A pimp is a man who whores out prostitutes and takes part of their earnings in return, and Iago is like this in that he takes money from Roderigo, promising him Desdemona- who is already someone's wife. He treats Desdemona as if she is an item, almost trying to get Roderigo to purchase her love.
The Masters and Slaves speech foreshadows Iago's nature throughout the rest of the play, the way he will speak kindly to both Othello and Cassio, while trashing Cassio to Othello. He is using his master to his own ends, just as he says can happen with slaves, to give the impression of good work but instead go only for his own gain. The manipulation techniques Iago uses on Brabantio are: to use crude metaphors with animals to give the idea of animalistic things occurring without his knowledge, and yells things like "fire!" and "thieves" to whips Brabantio into a rage by the time he gets to Othello. The effects of these manipulations are: Brabantio is in a frenzy about his daughter missing, worried about her, and angry that she is gone, possibly with Othello, though he has no problem with Othello. "Though I do hate him as I do hell-pains"-Iago "Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you: Arise, I say."-Iago "'Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not serve God, if the devil bid you"-Iago "Against all rules of nature, and must be driven To find out practises of cunning hell," -Brabantio |
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Iago hides himself while Brabantio yells out the window at Roderigo, and then runs off to avoid getting in trouble with Brabantio, and goes to Othello and Cassio as if he was there the whole time.
The manipulation techniques Iago uses on Othello are to tell the truth, warning of danger, and to be proven right almost immediately. Beyond that, he doesn't use many manipulation techniques, besides trying to make Othello angry.
The effects of these manipulations are negligible. Making Othello angry enough to attack Brabantio fails, but Iago does increase his credibility a bit by speaking the truth.
Iago's reference to Janus is relevant, due to Janus' two-faced nature. The two faces of the god represent looking into the past and the future, but Iago is almost symbolic of a two-faced nature itself, speaking kind words in everyone's ears while wishing them harm.
Brabantio charges Othello with stealing his daughter away by using spells and potions to make her marry him.
The manipulation techniques Iago uses on Othello are to tell the truth, warning of danger, and to be proven right almost immediately. Beyond that, he doesn't use many manipulation techniques, besides trying to make Othello angry.
The effects of these manipulations are negligible. Making Othello angry enough to attack Brabantio fails, but Iago does increase his credibility a bit by speaking the truth.
Iago's reference to Janus is relevant, due to Janus' two-faced nature. The two faces of the god represent looking into the past and the future, but Iago is almost symbolic of a two-faced nature itself, speaking kind words in everyone's ears while wishing them harm.
Brabantio charges Othello with stealing his daughter away by using spells and potions to make her marry him.
The military council's workings are similar to the battle between Othello and Brabantio in that Brabantio accuses Othello of some sorcery by which he took his daughter, and Othello is very calm and logical.
The military council's workings are different from the earlier battle in that there are no swords drawn, and the conflict between Brabantio and Othello is resolved with Desdemona. Othello explains how he wooed Desdemona, and then asks that she be brought and that she should explain how she fell in love with the Moor, and if any potions or spells were used upon her, which is what Brabantio claims. Othello escapes trouble because Desdemona admits easily that she is married to Othello and how he wooed her. Othello also needs to go to Cyprus to face the Turkish army, and is necessary. These two things clear him and get him out of trouble. Iago doesn't believe in love, and thinks it only a sect of love, nothing more than that, nothing less. He doesn't seem to understand love as a separate entity, probably jaded by the thought of Othello with Emilia. What Iago is talking about in his final soliloquy of Act I is how Roderigo is going to continue funding him, that he is turning Othello against Cassio and Desdemona because he heard on the rumour mill that Othello slept with Emilia, and he's going to tell Othello that Cassio is sleeping with Desdemona, turning all of them against one another and plotting to kill them. |