Blog Post #18 Quote Response: to Othello

Lines 60-67

“Iago:…In following him, I follow but myself-
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so for my peculiar end.
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, tis’ not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at. I am not what I am.” (Kennedy941)

This has been one of the hardest plays to read. I think it was because of the language barrier for me. Overall, the constant glace over the footnotes were well worth it. I enjoyed this play overall. I like how jealousy is used to ignite such hateful feeling. Anyways, with this quote, I feel like Iago has somewhat of a point. At one point in our lives, there are task that we must do even thought it is not to our liking. In this statement, he doesn’t care much for Othello. He is a subordinate and he must his duty as well as be on Othello’s good side. Like in modern times, the connection between boss-employee is that you must know you’re place.
Several comments/questions: 1) I sort of wished that Shakespeare added more of scenes between Desdemona and Othello. In general I though it was this whirlwind-type of love because the courting part was so short and it went straight to them eloping. The text stated that this fascination between them have been for a awhile but I would’ve fell full sympathy for their love if scenes where added to give the audience time to bond with their love relationship.
2)Roderigo is crazy. Well, I can’t really see how someone could see their land. I see his actions as rash and impulsive. So what if he was ousted by Othello? He gave up all his money to help Iago plot a revenge. I don’t see his incentives justifying his cause.
3) Iago must agree with Machiavelli “The ends justify with the means”. I got to hand it to Iago because he is very crafty and manipulative. His determination is admirable but I just don’t agree with his thought process