Othello: Animal Imagery
Uploaded by icecreamfloat on Oct 24, 2002
It is said that the words or jargon that people use hint at the kind of person he or she is; more, that a person’s choice of words situate his or her place in society. Iago, throughout the play, shows a penchant for using animal savagery to refer to various characters in the play. What does this tendency show us of Iago as a person?
Shakespeare’s Othello had given us a villain who is evil to the very core of his humanity. He manages to present himself as a good friend to all the characters and gain their trust. Yet, he secretly uses these friendships and images of him as an honest man to deploy his evil plans step by step. Iago is shrewd because he uses animal imagery to suit his evil plans.
As Iago planned to announce Desdemona’s marriage with Othello to Brabantio, he decides to use animal imagery to further add alarm to the rage of the senator. As soon as they face each other, Iago declares “…an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” (1.1, 1.97-98, p.13). In effect, this causes Brabantio to panic as he imagines his daughter being harmed by the Moor. Iago is clever to use such simple words to create a big impact on the emotions of a father towards a daughter in danger. The great contrast between black and white is used by Iago to effectively form an image of an unnatural and impossible relationship between his master and Desdemona. Furthermore, by saying, “…you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; you’ll have your nephews neigh to you…” (Iago, 1.1, 1.125-127, p.14) Brabantio gives Iago the instant reaction that he had expected as the senator immediately prepares to go and attack Othello with his soldiers.
However, when the conflict between Othello and Brabantio was settled within the assembly, Roderigo lost hope that he could ever win Desdemona over. As a result, he wishes to commit suicide since he simply cannot contain his loss. Iago, on the other hand, realizes his need for Roderigo in his suit against Othello and hence, convinces Roderigo that killing himself is not the way humans should deal with their problems. He asserts that suicide is only meant for “cats and blind puppies” (1.3, 1.379, p.51) and that he, being a person, should know better than to claim his own life. By comparing his decisions to that...