Post 3: The Game of War

"Iago, as Harold Goddard finely remarked, is always at war; he is a moral pyromaniac setting fire to all of reality.......In Iago, what was the religion of war, when he worshiped Othello as its god, has now become the game of war, to be played everywhere except upon the battlefield."--Harold Bloom

Iago begins the play Othello believing in the religion of war. He is a warrior on the battlefield under his commander, Othello. He says himself to Roderigo that he has showed Othello that he can handle himself well in war while Cassio is untried in actual battle and knows only what is in the books. He says that he worked hard under Othello and it is obvious from his outrage that he thought very highly of Othello before Othello "betrayed" him by choosing Cassio as lieutenant. It seems that while he had thought before of causing some trouble because of his previous questioning of Emilia for Desdemona's handkerchief, he was too wrapped up in actual war and battle to cause any real trouble.

Iago begins to turn from war as a religion to war as a game when he is turned down as Othello's lieutenant. While he already harbored what could have been jealousy for Othello with his beautiful wife and high status even for his race, when Iago is turned down that jealousy is turned to anger and hatred, as he shows when he talks to Roderigo. He states that the only reason he stays to work for Othello is to undo Othello. Another fire for his anger could be his love of Desdemona vs. his seeming apathy for his wife Emilia. He says that he loves Desdemona but he never says anything like that about Emilia, only calling her "wench" and speaking thinly veiled jibes at her honor and intelligence. Once this fire is lit, Iago goes after the other characters one by one on his way to Othello.

He does not care any longer about the "honor" that he used before on the battlefield and begins to use underhanded measures to achieve his means like placing the doubt that Desdemona is faithful in Othello's mind and pushing Cassio to press his suit with Desdemona. He even asks Othello how far he will have to go, how much he will have to say, until Othello believes what Iago says about Desdemona and her love for Cassio. This questioning shows that war or dischord has been turned into a game for Iago, and that he is willing to do anything besides show himself to continue the game.

When Iago becomes angry is the moment where he throws away all reservations that had kept him seemingly honorable and trustworthy before and although he still seems good to those around him, he no longer tries to be. He will do anything, say anything to anyone, to twist the truth and tell white lies so that Othello is brought down. Here is where the idea or the "moral pyromaniac" sets in as Iago isn't afraid to say outrageous things against the other characters simply to sway one person's mind. He doesn't care that he kills his wife or causes Othello to kill Desdemona. It matters not to him that once Roderigo has outlasted his usefullness, Iago basically kills him in cold blood. Iago's use of Desdemona as the trap that brings all the others down also points to Iago believing that war is now a game. He knows how pure she is and uses that irony to enslave everyone is something more tragic than simply killing them would be. Iago knows how to turn people's strengths into their weaknesses, and that his ability will make the fall even more terrible an awakening than anything they could have managed by themselves. He creates theses complex webs between the characters so that each is working against another, be it knowingly or not.

Through all of this though, he manages to still be trusted by everyone else. A true warrior would not care how he appeared only that the ends were met, but a player in a game does anything and everthing to achieve ends without being uncovered or understood.