1.
What does the language of the lines 1-7 reveal about the moods and attitudes of Roderigo and Iago?
Lines 1 and 2 reveal that there is dissention between Iago and Roderigo because
Iago has not held up his end of their bargain – “I take it much unkindly that thou, Iago”.
Roderigo says that Iago “hast had my purse as if the strings were thine” in lines 3 to 4, which tells the reader that Iago has been taking Roderigo’s money and suggests that Iago is untrustworthy and is not someone that can be relied on. This also suggests that Roderigo is someone who is easily fooled because Iago has managed to take his money. In line 6
Roderigo says that Iago “told’st me thou didst hold him in thy hate”, which suggests that the root of Roderigo and Iago’s relationship is their shared hate for an unknown person and if not for their hate they would have nothing to do with each other. Iago then replies in line 7
“Despise me, if I do not”, which shows that Iago is trying to restore Roderigo’s faith in him by assuring Roderigo of his hate for this unknown person and suggests that his relationship with Roderigo is for some reason important to Iago because he is trying to placate Roderigo and maintain their relationship.
2.
Look at Iago’s language in lines 8-65.
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What does he reveal about himself by what he says and the tone and style he adopts?
How does he reveal his attitude to the Moor? To Michael Cassio?
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How do you think Shakespeare might want us to react to Iago at first?
Iago reveals himself to be quite arrogant when he says “Three great ones of the city, in personal suit to make me his lieutenant” in lines 7 to 8, bragging about the fact that he is highly sought after. Iago also reveals himself to be a liar, a deceiver and a revengeful person.
In line 42 Iago says “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”, which shows that Iago is going to get revenge on the Moor for not promoting him, an action which was not done to spite
Iago so therefore does not seem to warrant an act of revenge, suggesting that Iago takes things too personally and out of proportion. In lines 50 to 54 Iago says that those who “Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves, and, throwing but shows of service on their lords, do well thrive on them” and are people “who have some soul”. Iago’s admiration of such people suggests that he aspires to be such a person, an idea which is fortified when he says in line 55 “And such a one I do profess myself”. He also says “But seeming so, for my peculiar end” in line 60 and “I am not what I am” in line 65, both of which show Iago to be a lying and deceptive person and foreshadows that he will cause trouble later in the play.
Iago reveals that his attitude towards the Moor is that of a hateful nature by the phrases he uses and the way he depicts him. Iago describes the Moor as “loving his own pride and purposes” in line 11 and “Horribly stuff’d with epithets of war”, both of which portray the Moor as a prideful and self-centred person. Iago also says that the reason
Michael Cassio was promoted was because “Preferment goes by letter and affection, and not by old gradation” in lines 35 to 36, which suggests that the Moor is an unfair person and does not follow protocol.
Iago reveals his hateful attitude towards Michael Cassio by using certain words and phrases. Iago describes him as “A fellow almost damn’d in a fair wife” in line 20, depicting
Cassio as an adulterous and lecherous person. Iago says that Cassio has “never set a squadron in the field, nor the division of a battle knows more than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric” in lines 21 to 23 and in lines 25 to 26 says “mere prattle, without practise, is all his soldiership”. Here Cassio is said to have as much experience in war and as a soldier as an unmarried woman, which is none, and only knows talk and theories from books. This shows that Iago hates Cassio, a “counter-caster” [line 30], because he was promoted over him, even though Iago has a lot more experience in war than he does and is the Moor’s personal officer, so therefore should have been promoted.
Shakespeare might want the audience to sympathise with Iago at first by portraying
Iago as someone who has been cheated out of his promotion because the Moor preferred

Michael Cassio to him, even though Iago is better for the job. This scenario shows Iago to have been treated unfairly and moves the audience to feel sorry for him. However, Iago’s self-portrayal as someone who pretends to be someone else for their own gains and his interaction with Roderigo at the beginning of the scene shows Iago to be untrustworthy and suggests to the audience that it is his unsavoury character that prevented him from being promoted.
3.
Lines 74-81. Roderigo says he’ll “call aloud”. What is Iago’s advice about how to do this and its implications? Why do you think Iago joins in?
Iago says that Roderigo should call “with timorous accent and dire yell as when, by night and negligence, the fire is spied in populous cities” [line 75]. Iago’s advice to shout as if there is a fire suggests that his desire to wake this man is very strong, and because of Iago’s earlier proclamation of intending to have his revenge on the Moor his advice also suggests that waking this man up will help his revenge. Iago joins in lines 79 to 81 because he feels that
Roderigo is not doing a good enough job of waking Brabantio up. In line 78 Roderigo calls
“What, ho, Brabantio! Signior Brabantio, ho!”, which sounds as if he is just calling to see if
Brabantio’s awake. When Iago joins in he calls “Awake! What, ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves!”, which carries much more urgency and is more likely to wake Brabantio than
Roderigo’s calling, especially with the addition of the word “thieves”.
4.
Lines 82-118. What can you tell of Iago’s attitude and intentions from the language and imagery he uses to describe the Moor and Brabantio’s daughter and their activities? What responses to this situation does Brabantio show during the passage?
Iago describes the Moor and Brabantio’s daughter and their activities in such a way that reveals he is trying to incense Brabantio. Iago says “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” in lines 88 to 89. The use of animal imagery to describe the Moor and Brabantio’s daughter’s relations dehumanises the act and makes the idea of sexual relations between a black man and a white woman sound barbaric. The contrast between the “black ram” and the “white ewe” makes the Moor sound corrupted compared to Brabantio’s daughter, and the description of the Moor in the animalistic term “old black ram” makes him seem as if he is of a lower status than the others. In lines 114 to 115 Iago tells Brabantio his “daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs”. Once again, the animalistic terms Iago uses to describe the sexual act between the Moor and Brabantio’s daughter suggests the idea that their sexual relations are grotesque and wrong and could also suggest that their offspring will be deformed or some sort of creature that shouldn’t be in existence. Iago’s graphic and ugly descriptions of the sexual act suggests that he is disgusted by it or that he sees it as something that is purely physical and not as an act done between two people in love. Throughout the passage Brabantio thinks that Iago is lying and drunk and has woken him up only to cause trouble and refuses to believe that his daughter has left the house.