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In his recent book, Honor: A History, James Bowman suggests that Iago was motivated by concerns of honor. He elevates "good name" above riches, and his stated motive for hating Othello is his suspicion that the Moor slept with his wife is consistent with traditional honor codes: "Iago's appeal to honor ('good name') is also a disguised appeal against the new and more inward standard that would regard not the appearance of infidelity but its moral reality as the only relevant consideration. Iago stands for the same insistence on the sole reality of the public face that motivates those those who today murder rape victims to save their own honor." Iago knows that the rumored liaison may never of happened, but that doesn't matter: It "happened" in the world of public repute, which is the only reality relevant to the man of honor.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Wednesday, August 09, 2006 at 04:04 PM
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