The disturbing aspects of human nature

Jealousy is one of humanity's greatest flaws

Human mind being easily manipulated

Vulnerability and insecurity

Iago proclaims his overt hatred for Othello in Act 1 Scene 1: “Despise me/ If I do not [hate Othello]”, yet the reasons for his abhorrence change every time he mentions it. After reading the play, one can find four key “motives” for Iago’s aversion to Othello. First, Iago is a racist and does not approve of the fact that Othello is a Moor, highlighting his irrational tendencies. Subsequently, Iago is jealous and believes Cassio was rewarded with the promotion Iago deserved, adding anger to his hatefulness. He also subtly tells the audience how he is envious of –and angered by –Othello’s marriage to Desdemona, which may be caused by his disgust by interracial relationships. Finally, Iago is afraid that Othello has had intimate relations with his own wife, Emilia.

Iago's jealousy may be racially motivated, where he shares his prejudice by saying “These Moors are changeable in their wills”, which played with typical ideas of the time that people of colour were indecisive. In addition, he talks about the marriage between Othello and Desdemona by saying “a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian and a supersubtle Venetian”. When Iago calls Othello a "black ram", he degrades Othello to the title of a beast or an animal. Iago is basically indicating Othello is a black animal out to steal Desdemona’s innocence.

Iago is upset with Cassio because Cassio was promoted ahead of him. Iago is the senior officer and a skilled fighter; by all rights, the promotion should go to him. He is jealous of Cassio and believes that he does not deserve a heightened position. He says Cassio has "never set a squadron in the field".

Iago is also envious of Cassio's superior manners and social status. As late as Act 5, Iago is still motivated by jealous thoughts about Cassio. Iago says Cassio must be destroyed because of the "daily beauty in his life/ That makes me ugly".

Iago is eaten up with sexual jealousy. He says he hates Othello because he suspects the general has "twixt my sheets … done my office". There is no evidence in the text to suggest he has been cuckolded, either by Othello or Cassio. This may link to Coleridge's comment about “The motive-hunting of motiveless malignity". The note by Coleridge concerns the end of Act 1, Scene 3. Coleridge's phrase is often taken to mean that Iago has no real motive and does evil only because he is evil. This is not far from what Coleridge meant, but he almost certainly wasn't using the word "motive" in the same way as it's now used. We use it to mean "an emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse that acts as an incitement to action". This definition equates "motive" and "impulse"; Coleridge, however, thought the two quite different. Thus Coleridge asserts that Iago's motives (in our sense) were his "keen sense of his intellectual superiority" and his "love of exerting power." And so Iago's malignity is "motiveless" because his motives (in Coleridge's sense) — revenge for being passed over for promotion, and for being cuckolded by both Othello and Cassio — are merely rationalisations.

Karen Newman says "power and potency of a different monstrous sexuality". She suggests that Renaissance culture inherently demonises racial and sexual difference as monstrous. In particular, she notes that the white male characters - specifically Iago - feel threatened by the monstrous - symbolised by Othello. This is because Othello, married to a white woman, would be able to use his power to diminish his partner's whiteness. As a result of such fears and jealousy against inter-racial marriages, Othello's character would be considered as naturally monstrous.

Geohumoralism stated that Africans were not naturally jealous, but if they were provoked they would respond violently. In the theory, countries with warmer climates produced more aggressive subjects, which corresponds to European perceptions of Africans as exotic creatures. For example, Desdemona responds to Emilia about Othello’s jealousy: “Who, he? I think the sun where he was born / Drew all such humor’s from him” (Act 3, Scene 4). Othello himself recognises this, as he says that he is ‘one not easily jealous but being wrought, / Perplexed in the extreme’ (Act 5, Scene 2) as well as claiming that his blackness presupposes him to rage: ‘I am black / And have not those soft parts of conversation’ (Act 3, Scene 3). Iago takes advantage of Othello’s (supposedly racial) impulsivity: “Trifles light as air / Are to the jealous confirmations strong/As proofs of holy writ” (Act 3, Scene 3). Therefore, most characters - as well as Othello - see his jealousy linked to his racial origin.

Othello is seen as a brave and loyal soldier, but is initially presented as dark and dangerous by Roderigo and Iago. To Brabantio, Othello appears to have black magical powers, but in fact, the private truth is that Othello won Desdemona with stories of “disastrous chances … moving accidents [and] hair-breadth scapes”. Othello is concerned with his reputation and upholds a strict code of honour both privately and publicly. He dismisses Cassio as soon as he discovers his officer’s drunken actions. Similarly, as soon as he suspects Desdemona of adultery, Othello watches her like a hawk. Finally, the act of killing his wife is not an act of revenge for Othello, but of justice. He justifies his actions: “She must die, else she’ll betray more men”. Emilia initially believes that he killed Desdemona for no reason as Desdemona has appeared innocent to her throughout. Othello is an outsider who is intelligent and confident in military matters but socially insecure. He leads an intense life, swinging between triumph and dread. He is different from those around him, due to his origins and his life history, but he shares their religion, values, and patriotism to Venice. Caryl Phillips comments that "Othello feels constantly threatened and profoundly insecure".

