Iago's Words In Othello

Othello sends her off to get Desdemona and says to the audience “She says enough, yet she’s a simple bawd/That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,/A closet, lock and key, of villainous secrets./And yet she’ll kneel and pray, I have seen her do ’t.” (4.2.21-24) Othello is dismissing her statement under the principle that any woman would say the same story and the only truth he can trust would be what he is told by a man. Othello uses words such as “whore” and “villainous,” which are words first spoken by Iago. These are used only in the most demeaning way and this shows that he truly believes that no matter what evidence he is shown, or who claims she is a good wife, that she has just hidden her true nature from them as he has seen her “kneel and pray” just like any good wife.

It is similar to saying “damn it” in today’s vernacular. This gives us a sense that Iago doesn’t follow the common rules of the age despite being raised in a very political world. Iago’s language throughout the play shows us that he is a villain character. The first things we learn about Iago is that he hates Cassio for taking a position he feels he deserves. His reason for hating Cassio is that he is “a great arithmetician” (1.1.20) and that he “never set a squadron in the field,/ Nor the division of a battle knows.” (1.1.23-24) Iago views Cassio as a lesser because he is not a military officer and has never seen battle, instead, he works with numbers and is, therefore, less of a man that Iago. Cassio portrays a more feminine character and this is unacceptable to Iago. This also adds insight to what Iago views as masculinity. He views military experience as the foundation from masculinity and working with books and numbers as a lesser calling and not deserving of high