They speak in the same sort of way and manipulate their wife/lover
They speak in the same sort of way and manipulate their wife/lover
They are both manipulative and essentially evil, but Aaron has no motivation. He is inexcuseable.
Does Iago have any motivation? He offers us numerous petty reasons for why he MIGHT be doing what he does, but, from the outset, he tells us "I am not what I am." His refusal to justify his actions at the climax of the play, I would argue, is indicative of his "motiveless malignity", as Coleridge put it.Originally Posted by LadyCapulet
That said, I can see a proto-Iago in Aaron - but the former is infinitely developed beyond the latter.
"I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance. And when I saw my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: he was the spirit of gravity- through him all things fall. Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!" - Nietzsche
Aaron allows himself to be manipulated by Tamora for her extraction of revenge against Titus. He really has no reason to be there other than being Tamora's lover, and some scenes you get the idea that he commits these acts and has a lot of fun with it (cutting off Titus's hand for example).
Nice to join you all here
I recently reviewed the astonishing production at the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival. I urge you to go and see it if you can, it ends on August 1st. In my review, I pick up on the Iago-Aaron contrasts and comparisons but I cannot put urls I here so I don't know how to point you to the PDF. It is too long to paste in, pity - a search on cambridge shakespeare festival a-muir would bring up a link to Shakespeare site, and the review is under 2015 Feedback, Titus Andronicus.
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