“And what’s he then to say that I play the villain?” Othello, Act 2 Scene 3
The above line begins what is perhaps one of the most famous speeches done by Shakespeare’s most notorious villain- indeed a character often espoused as one of the evilest villains in English literature. In this soliloquy, Iago lays bare to the audience how exactly he plans to bring about the downfall of Othello- using no less than the man’s own wife and most trusted lieutenant to do it. Indeed, at the root of Iago’s motives for causing the death of nearly every other major character in the play simply lies the fact that he doesn’t believe Othello the Moor should have power over him. This dastardly character has seen many actors step up to play him over the centuries with Sir Mark Rylance taking up the mantle most recently in the Globe’s most recent production of Othello. Given the media hype surrounding this production and Rylance’s reputation, I was expecting a stunning portrayal of this most infamous character.
Unfortunately, in his effort to prove to the audience how effortlessly he knows Shakespeare, he leaves much of what makes Iago, Iago behind. Instead, we were left with a pale shadow of this infamous character that left me both restless and wondering what exactly his motives were. This issue was further amplified throughout the performance as it is Iago’s schemes and actions that are the driving force of the story. Simply put, without Iago’s villainy, Othello is not a tragedy and the thoroughly defanged Iago that Rylance portrays leaves the audience wondering why Iago would bother in the first place.
“I know not if’t be true; But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, will do as if for surety.” Othello, Act 1 Scene 3
Iago is cruel, cunning, heartless, and willing to ruin the lives of many who trust him over the flimsiest of reasons. He kills Roderigo and his own wife to keep them from revealing his involvement, maims Cassio, and fans Othello’s jealousy until he is driven to kill Desdemona, the guilt of which then leads Othello to kill himself as well. “Trustworthy” Iago is solely responsible for the pile of bodies left onstage at the end of the play and language, until the very end, is his sole weapon of accomplishing this bloodbath. In this light, the drastic cuts made to many of Iago’s lines and speeches are almost criminal in the way that they further reduce an already underwhelming portrayal. Iago lays bare the depth of his plans and why he feels he must go through with them in many soliloquys to the audience. While it is downright encouraged to cut plays as lengthy as Othello down, I can’t help but feel the cuts chosen in the Globe’s latest production leave out much of the art that is Iago. His carefully constructed plans are never really spoken of, which leads most of his actions to feel opportunistic and seized in the moment instead of the carefully pre-meditated Machiavellian schemes that they are. Iago’s motivations are stripped down to the bare bones in such a way that it is no longer clear why he takes many of the actions that he does other than to perhaps prove that he is an unmitigated bastard that simply does not care what happens as long as he is alive at the end of it.
Iago, as Shakespeare first wrote him, is a villain that rings unmatched through time- one that still today is used as a litmus test with which to measure all other villains. Quite disappointingly, the Globe’s latest Iago doesn’t live up to this legacy and, because of this, leaves the production in many ways quite unremarkable as the piece is missing the villain that drives it all.
“Men should be what they seem, Or those that be not, would they might seem none!” Othello, Act 3 Scene 3
