Iago: "Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word."
Act V, Scene ii, 302-303
In order to preserve his reputation as that honest man, Iago didn't admit why to Othello he did what he did. It's ironic because it's obvious that he's not honest because he kept all these secrets from everyone. This part portrays Iago furthermore as someone who is deceiving. He still continues as though nothing really happened even though he's been caught red-handed. Iago never gives up on his plot even as it falls through.
Overall Othello seemed pretty far-fetched to me since Iago was able to convince everyone of basically anything. All of the characters were rather gullible in my opinion. Othello didn't second-guess any of Iago's rumors about Desdemona cheating on him. Emilia never seemed to discover what her husband was up to, until the very end of course. Iago had this insane control over all of the characters. Iago-one person- had the power to cause a ton of drama. I wonder if Shakespeare meant for the play to be somewhat far-fetched and entertaining or if it was to show how destructive jealousy can be to oneself and others. Probably both. But could one person really cause four people to go against one another thus resulting in four deaths?..
Anyway, I can't decide if I liked Iago or not. On one hand, he was determined to get what he wanted, which is great and all, but it was for selfish reasons and he did it out of hatred/jealousy. Yet he was really the only smart character. Everyone else went with the flow and allowed all the rumors to consume their lives. Honest Iago was able to deceive them all. To sum it up here is what I have learned from Othello:
1) Jealousy makes for messy situations
2) Don't believe everything you hear
3) People may go to extreme ends to seek revenge
4) It is ignorant to hate someone based on preconceived notions
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