• Login
    View Item 
    •   Oxy Scholar Home
    • English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS)
    • English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) URC Student Scholarship
    • View Item
    •   Oxy Scholar Home
    • English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS)
    • English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) URC Student Scholarship
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    "I Am Not What I am": Iago's Rhetoric of Identity and Anxiety

    Thumbnail
    Author
    Jenkins-Sleczkowski, Chloe
    Issue
    urc_student; urc_student
    Date
    2009-01-01 0:00
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    URI
    https://scholar.oxy.edu/handle/20.500.12711/900
    Abstract
    In Shakespeare?s "Othello," Iago manages to manipulate the characters and the plot of the play in order to create his narrative. He uses the anxieties and themes of the English Renaissance, animating the fears of his opponents. He embodies the Renaissance ideal of ?self-fashioning,? a way of re-creating one?s identity to become anything desired. Because of the shifting society, the people of the Renaissance were growing insecure about the stability of identity. The revival of classic rhetorical practices also allowed for the linguistic construction of identity, masking and representing the entity behind it. These ambiguities about identity led to questioning of the ability to truly know anyone. The nature of rhetoric means that all things and people are knowable through language and words alone. Iago can be seen as a modern ?Proteus? figure, a ?Renaissance man? who can shift his identity according to his situation and surroundings. Iago?s skilled recognition of his culture?s anxieties allows him to perform upon his opponents? fears and manipulate them into carrying out his plot. He uses his rhetorical artistry to recreate his identity multiple times, becoming a different person to different people. He uses the instable identities of Othello and Cassio by animating their anxieties to them and bringing forth their fears about their rhetorically constructed personas. He convinces them of his version of the truth, manipulates their actions, and carries out his plot of "Othello."
    Collections
    • English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) URC Student Scholarship

    Browse

    All of Oxy ScholarCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsJournal TitleJournal IssueThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsJournal TitleJournal Issue

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2021  DuraSpace
    Contact Us | Send Feedback
    DSpace Express is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV