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Veer

Avatar: 2059 Thu Nov 13 08:18:14 -0500 2008
6

[Team Shortbus]

Level 32 Troll

my only complaint is that you people are happy

When great evil is perpetuated upon the world, it usually has a purpose and a rationale behind it, one which cannot be understood by most. When there is no purpose though, it becomes a type of maliciousness which cannot be justified by objective morality. Doing “evil” is something which is far more terrible when it is acknowledged to be evil without any sort of reason. William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, Moor of Venice portrays Iago, a standard-bearer under Othello as ingenious and two-faced, slowly driving Othello and everyone around him into tragedy; Othello murders his loyal wife on Iago’s advice before realizing his faults and murdering himself. He acknowledges his evil several times though not directly. He has no justification for his actions: only his lust for control drives him to do his evils.

His control over everyone around him is quickly revealed at the beginning of the play, with Roderigo’s complains about how Iago has failed him while taking his money. In response, Iago responds that it’s not his fault, and that he hates Othello and would not betray Roderigo to him. He proclaims that:

Three great ones of this city

In a personal suit to make me his lieutenant

Off-capped to him; and, by the faith of man

I know my price, I am worth no worse a place

But he, loving in his own pride and purposes

Evades them with a bombast cirgreat timesstance

Horribly stuffed them with epithets of war.

And in conclusion,

Nonsuits my mediators. (I.i.9-16)

Iago is clearly under the belief that Othello’s choice not to promote him was a foolish one, but the true reason behind his anger arises from his ploy to become the lieutenant. The intervention of these high clbum nobles of Venice fails to win Iago his rank and foils his plan: Othello undermines Iago’s control. Following this rant, Iago and Roderigo inform Desdemona’s father that she has eloped with Othello in an effort to slander his name. Iago leaves, in order to advise Othello to flee. Othello refuses, stating that his honor and his words will save him, and then asks if the mob after him is there. Iago replies, “By Jbum, I think no.” (I.ii.38). Othello understands this as “by god, no,” and this is indeed what is true. However, the quote has more than one interpretation that that. Jbum is a two-faced Greek god: Iago is a two-faced Venetian soldier. This wordplay marks the fact that Iago is mocking Othello at the same time: his “no” also applies to Othello’s belief that he will manifest himself rightly. At the same time, it is a curse to Iago himself. His plan has just been undone by this Moor, the same Moor which did not promote him despite his best efforts.

Iago fears that he cannot control the Moor, and thus takes it upon himself to destroy him. His jealousy at the idea that Othello has slept with his wife is not actually fear about his honor and reputation, but more a symbolic fear. The idea that Othello is taking control over his life as opposed to the other way around infuriates Iago and becomes a sort of manifestation of his desire to have all the power. Power and control is a common motif throughout the play, especially during parts which involve violence brought on by Iago’s meddling. A pattern emerges where every violent act throughout the play involves in some way a noble. In addition, as the violent acts become increasingly violent and horrific, more nobles appear. As every violent act in the play is brought on by Iago, an interesting correlation emerges. In addition, Iago never directly involves these nobles in his planning. The most striking example of this is demonstrated by Iago getting Cbumio drunk, when he plans to have him “as full of quarrel and offense/as my young mistress’ dog” (II.iii.51-52). Cbumio attacks Montano, a man of considerable respect, but Montano enters right after Iago knows his plan. Thus, without intended to Iago’s plotting leads to a man of power being seriously hurt. Other instances of this include Lodovico witnessing Othello striking Desdemona, Gratiano and Lodovico witnessing the aftermath of the fight between Cbumio and Roderigo, and Gratiano, Lodovico, and Montano all being present during the murder of Desdemona. These nobles are never targeted but nonetheless manage to find themselves witnessing the corruption of Othello from the outside. In an interesting twist of fate, it is Lodovico who both brings in Iago to Othello at the end, and saves him when Othello tries to murder him. “Fall’n in the practice of a damnéd slave,” (V.ii.343) Lodovico sneers at Iago as he asks Othello what he should do. By the end of the tragedy, Iago’s powerlessness is fully portrayed as this noble calls the once respected Iago a slave.

By the end of the play, Iago’s power is dwindling as his plan rolls into action. While as he puts it into action he exerts his will over everyone he can trick into helping him, by the end he’s set into action events he cannot stop. Once Othello is convinced that Desdemona is cheating on him and fully prepared to murder her, Iago no longer needs to do anything. This lack of need leads to Iago’s lack of power by the end, and his environment is one in which he controls everything, but at the same time nothing. He decides to have Roderigo and Cbumio fight to kill each other in order to remove one of them and preventing their meddling in his plot. When Roderigo lives, he stabs him to prevent him from talking: his last words are, “O murd’rous slave! O villian!” (V.i.73). Again, this idea of Iago being a powerless slave comes up, a grave insult for a man of his nature. In this same scene Iago accuses Bianca of conspiring to murder Cbumio, a completely useless gesture. Even without the accusation, Iago is free of blame. However, this gesture is his exertion of influence for no reason other than he can. Though he does not show it, he realizes that his ability to influence everything is fading. The fact that he had to physically deal with Roderigo himself proves this. Iago’s power finally dwindles to nothing by the end, when he commands Emilia to shut up about his role in tricking Othello and she ignores him. He turns to violence in order to silence her, murdering Emilia and fleeing. Caught and accused, he simply says, “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know./ From this time forth I will never again speak word.” (V.ii.355-356). In Iago’s last act, he exerts the only power he has left: the power to let everyone else dwell in confusion. Broken and weak, he succeeds at everything except the one thing he’s tried to do: exert his power over the Moor.

