The name Iago comes from the Latin, "Iacobus", meaning "he who stumbles another and takes his place". This name also belongs to the most important character in Shakespeare's Othello and one of the most wonderfully evil characters of all time. The character Iago is more than worthy of his name, as in the process of "stumbling" the character Cassio into Cassio's lieutenantship, Iago takes extreme measures to get revenge on Othello, the general who first stripped him of the lieutenancy. By taking these measures, Iago wreaks havoc in the characters' lives and creates a reign of disorder. Thematically, this disorder manifests itself in the juxtaposition of opposing sides: honesty versus deception and appearance versus reality, black versus white, good versus evil, and God versus the Devil. Iago exemplifies the theme of opposition and contradiction and casts an aura over the play that reflects this theme with his paradoxical statement: "I am not what I am." (Act I; i) Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay This statement is significant in many ways, one of which is that it reflects the theme of contradiction within the work. It is also significant because it directly abrogates God's statement to Moses in Exodus III: "I am that I am." By this God meant that He is the All, the “I Am,” the complete and unique Ego, Being and Power. Deliberately contradicting God's claim, Iago insinuates that he is the opposite of God, suggesting that he may be the devil. The idea of ​​Iago as a representation of Satan will be discussed later. Iago's statement of self-denial can also be used as a formula throughout the play: whenever he uses the words "I am", they can be replaced with the words "I am". I am not", to produce a completely different meaning from what he says. This idea obviously coincides with the theme of opposition as it deals with opposite meanings. For example, at one point Iago says to Roderigo: "I am for you ". (Act I; ii) The insertion of the formula translates this statement to "I am not for you." This makes much more sense, because Iago is not "for" Roderigo at all: he is simply using Roderigo to carry out the his plans, and Roderigo dislikes him greatly, thinking him an idiot for his passive cooperation and gullibility. A more important example of how this formula can be used is when Iago says "As honest as I am". is one of many references made to Iago by himself and others as "honest." He is obviously not honest at all, which is why it makes sense to use the formula so that his statement says "As honest as I am." Iago appears to be honest but in reality he is dishonest; this idea reflects the theme of opposition - in this case, the opposition between honesty and deception, as well as between appearance and reality. Other elements of the play also reflect these ideas, such as the reality of Desdemona's innocence and the distortion of reality, her infidelity, which Iago makes Othello believe is real. Iago makes Desdemona and Cassio seem dishonest, when in reality Desdemona is chaste and loyal and Cassio is honorable. All these contradictions arise from Iago's cunning, and are also related to his statement "I am not what I am": he is not what he is, and therefore makes others seem not what they are. The theme of opposition Sides also manifests itself in the ideas of black versus white and evil versus good. Othello, a Moor, contrasts greatly with the rest of the characters, who are all white. His color creates conflict in some areas, such as how others see him. Brabantio, for example, is Desdemona's father, and yesangry when she runs away with Othello, especially because Othello is black. He speaks harshly to Othello and accuses him of witchcraft, asking why else his daughter would "run from her refuge to the sooty breast of such a thing as thee: fear, not delight!" (Act i; ii) The conflict between black and white later becomes evident when the dark brunette begins to oppose his blonde-haired, blue-eyed wife due to his ever-increasing suspicion, constantly fueled by Iago's cunning. The theme of black and white is centered at one point in a witty speech by Iago about women: If she be fair and wise, fairness and wit, That is for use, that others use... If she is black, and for this she has spirit, she will find a white who will strike her darkness... She was never foolish that it was right For even her folly helped her to have an heir. (Act II, i) This clever rhyme seems to favor fairness over darkness, which reflects Iago's hatred for Othello. The theme of black versus white is a variation of the theme of evil versus good, Iago, of course, is evil, and he is in opposition to good, represented mainly by Othello and all the other characters. The irony of Iago compared to Othello is that he creates a contradiction within a contradiction. The first contradiction is, once again, good versus evil. The second contradiction is that good is usually represented by white and evil by black, but in this case the colors are reversed. Not only does the theme of opposing sides exist in the form of good versus evil, but it comes in the form of God versus the devil. As previously mentioned, Iago can be considered a representation of Satan because he declares himself to be the opposite of God with his "I am not what I am." Another time Iago hints that he represents the devil is when he describes how he deceives others with his appearance: "When the devils shall lay the blackest sins upon themselves, / At first they suggest with heavenly shows, as I do now" . (Act II; iii) Furthermore, the role of destroyer he takes directly opposes the idea of ​​God as Creator, so Iago must represent the opposite of God, the devil. Who then is the god Iago is fighting against? According to Harold Bloom in Shakespeare, the invention of man, Othello is Iago's god. While this may not seem logical at first glance, the following ideas must be considered: Iago, being a representation of Satan, revels in his evil qualities and loves to wage war. In fact, war is his religion. Since Othello is a war general, Iago worships him like a god. When Othello leaves Iago and gives the lieutenancy to Cassio, Iago becomes nothing, hence "I am not what I am." Since he is nothing, he must fight against his god, Othello, who, like the God of the Bible who is Everything, is everything to Iago because war is everything to Iago. Iago's love of war also reflects the theme of opposition in the play, because war is essentially about opposing sides. Incidentally, Iago states at one point that, if Othello had not ignored him, Iago would never have become "nothing". Iago conveys this idea to Roderigo with the words "As sure as you are Roderigo, if I were the Moor I would not be Iago." (Act I; i) Iago means that if he had been as powerful as the Moor and had received the lieutenancy, he would not have become the nothingness that Iago is, the “I am not” that constitutes his being. He would never experience the emptiness of his soul, which led to his lack of morality and thus his malicious pursuit of evil. In reality, he would never have become the wonderfully evil character so esteemed in literature. The meaning of names plays a small but significant role, as illustrated above with the meaning of the name Iago. However, there are two other significant names that are not."