuss. Firstly,
I have to say that I don't agree that Iago is not evil, but it can always be interesting
to try and turn such issues on their head and look at them from a completely different
perspective for one moment. To answer this question, I would suggest that you would have
to start by looking at the cause of Iago's hatred for Othello. If we examine Act I scene
1 and how Iago justifies his actions and his hatred of Othello, we can see that Iago
does have cause to feel seriously disgruntled:
Three great ones of the
city,
In personal suit to make me his
lieutenant,
Off-capped to him, and by the faith of
man
I know my price, I am worth no worse a
place.
But he, as loving his own pride and
purposes,
Evades them, with a bombast
circumstance
Horribly stuffed with epithets of
war,
And in
conclusion
Nonsuits my
mediators.
Let us try to put
ourselves in the shoes of Iago for one moment. If we believe his words, Iago has been
turned down for a promotion that he knows he is capable of carrying out and that other
"great ones" believe he is capable of carrying out as well. How would you feel if this
happened to you? If we believe that Iago is a man who, as he says, "knows his price" and
knows what he is capable of doing, Iago must have felt horribly frustrated and angry at
the way in which Othello picked Cassio over him and ignored the opinion of the three
senior members who championed him. Is it possible to argue that Iago, rather than being
simply evil, becomes overpowered by his anger which leads him to commit acts that he
never would have wanted to commit? Trying to look at this speech from Iago's point of
view does help us to feel sympathy for him, as anybody who has faced a similar situation
can no doubt identify with him.
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