Iago’s Love Language: Controlling Emotion through Words in Othello Emily Greenberg College

The character of Iago in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello appears to be the quintessential villain. His rampant deception and cold-blooded plotting leads to misunderstanding, agony over love, and unnecessary death with no definite motivation. Paradoxically, in order to deceive many characters, from dignified Othello to blundering Roderigo, Iago professes his love and caring to them, each in a distinct and vastly different way. For this reason, finding consistency in Iago’s character is challenging as he performs differently in the presence of each character and in the presence of the audience when alone. By examining how he exhibits love differently for Roderigo and Othello, it is clear that Iago is a deeply emotional character, troubled by the potential enslavement of love’s overwhelming power. In response to his fraught relationship with love, Iago uses manipulating language and acting to control and subvert his relationships to these same characters. Ultimately, Iago transforms love from an emotion defined by passion into an idea governed by language.

Before exploring the ways in which Iago performs love for Roderigo and Othello, it is necessary to understand the ways Iago defines the feeling and uses the word “love.”...