In Act 4, he crumbles. Othello discusses his race throughout the play—usually in response to something a white Venetian says—but here he makes his first negative reference to it, suggesting that perhaps his Blackness is to blame for his lack of conversational ability. It is a quiet moment, but a hugely significant one. It marks a turning point: Othello has fallen victim to the same racist logic (or illogic) that rules the thinking of people such as Iago and Roderigo. Like those men, Othello wants to place the blame for his feelings of inferiority somewhere and winds up laying that blame not where it belongs (in this case, at Iago’s feet), but on his own skin. The floodgates have opened, and now Othello is in danger of believing all of Iago’s racist nonsense. In the next lines, Othello compares himself to a toad living in a dungeon, as if he has begun to suspect that his Blackness makes him a loathsome animal, somehow less than human.

When Othello feels his wife's supposed sexual infidelity has soiled his good reputation, he compares his once good name to his "begrimed and black" face. In other words, Othello associates the blackness of his own skin with something dirty and stained, which is exactly the kind of thing that the racist Venetian characters (like Brabantio) have been saying all along. Some versions of the play read "Her name, that was as fresh / as Dian's visage is now begrimed and black / as my own face." This substitution may oppose the idea that Othello is buying into the racist insults.

By this moment in the play, Othello seems to have internalised the racist ideologies of other characters. He sees himself as a soiled (and soiling) black man.

Iago believes that Othello “is of a free and open nature That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose As asses are.” Iago describes how Othello is easy to manipulate due to his trusting nature. Iago does not only manipulate and destroy his rivals, he also manipulates his allies, including Roderigo. After convincing Roderigo to sell all of his land, Iago mentions, “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse. For I mine own gained knowledge should profane If I would time expend with such a snipe But for my sport and profit.” Iago explains how he only uses Roderigo because he is aware he can get something useful out of it. In order to carry out his revenge, Iago capitalizes on his rivals’ weak points and insecurity. He carefully observes those around him, analyzing possible weaknesses that he can use to manipulate them. In Act 2, Iago observes Cassio and discovers that “With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. Ay, smile upon her, do, I will gyve thee in thine own courtship.” Iago plans to convince Othello that Cassio is flirting with his wife Desdemona. There is a great possibility that Othello will believe him because of Cassio’s reputation as a womanizer. Iago is able to effectively recognize the weaknesses of several characters to manipulate them to get revenge for not obtaining what he thinks he deserves.

Iago reveals his intrinsic evil nature where he expresses no remorse for hurting others. He is proud of being able to manipulate his rivals, friends or even his wife regardless of the harm he bestows upon them. In a soliloquy in Act 3, Iago believes that “natures poisons at the first are scarce found to distaste, But with a little act upon the blood Burn like the mines of sulfur.” Iago finds pleasure in other’s pain. His influence is behind the death of multiple characters, including his own wife. Iago kills Emilia when she attempts to expose his plan. While killing his wife, Iago proceeds to call her a “Villainous whore” Iago also kills Roderigo to protect his plan. If Rodrigo would have survived his injury, he would have revealed his plans. Iago is also the cause of Desdemona’s death. So he murders Roderigo after which Casio cries out “A murder!” and Othello goes on to kill Desdemona thus completing Iago’s plan. Iago’s plan to convince him of Desdemona’s infidelity was successful. This eventually leads to the death of Othello who kills himself after his injustice to his beloved wife.

Having been mistakenly told that Desdemona is having an affair with his lieutenant Cassio, Othello repeatedly verbally abuses Desdemona in sexual terms – he calls her a public whore, a commoner, a strumpet and a devil. He makes increasingly violent threats to harm and kill Desdemona. “She’s gone, I am abused, and my relief / Must be to loather her” quickly escalates to “I’ll tear her all to pieces!” and “chop her into messes". The abuse escalates again when Othello publicly strikes Desdemona. In the final murder scene Othello terrorises Desdemona by directing her to pray, saying "thou art to die".

Desdemona attempts to manage Othello’s violence by trying to woo him back. She accepts his abuse as “my wretched fortune” asking, “What shall I do to win my lord again?”. Venetian society is barely aware of male violence toward women. Iago’s abuse of his wife Emilia, for instance, is not commented on or apparently even noticed by the other characters. The only rebuke of Othello is made by Lodovico (representative of the Venetian duke and senate) who, observing Othello strike Desdemona, tells him to “make amends” – but makes no other intervention. Desdemona herself struggles to identify or understand her abuse. Before she dies Emilia asks her “O, who hath done this deed?”; Desdemona replies, “Nobody; I myself”. Othello manipulates Desdemona into believing that she is to blame for her death when in reality she is innocent.