Posted by Dr. A. Heys on January 03, 19102 at 07:37:49:

In Reply to: Othello and the Criticism of Coleridge posted by inda on January 02, 19102 at 09:43:02:

: I have to write an essay on Iago's 'motiveless malignity' but i dont know what Coleridge meant by it, can anyone please explain?

The key phrase in Othello is Iago's I am not what I am which negates St. Paul's by the grace of God I am that I am. Harold Bloom has described this as an example of Iago's ontotheological nihilism and it means that he is motivated without ruth. Coleridge believed that the eternal I Am of Genesis and John meant that there is nothing except God's presence in all things which can also be linked to his theory of the one life through the unifying power of the Imagination. Somewhat like Milton's Satan, Iago is disconnected from God, his God the war-god Othello, and this canh also be linked to the phatasmagoria that overtakes the mariner when he slays the albatross. Ironically, the mariner is also now possessed with free will but does not enjoy the freedom and Coleridge himself said the poem should be read as being devoid of moral purpose and disingenously that the mariner is acte upon but does not act. Satan and Iago both have free will but fall into evil ways and reject the natural hierarchy because they were both ped over. Coleridge is trying to argue that Iago's crimes are purposeless but revenge is a possible motive. Despite this, Othello was correct in his promotion of Cio since Iago would have been a desperately poor choice as a leftenant. Iago is malign but not entirely motiveless and as many parallels with Milton's Satan and Coleridge's deleterious fascination with this character would probably constitute a good answer. See especially john Beer's essay on Shakespeare and Coleridge.

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