IAGO AS A COURTIER.

IAGO AS A COURTIER. The digital analysis of Othello that sees Iago’s dealings with Othello as “like the language of courtship but it’s really a perverse seduction of Othello by his lieutenant” has two aspects. That Iago is Othello’s lieutenant recalls plays where a subordinate manipulates and comments on his master. Courtiers deploy the skills of a courtier—flattery and gossip, and theater often mocks them or their masters. This wikipedia article on Iago says that the role is thought to have been created by Robert Armin who specialized in playing intelligent clowns and created the roles of Touchstone, Feste, and the Fool in Lear.