User:Emhoyt/sandbox

Critical Discussion
In discussing The Tragedy of Othello, scholars have long debated Iago’s role. Fred West contends that Shakespeare was not content with simply portraying another “stock” morality figure, and that he, like many dramatists, was particularly interested in the workings of the human mind. Thus, according to West, Iago, who sees nothing wrong with his own behavior, is “an accurate portrait of a psychopath” (27), who is “devoid of conscience, with no remorse” (29). West believes that “Shakespeare had observed that there exist perfectly sane people in whom fellow-feeling of any kind is extremely weak while egoism is virtually absolute, and thus he made Iago” (34).

Weston Babcock, however, would have us see Iago as “an human being, shrewdly intelligent, suffering from and striking against a constant fear of social snobbery” (301). According to Babcock, it is not malice, but fear, that drives Iago. For, “Iago dates his maturity, as he considers it, his ability to understand the world, from the age at which he recognized every remark to be personally pointed. One only who lacks inner assurance and is so constantly on guard against any hint of his inferiority could so confess himself" (299).

John Draper, on the other hand, postulates that Iago is simply “an opportunist who cleverly grasps occasion” (726), spurred on by “the keenest of professional and personal motives” (728). Draper argues that Iago “seized occasions rather than made them" (727). According to his theory, Iago “is the first cause, but events, once under way, pass out of his control“ (727).  Following this logic, Draper concludes that Iago “is neither as clever nor as wicked as some would think; and the problem of his character largely resolves itself into the question: was he justified in embarking upon the initial stages of his revenge?” (727).

The multiplicity of scholarly opinion with regards to Iago demonstrates the intrinsic complexity of his character. Consequently, while all of the above mentioned scholars have used very convincing arguments to defend their respective positions, there has yet to any definitive pronouncement on the matter.