Thus, Iago’s only motivation in the destruction of Othello is his desire to control the Moor, and in turn everyone around him. This motivation backfires on him, as his sheer desire to control overwhelms him at the same time that everyone around him ceases to require his meddling. Without Iago, Othello still distrusts and hates Desdemona, Cbumio is still out of a job, and Roderigo is still poor and hopeless. His actions serve only to push these misfortunes to an extreme and put Iago at further risk. A clever man as Iago can see that simply ruining Othello’s joy forever is enough, but in his craving for power he goes too far and damns himself. It would be accurate to say that Othello is not only a tragedy about an honest man going mad with jealousy, but a tragedy of sorts about a dishonest man going mad with his addiction to power. Iago’s story both acts as a mirror and a foil to Othello’s, and in the end they both seal their own fates because of their vices.


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Veer

Avatar: 2059 Thu Nov 13 08:18:14 -0500 2008
6

[Team Shortbus]

Level 32 Troll

my only complaint is that you people are happy

inb4tl;dr


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crayoncakes

Avatar: crayoncakes's Avatar
16

[Team Shortbus]

Level 31 Troll

To Earthend and beyond!

did you write this all or copy paste it


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crayoncakes

Avatar: crayoncakes's Avatar
16

[Team Shortbus]

Level 31 Troll

To Earthend and beyond!

also you live in California or something why are you up so early/late


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iRAWR

Avatar: 49692 Wed Nov 05 00:16:18 -0500 2008

Level 10 Emo Kid

NEW CEO OF FORUMWARZ INC.

tl;dr


Life is a sexually transmitted disease, and the only cure is death.

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Veer

Avatar: 2059 Thu Nov 13 08:18:14 -0500 2008
6

[Team Shortbus]

Level 32 Troll

my only complaint is that you people are happy

crayoncakes Posted:

also you live in California or something why are you up so early/late

because i wrote it

:lol:


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Dreaded_Mafia

Avatar: Webcam Girl

Level 4 Camwhore

“Like a Virgin”

I’d say tl;dr but that’s not lol enough^^


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Russia: being communist with your mother since…

Agent_Orange

Avatar: Toy Mouth

[Team Shortbus]

Level 10 Troll

I do not move out of the way

why do you have drawings of mammary glands in your signature when you could have photos of actual mammary glands

(weeaboo)


enire

Avatar: enire's Avatar
9

[70 Character Story-
tellers
]

Level 10 Troll

“Pain in the ASCII”

Agent_Orange Posted:

why do you have drawings of mammary glands in your signature when you could have photos of actual mammary glands

(weeaboo)

Cuz the only mammary glands Veer is interested in are on girls too young to (legally) photograph nude.


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Biff Weasley

Avatar: 2174 Wed Nov 05 00:04:24 -0500 2008
2

Level 19 Troll

bumhead

enire Posted:

Cuz the only mammary glands Veer is interested in are on girls too young to (legally) photograph nude.

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Balloon

Avatar: Balloon's Avatar
28

[Grey Goose Mafiosi]

Level 35 Camwhore

Inflate my ovaries until they pop out of me and float away

Othello likes them white ****es.


bumuming make an bum out of you and an asian girl named Ming.

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Veer

Avatar: 2059 Thu Nov 13 08:18:14 -0500 2008
6

[Team Shortbus]

Level 32 Troll

my only complaint is that you people are happy

Agent_Orange Posted:

why do you have drawings of mammary glands in your signature when you could have photos of actual mammary glands

(weeaboo)

because the signature is wacky and crazy

much like me

wacky!!!1`


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crayoncakes

Avatar: crayoncakes's Avatar
16

[Team Shortbus]

Level 31 Troll

To Earthend and beyond!

Veer Posted:

because the signature is wacky and crazy

much like me

wacky!!!1`

get some sleep Log in to see images!


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Veer

Avatar: 2059 Thu Nov 13 08:18:14 -0500 2008
6

[Team Shortbus]

Level 32 Troll

my only complaint is that you people are happy

crayoncakes Posted:

get some sleep Log in to see images!

no


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iIRZ

Avatar: iIRZ's Avatar

[Team Shortbus]

Level 7 Troll

iIRZ is a funny fine upstanding member of society, which is to say that he did WTC and your mom

Listen:


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Tangolho

Avatar: Tangolho's Avatar
4

[Team Shortbus]

Level 24 Troll

The Repeater

check out the klan forum

Phlegmatic

Avatar: Phlegmatic's Avatar
6

[Pessimists]

Level 19 Troll

“Li'l Hellraiser”

The weather beaten trail wound ahead into the dust racked

climes of the baren land which dominates large portions of the

Norgolian empire. Age worn hoof prints smothered by the sifting

sands of time shone dully against the dust splattered crust of

earth. The tireless sun cast its parching rays of incandescense

from overhead, half way through its daily revolution. Small

rodents scampered about, occupying themselves in the daily

accomplishments of their dismal lives. Dust sprayed over three

heaving mounts in blinding clouds, while they bore the burdonsome

cargoes of their struggling overseers.

“Prepare to embrace your creators in the stygian haunts of

hell, barbarian”, gasped the first soldier.

“Only after you have kissed the fleeting stead of death,

wretch!” returned Grignr.

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