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Othello: Iago's Revenge Tragedy?
Aug. 9th, 2010 10:01 pmThe American Shakespeare Center is currently performing Othello. As always, one of the things I love about the ASC is their ability to pick up on obscure tidbits of Dialog and bring them to the forefront of a production. In particular, Iago's justification for his hatred of Othello. Iago mentions that he feels he was passed over for promotion. But he also mentions that there is a rumor that Othello has had an affair with his wife. Later, Iago says the same thing of Cassio.
Now, of course, I have a fundamental distrust of all dialogue. However, this speech is often regarded as a fabrication by Iago to justify his actions. Because of the standard distrust of Iago, I am more likely to want to trust him. The performance of Iago that I saw last week convinced me that my reading of this play is possible. The ASC's Iago put on his show for Rodrigo spouting how much he hated his commander, but when he talked about his wife's potential infidelity, it was not a show for anyone. Iago's disgust at the sight of Emilia seemed a subtler mirror of Othello's outrage at the sight of Desdemona once he suspects her promiscuity. Iago says he does not care whether his wife did the things she is accused of or not. For him, the fact that it has made its way into rumor is enough to condemn them all.
To me this feels that under this reading, the play Othello follows the structure of a revenge tragedy only focusing on someone other than the revenger. By purposing this I don't mean to undermine Othello's position of prominence in the play, but rather to purpose a new level of fatalism to the play. If Iago is feeding Othello with the same poison he himself is suffering from there is no evil mastermind, just fate toying with them all.
Now, of course, I have a fundamental distrust of all dialogue. However, this speech is often regarded as a fabrication by Iago to justify his actions. Because of the standard distrust of Iago, I am more likely to want to trust him. The performance of Iago that I saw last week convinced me that my reading of this play is possible. The ASC's Iago put on his show for Rodrigo spouting how much he hated his commander, but when he talked about his wife's potential infidelity, it was not a show for anyone. Iago's disgust at the sight of Emilia seemed a subtler mirror of Othello's outrage at the sight of Desdemona once he suspects her promiscuity. Iago says he does not care whether his wife did the things she is accused of or not. For him, the fact that it has made its way into rumor is enough to condemn them all.
To me this feels that under this reading, the play Othello follows the structure of a revenge tragedy only focusing on someone other than the revenger. By purposing this I don't mean to undermine Othello's position of prominence in the play, but rather to purpose a new level of fatalism to the play. If Iago is feeding Othello with the same poison he himself is suffering from there is no evil mastermind, just fate toying with them all.
