What's the Motive?

by Raegan Densmore

Photo Credit: https://i1.wp.com/shakespeareillustration.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/hcselousoth102.jpg?fit=1280%2C2005&ssl=1 

Recently, Shakespeare’s Othello struck my fancy. I have always been very interested in psychological media and Othello is extremely interesting in the sense that the villain, Iago, seems to have no clear motive. Of course, there is jealousy, racism, and greed, but these seem scattered due to the change of motive depending on which victim he is interacting with. There is also the main question of what does he get out of this? He does not try to climb the ladder of success, rather, he tears it down from beneath others. In so many instances, we tend to question why; “Why does this happen?”, “why would they do this?”, etc. Oftentimes, there is a story, perhaps to make the character relatable, to create some pity for them, or to comfort us. Simply to make us realize they are a person too. Sometimes, however, searching for that story or reason is a waste of time. It can be simply because they can, or that is their purpose. The character of Iago demands us to not question why, but instead how, and thus forces us to reflect upon ourselves as humans with the capacity for both reason and emotion. 

Humans have the tendency to want to rationalize everything, especially wrong-doings because irrational evil is horrifying. It feels even more demanding if it's someone who you would never guess would act like that, like “honest Iago” to each of these characters. Shakespeare knew this, thus he refused to give a clear explanation, instead, he revealed just how fragile human judgment is. How easily we want to believe things or look for answers because they bring us comfort or confirm our own bias. These characters believed he was honest and a friend, thus it would be out of character for him not to be.

But also, Iago is a mirror of each character’s insecurities and like biases, uses it against them. With this, however, we also see multiple insecurities and biases of his as well. At first, it seems he is jealous of Cassio’s effortless success and admirability, and jealous that Othello gave Cassio a higher position in the military than him. He is also jealous of Othello’s success, but his hatred towards him is also heavily driven by racism and prejudice. He also claims that his wife was unfaithful to him with Othello, however there was no evidence given for that. However his motives become extremely scattered when he destroys everyone in this story with a weakness. 

As previously stated, Iago never tries to climb up the ladder of success, he only tears others down, and he does it for a multitude of reasons that present an unclear motive. What his character shows is how easily reason can be manipulated through emotion. He tears each character down through their weakness or insecurity. With Othello, for example, Iago reminds him he is the “other” in the Venice society. One part that stuck out to me is that when trying to convince Othello that his wife was being unfaithful, he reminded him that his wife Desdemona went behind her father’s back to marry him. That she knew how he was viewed by society due to his complexion. Iago uses this to destroy Othello’s faculty of reason, and thus leads to tragedy. 

Shakespeare plays with reason and emotion in this play, demonstrating how easily both can be manipulated. Even as the viewers or readers, we are left searching for a reason why. To humanize Iago, or simply attempt to interpret a comforting explanation. But instead this play forces us to accept the surface level reasons, and leaves us to reflect upon ourselves. It shows us how emotion can blind us. Sometimes we are not even searching for reason, merely just comfort or to confirm our own biases.