Musical+Casting+of+Iago



The Nutcracker’s “Arabian” Act 2, Scene 1 (Roderigo speaking with Iago)

[|[Music Begins]] ** IAGO: [ ** to Roderigo**]** Come hither. If though be’st valiant as they say base men being in love have then a nobility in their natures more than is native to them, list me. The lieutenant tonight watches on the court of guard. First, I must tell thee this: Desdemona is directly in love with him.
 * RODERIGO ** : With him? Why, ‘tis not possible.
 * IAGO: ** Lay thy finger thus, and let thy soul be instructed: mark me with what violence she first loved the Moor, but for bragging and telling her fantastical lies…When the blood is made dull with the act of sport, there should be, again to inflame it, and to give satiety a fresh appetite, loveliness in favor, sympathy in years, manners and beauties- all which the Moor is defective in. ...Very nature will instruct her in it and compel her to some second choice. Now, sir, this granted-as it is most pregnant and unforced position-who stands so eminent in the degree of this fortune Cassio does? A knave very voluble…A slipper and subtle knave, a finder of occasion, that has an eye can stamp and counterfeit advantages, though true advantage never present itself. A devilish knave…A pestilent, complete knave, and the woman hath found him already.
 * RODERGIO: ** I cannot believe that in her. She’s full of most blessed condition.
 * IAGO: ** They met so near with their lips that their breaths embraced together. Villainous thoughts, Roderigo! When these mutualities so marshal the way, hard at hand comes the master and main exercise, th’ incorporate…Do you find some occasion to anger Cassio…
 * RODERIGO: ** Well.
 * IAGO: ** Sir, he’s rash and very sudden in choler, and haply may strike at you…So shall you have a shorter journey to your desires by the means I shall then prefer them, and the impediment most profitable removed, without the which there were no expectation of our prosperity.
 * RODERIGO: ** I will do this, if you can bring it to any opportunity…Adieu.

//Roderigo exits //

· Iago is then alone on stage and claims that he lusts for Desdemona and suspects the Moor of sleeping with his wife, Emilia. He will not be happy till “I am even with him, wife for wife,” or by sleeping with Desdemona. He plots to have the “poor trash of Venice,” or Roderigo, anger Cassio so that Cassio will be put in a bad light in front of Othello; ruining his reputation and status as lieutenant.

[Music Fades]

Explanation: Iago is a sneaky, persuasive, and sly character putting on the “everyone’s best friend” mask that gives him the nickname “Honest Iago.” “The Arabian” depicts his character precisely and his relationship with Roderigo. The song, which is a dance in the ballet “The Nutcracker,” is very intimate, slow, and sneaky. The video clip is of the ballet dance, and viewers notice that the two dancers are close and feed off of each other. Iago dictates what Roderigo does, as he does in this scene where he tells him to kill Cassio because he is Desdemona’s next lover. The song is dark, as the dance itself has dim lighting of orange and red colors, which in “Othello” can represent evil, as Iago is the real villain. He uses Roderigo as a tool for his own selfish needs, and while doing so, as he does in the scene above, convinces everyone that everyone else is the bad guy, as he rips into Cassio calling him a “knave.” The song is smooth and sly like his character. The dancers move together flawlessly, as his plan does throughout most of the play, because his persuasive nature never collides with another character until the very end. The song is like a person telling someone else to come closer, like a secret in the form of a whisper, which is Iago calling each character to him; spreading lies one by one.


 * P.S. The introduction music to the beginning of the clip is irrelevant; focus on the real song, and the movement of the dancers.**