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1. donareeJan 27, 2012 11:46 AM

   In response to the second question, iago's philosophy in my own words is,"if we are good to people, they will take advantage of us, but if we follow what we believe in, then we wont go wrong".
   
   The evidence to go with this is " virtue a fig"- where he says that morality is a lie" other evidence includes; " if the beam of our lives had not one scale of reason to poise another [...] would conduct us to most preposterous conclusions".
   
   From this evidence, I am on both sides of his philosophy. in saying so, I believe that by following our own free will, is the only way we will live without regrets. however, ones free will may not be the moral expectations of society where judgement from our actions will be made. using free will as a beneficial factor does posses a harsh reality and outcomes in certain situations.

2. 
   Mary :)Jan 28, 2012 01:46 AM

   Iago’s philosophy: morality is worthless
   He starts his speech by saying “Virtue? A fig” which shows that he places no value on honesty and being trustworthy. This is supported by his cunning actions at Brabantio’s house. And by his repetition of “put money in thy purse” from line 339.
   All Iago wants is for Roderigo to keep on giving him money so that he can continue to exploit him. He knows that Desdemona will not get “sated with his [Othello] body” but he says it because he knows that will get him what he wants. It corroborates his comment on how servants should put on one face towards their masters but secretly be thinking about themselves.
   I don’t agree with Iago’s philosophy. I think that without morality people would become cold and heartless – like Iago. In my opinion, Shakespeare’s function for Iago was to represent how cruel the world could become if we followed the philosophy of ‘me, myself and I’ and disregarded our values.
3. 
   LaraJan 28, 2012 05:31 AM

   The play begins in Venice,a civilised,comercialised area at the time.
   Othello is well-respected due to his position as general,and his close ties with the Duke of Venice,so when he is drafted to Cyprus, this sudden change into a potential war zone reflects the turmoil he will encounter,preparing us for any oncoming tagedy.
   Even the beginning of the play doesn't start off calm,but with Iagos schemes and Brabantios dissaproval of Desdamona and Othello's marriage, due to racial and religous differences.
4. 
   scarlettJan 28, 2012 09:53 AM

   Iago is a Machiavellian in that he is almost obsessed with hiding his true identity
   He refers to the body as "gardens,to the which our wills are gardeners" which shows that he is clearly all about bettering himself instead of his peers. Iago's self centered beliefs completely contradict the 'team' attitude that should be upheld by someone within a military unit like himself.
   
   Morevover, it is clear that Iago is memorized by the kudo's that being in a position of power can bring, hence his obsession with Othello and Cassio's demise. Othello and Cassio have more power than Iago (he is envious of this,and feels he has been served an injustice) ,thus he delights in conjuring up a plan that will bring both characters to their knees. However, he realises that he is not powerful enough to carryout his actions alone, he will need an unknowing and a "supersubtle Venetian" (Desdemona) to play her part and also the "barbarian" (Othello) himself to be at his weakest.
   
   Iago's philosophy to life does not seem to be in keeping with the majority of society -both of Elizabethan and modern day society- and so I do not think it is a good trait. His lack of morals and loyalties will only get him so far,which we of course find out at the end of Act three.
5. 
   goatsandmonkeysJan 29, 2012 01:25 PM

   Setting plays a particularly important role in establishing and enhancing tragedy in "Othello". this is shown when on being told his daughter is having an affair with Othello Barbantio should react encouragingly since he should embody the civil and cosmopolitan traits that made Venice the pinnacle of culture as the "Venetian senator". Yet the first action he takes on finding this out is of trying to attack Othello accusing him of ritualistic black manage to charm his daughter to Othello's side. This enhances tragedy because we know if Othello changes setting from Venice to anywhere he will inevitably treated badly but traveling to the barbaric Cyprus can hardly end in any result other than tragedy. This enhances tragedy because Othello has chosen to travel their to defend a society (Venetian) that only cares for him as weapon than as a person who can court whoever he wishes.
   
   Iago's philosophy on life is rugged Nietzsche-esque individualism veiled as compassion or even socialist standpoint.This is obvious when Iago makes his "purse" speech to Roderigo after Roderigo despairs about his chances with Desdemona.Iago says of Othello that Desdemona will be "sated with his body" and urges Roderigo to "put money in thy purse". Essentially he is disguising Iago is disguising his greed and need to dominate with almost charitable kindness toward Roderigo. This highlights what Iago tends to do, using characters perceptions of him as the definition of morality to take advantage of them as immorally as possible (in this case Roderigo).In short, he cannot even see the existence of morality merely the weak and the strong and how to take advantage of both. Iago is the antithesis of morality disguised as morality itself.
   
   The philosophy Iago preaches is the philosophy he reproaches, that of kindness. I agree with the philosophy he portrays but not the self-serving subtext of it that he truly means.