Langlois 1
Jean- Philippe Langlois
English
Prof. Barnard
May 8th, 2006
‘‘I am not what I am’’
In both Twelfth Night and Othello, we are presented to the strange statement ‘‘I am not what I am’’. Viola makes this odd statement in order to change her appearance, identity, and gender. Iago makes this odd statementwith the intention of hiding reality and truth. With this statement, Iago is able to gain Roderigo’s trust, while Viola tries to discourage Olivia’ love for Cesario. In these two plays, Iago and Viola both appear to be someone who they really aren’t. In Twelfth Night, Viola, even though she is disguised, keeps her personality and acts the way she would in normal circumstances. Iago, on the other hand, only appears to act for duty when in reality he is pursuing his own peculiar ends. Viola and Iago are keys to meaning in Twelfth Night and Othello because the action of each play evolves around these ‘‘fake’’ characters. The statement ‘‘I am not what I am’’......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1270
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |