War in Othello

Othello 1/31/06
"Iago, as Harold Goddard finely remarked, is always at war; he is a moral pyromaniac setting fire to all of reality.......In Iago, what was the religion of war, when he worshiped Othello as its god, has now become the game of war, to be played everywhere except upon the battlefield."
--Harold Bloom

At the beginning of the play, we are bombarded with images and metaphors of war. Write about the various ways this warlike atmosphere occurs so early in the play and shapes the tone of the play and its characters.

Posted by KerriW at 5:34 AM
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The warlike images and references in Shakespeare's "Othello" greatly influence the development of the story. By introducing the savagery of war early the audience is immediately aware of the seriousness of the conflict that the characters are engaged in. Similar to war, the situation that Iago is manipulating can lead to violence and the end of valuable lives through cutthroat competition.
The warlike comparisons are first drawn in the play by Iago himself by saying
"But he,(Othello) as loving his own pride and purposes, evades them, with a bombast circumstance Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war; and in conclusion, nonsuits my mediators; for, 'Certes,' says he, 'I have already chose my officer.' And what was he? Forsooth, a great arithmetician, One Michael Cassio, a Florentine." In this way Iago already draws in war as an aspect within the first act.