Iago, The Egomaniac
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: Iago, The Egomaniac
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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If I were to tell you that typing “famous selfish characters” into Google would produce a link to a Iago analysis,
would you be surprised? English poet Samuel Coleridge might have had mixed feelings. He once described Iago
as a motiveless malignity during a lecture given the winter of 1818. According to Coleridge, motive was not a
factor in his actions but instead a natural instinct to commit evil acts. Shakespeare gives us clues to Iago’s
perspective that instead explain those unseen motives as attempts to benefit his own selfish cause.
Coleridge makes distinctions about Iago’s personality easy to divulge by any reader. When Iago reveals that he is
treating Roderigo like his purse Coleridge comments that this is simply an attempt to go “motive-hunting” when
in reality it’s nothing more than an exercise of evil. There seems to be a common belief that this use of motive
equates to our modern definition. However, Shakespeare analyst Philip Weller makes a point to define the
differing language of the 1800’s. “We use it to mean ‘an emotion, desire, physiological need, or similar impulse
that acts as an incitement to action’ (‘Motive’). This definition equates ‘motive’ and ‘impulse’, Coleridge, however,
thought the two quite different”. Weller instead suggests that Coleridge defined Iago’s motives as “keen sense of
his intellectual superiority…love of exerting power,” and that the reasons he gives are merely rationalizations .
This is a simplification of Iago. While it is an accurate outlook on his inner psyche, Shakespeare does not write off
his character as being plainly evil. What’s most important to realize is how Iago views himself. Seeing as this entire
play is built off of reputation concerns, it would not be hard to as...
essay iago'