Blog Post #10 - Othello

"Virtue? A fig! 'Tis in ourselves that we are thus or
thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our
wills are gardeners. So that if we will plant nettles
or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme,
supply it with one gender of herbs or distract it
with many, either to have it sterile with idleness or
manured with industry, why the power and corrigi-
ble authority of this lies in our wills. If the balance
of our lives had not one scale of reason to poise
another of sensuality, the blood and baseness of our
natures would conduct us to most prepost'rous
conclusions. But we have reason to cool our raging
motions, our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts-
whereof I take this that you call love to be a sect, or
scion" (1.3.361-375)

This part is when Iago is speaking to Roderigo, and Roderigo is being dramatic about how it is not in his power ("virtue") to get Desdemona to love him back. Iago, in response, says that virtue is ridiculous. Iago goes on to explain that it is a person's will and perseverance to make things happen. I enjoyed this part a lot because of the metaphor he uses. Iago compares one's body to a garden, and that you choose what you give it. He also says that a person can choose how they react and experience emotions, and that one shouldn't let their sexual impulses and other raging emotions control them. I feel like Iago's entire character is based on the fact that he chooses what will happen and it works! He manipulates others and predicts results that come out true. I feel like a lot of Shakespeare plays get into fate and how one may not be able to control it, especially in Romeo and Juliet (it's literally one of the first lines). This is a big contrast to Othello, as we clearly see Iago does not fall into the trap of fate, instead he controls his own will and future. Of course Iago is a terrible person and is doing this for his own gain, but obviously it works. This makes Othello pretty wild because of the fact Iago is such a powerful character.