shakespeare

Thus, we could conclude that in actually, Iago does not possess a soul at all. This apparent clash of reality and appearance is a central theme to this play. Iago emphasizes its importance with the statement "I am not what I am.".
             We all know that every way that Iago presents himself is a fallacy. However, there are other examples that exhibit the conflict between appearance and reality. A significant example of this theme is the judging of others solely on their facade. Racial issues and themes are at the core of Othello's story. In the first scene, Iago shouts to Brabanzio, "An old black ram is tupping your white ewe." Later, Brabantio confronts Othello about his marriage to Desdemona. He claims that Desdemona has been enchanted and that she never would have "run from her guardage to the sooty bosom of a thing such as thou." (Act 1, Scene 1, Line71). In reality, Othello won Desdemona with his storytelling and courage. Yet, Brabantio ignores all of Othello's good qualities, and gives into racial profiling. He assumes that because Othello is of a different skin, he must have used incantations to capture his daughter. As expected, the use of racial stereotyping has a major impact on Othello. Othello is deeply insecure about his personal qualities and his skin color. He feels that he must do a lot more to maintain his reputation than his white contemporaries. Iago would later manipulate Othello's insecurity about himself into pure paranoia, resulting in Othello's demise. .
             Iago makes another important and revealing speech in Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 272-299. Here, we are finally introduced to the primary reasons why Iago is acting the way he is. Up until this soliloquy, we could make the assumption that Iago wants to hurt Othello either because of being overlooked for a promotion, or because he is inherently evil and rejoices at the suffering of others (which is true to an extent zoIago's actions are sometimes classified as "motiveless malignity.