Andrew Moulton

Southern New Hampshire University’s Shakespeare 319

Professor Paul Rosenberg

Final Paper: William Shakespeare’s Othello

April 26, 2015

Iago’s Garden

Though not categorized as an historical play, The Tragedy of Othello, Moor of Venice

draws its plot from the wars which ravaged Venice and Turkey in the sixteenth century. Defined

as one of Shakespeare’s Great Tragedies, it is a tale of four major characters: Othello, a noble

Moor and general of the Venetian State; Desdemona, his new Venetian wife; Cassio, Othello’s

newly appointed lieutenant; and Iago, Othello’s trusted confidant and advisor. At the outset of

the play, Iago has been overlooked by Othello for the position of lieutenant. Iago appears to be

embittered and as evidence states that despite earning rights to the title through efforts in battle

“at Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds Chrisitan and heathen,” (ll.29-30) it is the Florentine

strategist Michael Cassio who has been awarded the position by “election” (l. 27), a promotion

dismissed by Iago as worthless and consisting of only certificates and social standing. While

Iago’s motivations remain debatable, it is shown that he employs many tactics in his quest to

attain the lieutenancy; a genteel tactic in his repertoire is his verbal reference of plants and

gardening- one which aims to establish himself as a part of the nobility and thus deserving of the

lieutenancy, while also justifying his consequent actions as natural and pardonable.

Iago is no ordinary soldier. He is widely regarded as bold (l.852), just (l.2065), good (l.

2917), and most importantly to the development of the plot, honest (ll.638, 651, 996). He is

adaptable and well versed in language, and particularly gifted with tactical brilliance; as such he

cannot be content to suffer what he considers an affront to his abilities and his stature in life. But

as Bernard Spivak points out, Iago’s character escapes easy categorization. “What Iago is like…

becomes a distracting substitution for what he really is,” (p. 343). Iago’s character is a paradox in

which “some of our current naturalistic subtleties are not valid,” (Spivak p. 342). Due to his

psychologically complex and reflective nature, Iago is definitely not the stock archetype of

“vice,” (Hyman in McHugh). And according to actor Liev Schreiber, through the character of

Iago Shakespeare might be saying that “evil is a manifestation of humanity…an inherent part of

who you are,” (“Interviewing Iago”). Regardless, definitively bound to the purpose of revenge,

Iago refuses to submit to society’s hierarchies and with a waning career, no child, and little to

lose, he enacts a plot that while initially intending to only demote Cassio, promote himself, and

stab Othello for his weakness in submitting to society’s expectations, rapidly cascades into chaos

and bloodshed.

Iago deeply understands the psychology of men, and with little regard for societal values,

employs a two-pronged attack in his quest for the lieutenancy that includes both verbal and

actionable tactics. His plotted verbal tactics, while originally carefully plotted, responsive to

individual characteristics, and sensitive, quickly demand improvisational responses. For example

in speaking to Roderigo Iago says, “If thou be'st valiant,— as, they say, base men being in love

have then a nobility in their natures more than is native to them—list me…first, I must tell thee

this—Desdemona is directly in love with [Cassio],” (ll. 1012-1017). Iago knows Roderigo’s

sensitivities and first lifts him with praise before shocking him with the unexpected news that

then gives him new reason to pursue his courtship of the lovely Desdemona. Later in the play

when words fail, Iago acts boldly and with conviction. This is most apparent in Act V Scene I,

when sensing that Roderigo will not be capable of killing Cassio, Iago commits to slicing Cassio,

“No, he must die,” (l. 3157). When Roderigo has failed to kill Cassio, Iago again takes up the

dagger and silences Roderigo forever. Whether quietly manipulative, or bloody and active, Iago

is fearless in committing himself to any and all deeds which will enable him to assume the

lieutenancy.

A a quieter component of the verbal tactics, having been said in private to Roderigo or to

the audience in soliloquy, Iago’s references to the botanical world gently assert that he is

knowledgeable- a true renaissance man- and deserving of standing within the upper class

nobility. The references work in subtlety, and suggest more about his character than the more

overt and less easily defined motivations. His first and most potent reference to gardening comes

as he is supporting Roderigo with the courage to remain diligent in his love for Desdemona (and

thus remain a source of financial income for Iago):

“'Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners: so that if we will

plant nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme, supply it with one gender of

herbs, or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with

industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills,” (ll. 678-685).

This passage has the desired effect upon Roderigo who, renewed of hope, gaily dances off to sell

all his land and join the party to Cyprus. This passage is also suggestive of Iago’s beliefs

concerning fate. I believe that he is reflecting upon his own experiences and speaking truthfully

when he assures Roderigo that a person’s destiny can be shaped by the hand of man, if he is

careful and determined to do so. Ironically enough, Iago’s reputation as honest blinds Roderigo

to the fact that he is being played by a skilled manipulator, and tongue in cheek, it is in fact Iago

who is the shaper of destinies.

