Hey, you can take me off-topic anytime. I love where you guys are taking it.
I wonder if one of the other differences between Shylock and Iago is what they represent in some way. Like, Shylock is full of hatred. It's been thrown at him, it fills him, he lashes out with it. People can relate to that. Iago is more fueled by envy; he brings Othello low because he can. Even when it destroys him, he doesn't care because at least he's ruined things for Othello. For that kind of bad impulse you need a good planner.
As awful as Shylock is you have to respect his passion. As awful as Iago is you have to respect how effective he is. He's quite the puppet master for a while there.
Tolkien was totally against this type of thing in principle, I think. I remember hearing that he disapproved of things like Lewis' Screwtape Letters, for instance, because he was on the side of thinking that to study evil, to try to understand it, was to get closer to it. So you never identify with his super villain. But you do identify with his less-than perfect good guys. I guess he's really showing the same human weaknesses as Shakespeare, just presenting them in a different way.
Oh, and btw Leshii, if you want a code just let me know!:-)
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Date: 2003-08-26 03:13 am (UTC)I wonder if one of the other differences between Shylock and Iago is what they represent in some way. Like, Shylock is full of hatred. It's been thrown at him, it fills him, he lashes out with it. People can relate to that. Iago is more fueled by envy; he brings Othello low because he can. Even when it destroys him, he doesn't care because at least he's ruined things for Othello. For that kind of bad impulse you need a good planner.
As awful as Shylock is you have to respect his passion. As awful as Iago is you have to respect how effective he is. He's quite the puppet master for a while there.
Tolkien was totally against this type of thing in principle, I think. I remember hearing that he disapproved of things like Lewis' Screwtape Letters, for instance, because he was on the side of thinking that to study evil, to try to understand it, was to get closer to it. So you never identify with his super villain. But you do identify with his less-than perfect good guys. I guess he's really showing the same human weaknesses as Shakespeare, just presenting them in a different way.
Oh, and btw Leshii, if you want a code just let me know!:-)