Othello is a Shakespearean classic tragedy that has been adopted into different modern day versions in cinema and theatre. It is a tragic tale of envy, revenge, manipulation and murder. The 2001 British modern day adaptation of Othello sticks with the classical themes of jealousy, envy and murder. The Geoffrey Sax movie is set in modern day London that is witnessing riots due to police brutality. This paper seeks to explore the treatment of the theme of evil and revenge in the two disparate versions of Othello. Understanding the depiction of evil also means understanding the inner workings and motives of Iago and Jago, the chief architects of evil.
The names of the characters in the movie are also significant since they alert the reader to Othello about the role, the character is going to play. One of the main differences to the story is the mere change in names. Whereas Shakespeare used single names in his characterization, Sax creates full names. Thus, the viewer is not introduced to just Othello in the movie but John Othello. The changes in name are not very subtle but they reflect on the contemporary experience of creating an individual with a first and last name. It is Ben Jago who is at the center of the film since he is the one responsible for evil machinations.
a Florentine,
A fellow almost damned in a fair wife,
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster—unless the bookish theoric,
Wherein the togèd consuls can propose
As masterly as he: mere prattle, without practice
Is all his soldiership. (Othello 1. 1. 21-28).
There is no evidence that Cassio is less qualified than Iago but Iago makes this his basis of hatred. This does not mean that he is out of conspiracy tales and excuses to harm people. There is nobody in his path whom he does not intend to harm expect for Iago himself. He is not interested in the affairs of his wife whom he accuses of being dishonorable. Iago’s conspiracy tales keep on changing and he moves from being passed for promotion to accusing Othello of cheating with his wife. He says;
I hate the Moor,
And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets
'Has done my office. I know not if 't be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety. (Othello 1.3.329-433).
It is when Iago’s tales change that it becomes apparent that his hatred has no other basis but the exercise of evil for evil’s sake. It is critical to look at Iago’s motivations closely because they reveal the difference of evil in Othello, the classic and Othello, the modern British adaptation.
The audience of Shakespeare are often reviled by Iago. He is a man without redeeming qualities but his complexity makes the play enthralling. It is when he is juxtaposed with Othello that one becomes to admire his tenacity, not his evil machinations. Othello is a man driven by glory and lust. He is also very trusting which makes it easy for Iago to manipulate him. Individuals like Othello would treat being passed over for promotion as a sign that they should probably work harder while Iago see it as the ultimate mockery of their abilities.
One of the significant ideas that the classic Shakespeare Othello advances is the nature of trust, especially between Iago and Othello. In the modern British adaptation, When John Othello informs Ben Jago that he had been offered the job of police commissioner. He feigns excitement and is actually happy when Othello tells him that he trusts him. Taking advice from the Prime Minister, Othello makes Jago his confidant not knowing that he had made his biggest mistake. Jago smilingly calls Othello “a clever big black bastard”. Othello tells Jago that he “is too big a man for envy” which is a gross miscalculation and understanding of the nature of Othello (Sax n. p.). In his side narration Jago calls Othello a “stupid patronizing ape” (Sax n. p.). He further rants that Othello is “darkie” “a token”, and a negro. What becomes apparent in the modern tale of Othello is that race becomes a very significant factor as compared to Shakespeare’s Othello.
While Shakespeare wanted to make Shakespeare a study into evil and human folly, the modern adaptation has to contend with racial issues that bedevil modern Western nations. Race and hate are inseparable in the modern tale. It is apparent in most of Iago’s talk about how Othello wronged him that he places race into the background. The movie Othello opens with race riots and the theme of race and violence permeates the whole movie. When Jago calls Othello an ape it shows that the markers of the movie were hard pressed to ignore racial pride as a motivating factor for the committing of evil between black and white.
One of the dominant features of the movie is the death of Billy Coates, a black man who was accused to drug dealing and was killed by white police officers during arrest. Thus, evil that is tied to racism is not limited to Jago only. The police officers lied that Billy Coates was wielding a knife when in reality he had no weapon. Putting race at the center of exploring human relations is not something that Shakespeare seemed to have been concerned with. Iago even though he makes brief mentions to Othello, moor and talks about him by making allusions to beasts, he does not not make race an integral part of his reasons to destroy Othello.
Iago’s hatred for Othello seems to transcend color, it is about inner human goodness and nobility that he discovers that he does not have. Iago is an individual who is incapable of love and he seems an abundance of it which disturbs him. There variants of love and honor that Iago seeks to destroy (Raatztsch 9). He seeks to destroy Roderigo’s infatuation with Desdemona. The ultimate prize is the Othello’s honor and love.
Jago’s scheme is similar to Iago is a number of ways with a few twist. In the movie Othello, Michael Cassie is a handsome known womanizer who is sent to protect Dessie Brabant, John Othello’s wife after she is attacked following the publishing of their marriage on a neo-nazi website. All this is arranged by Jago who is well aware that Michael Cassie as a womanizer will not resist making his moves on Dessie. In edition to setting up Dessie with Cass, Jago uses his manipulation skills to seduce Lulu, Dessie’s vulnerable friend who is desperate to find a man who cares. She believes that Jago might be the one but is unaware that to Jago, she is just there to provide him with information about Othello and Cass’ relationship.
The movie’s version of Iago is less malign and his evil is always driven by reasons that are legitimate. For example, when he cracks the Billy Coates death case and he convinces Alan Roderick one of the officers to testify that they went to Billy Coates’ house with the intention of attacking him rather than bust him for drugs. Jago is proud of his accomplishment but is horrified when John Othello fails to give him credit. This leads Jago to sabotage the case by making Roderick overdose on antidepressants and alcohol. Because Othello had taken credit of cracking the case and is also an honorable man, he takes blame for Roderick’s death. The movie tries to locate evil not in senselessness but in legitimate human grievances. Jago seemed to be finding justification for his actions on every corner.
Shakespeare does not provide a single legitimate reason on why Iago destroys the lives of everyone around them. Iago has so many reasons to the point where his utterances become unbelievable other than the fact that he is just an evil human being. In the movie adaptation there is a subtle introduction of confused sexuality as the motivation for doing all the evil that results in Othello, Dessie and Cass’ death. At the end of the movie, Jago says in one of his side narrations that his revenge had nothing to do with race or politics. He did all this manipulation for love. The suggestion is that Jago is jealous of Othello because he has some hidden feelings towards Othello. This point can be supported by his disinterest in sex as evidenced by how he interacts with Lulu.
In conclusion, both Shakespeare’s Othello and Sax’s movie adaptation explores the contours of humanity’s perchance for evil. Iago and Jago are two vile individuals who seem to love manipulating and injuring people for their enjoyment. They hide behind the veil of injury and honor but they do lack honor. In an attempt to destroy the lives of Othello and John Othello, they end up hurting many people without regret. They justify it as a way of regaining honor or love but in truth their schemes were meant to satisfy their dark urges.
Works Cited
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Lectures 1808-1819 On Literature. Ed. R. A. Foakes. Volume 2.
Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1987.
Richard Raatzsch, The Apologetics of Evil: The Case of Iago, Ladislaus Lob (tr.), Princeton UP,
2009
Sax Geoffrey Dir. Eamon Walker, Christopher Eccleston and Keeley Hawes. Othello. 2001.
Shakespeare, William, Barbara A. Mowat, and Paul Werstine. The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor
of Venice. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993. Print.