Iago is a meticulous gardener and if I were to envision his garden I could see a square

hedge of white and red roses, beautiful, perfumed, and as suggestive of innocence and blood as

they are, for its thorns, impenetrable. His garden would have but one gate, heavily made of

wrought iron which gives way, as mentioned first in the above passage, to a bed of nettle as well

as layers of thistle and poppy, each of which are as beautiful as they are temptingly poisonous.

The garden would be accentuated with enormous and well manicured pines, and as a centerpiece,

a tree of Jasmine. The overall feel would be aesthetically pleasing but unrestful; and very, very

dangerous. In fact, Iago’s botanical references toward Othello contain poison: “I’ll pour this

pestilence into his ear,” (ll.1508); “The Moor already changes with my poison. Dangerous

conceits are in their natures poisons… Not poppy nor mandragora nor all the drowsy syrups of

the world shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep,” (ll. 1998-2008). Iago’s botanical

knowledge is deep as it is practical, in it is suggested the fact that nature is commandingly

powerful and capable of yielding extreme beauty while dealing death to those wise to its potions.

Despite Iago’s emphasis on the individual’s will to shape his destiny, in this play there is

a feeling that Nature commands all outcomes. So while Iago is a good gardener and a forceful

cultivator, in the end he fails to consider all eventualities, especially the allegiance of his wife

Emilia, and leaves too much blood to overlook in a civil society. Iago’s deeds are, “in reality,

nothing but the application, by a professional soldier without private ethics, of military tactics to

private and personal affairs,” (McCloskey 28). Iago is not the strategist that Michael Cassio is,

but the tactician. His weakness in failing to recognize that the tactics which work in the field of

battle, and which do not work in civilian life, make Thomas Bowman state that if the end result

had been anything else, “the play would have stood for the inevitable supremacy of evil over

good and been too monstrous to endure,” (p. 469). That Iago fails in the end is reassurance that it

is Nature, and not the willful individual, that balances the division of power in the world. It is

also reassurance that evil will be halted and that order will remain established within society,

even during a time of transition.

As a bit of context in explaining why the character of Iago is noteworthy, James McHugh

details the historical significance of such a character in public theater. As a reflection of

medieval society at the time of its writing, The Tragedy of Othello, Moor of Venice marks a

transition taking place in England and Europe at this time, and especially with the character of

Iago, one can infer that his character, as ferocious as he is, can be seen as the voice of the

changes being witnessed in society. The hierarchy of medieval Europe had been dissolving for

some time but with the death of Queen Elizabeth I, it made “significant moves toward the merit-

based capitalist society of today,” (McHugh). “[Iago’s] malevolence can be interpreted as a

reaction to these fundamental changes that reflects repudiation… of qualities and values that

were perceived to be upsetting the sense of certainty and comfort that the remnants of medieval

order offered to many people at that time,” (McHugh). Iago is the individual screaming for his

place in the world, for the recognition of his deeds and the rewards of his efforts; he is the voice

of the future.

In referencing the botanical world, readers come to understand that Iago is an

exceedingly complex figure in Shakespearian writing who escapes easily categorization. Being a

soldier and personally witnessing death and shifts in power, I cannot believe that Iago truly

believes in the power of the will to supersede fate; however, he does attempt it and in examining

his use of botanical references readers can gain insight into potential values that motivate this

man. I believe that his botanical references stand to establish Iago as a deeply knowledgeable and

well-versed man who is gifted with many talents, and though medieval Europe did not recognize

shifts in social standing at this time, Iago is well deserving of the lieutenancy. While his actions

might be socially unacceptable, his machinations at the verbal level, and especially in his

references to the botanical world, are sophisticated and while definitely not a part of the

established nobility, would stand him in like company. The unfortunate fact remains that Iago’s

actions remain socially unacceptable and therefore punishable. However, I believe that as the

voice of the fast approaching governance model, his actions are justified, natural, and in the end,

when considering the injustice he suffers due to the lack of recognition in his chosen career,

pardonable.

Works Cited

Bowman, Thomas D. “A Further Study in the Characterization and Motivation of Iago.” College

English 4.8 (1943): 460-469. JSTOR. Web. 10 April 2015.

“Interviewing Iago.” Literary Cavalcade 54.7 (2002). ProQuest. Web. 10 April 2015.

McHugh, James T. Iago the Meritocrat: Conflicting Interpretations of Individualism in the Early

Modern Period. Social Science Journal 46.4 (2009): 617-631. Web. 21 April 2015.

McCloskey, John C. “The Motivation of Iago.” College English 3.1 (1941): 25-30. JSTOR. Web.

10 April 2015.

“Module Five Overview: King Richard III of England versus Shakespeare’s Richard III.”

LIT-319-Q4380 Blackboard. 18 April 2015. Lecture.

“Module Two Overview: Shakespeare’s Tragedies.” LIT-319-Q4380 Blackboard. 18 April

2015. Lecture.

Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Othello, Moor of Venice.” Open Source Shakespeare.

George Mason University 2003-2015. Web. 24 March 2015.

Spivak, Bernard. Rev. of Iago: Some Approaches to the Illusion of His Motivation, by Stanley

Edgar Hyman. Shakespeare Quarterly 24.3 (1973):342-343. JSTOR. Web. 10 April

2015.