Iago the meritocrat

Abstract

Shakespeare's Iago can be used as a vehicle for critically contemplating the changing values of the transitional period between medieval and modern England and Europe. In addition to other speculative explanations that traditionally have been offered, Iago's malevolence can be interpreted as a merit-based expression of the fundamental changes of a pre-liberal society that would, eventually, transition into the modern economic marketplace of today. According to that perspective, Iago is motivated not only by his anger for having been passed over for promotion but by his belief that he was denied a position that he demonstrably deserved. In contrast, it can be argued that the traditional interpretation of Shakespeare's preference for conservative principles of hierarchy and order (as found within the medieval remnants of Elizabethan England) is, thus, reflected in his assignment of that character to be a symbol of evil. Therefore, the play can be employed (consistent with a historicist approach) as an instrument of historical, socio-economic, and political-theory analysis by reflecting the tension that the emergence of the politically autonomous and sociologically meritocratic individualist posed to the modern world that was just emerging at that time and that soon would begin to dominate the modern liberal society as it has evolved from the 17th to the 21st centuries.

Notes

1 This theme of meritocracy also can be applied to a Machiavellian interpretation of this play, especially in terms of that philosopher's attachment to republican principles in relation to that theme (Machiavelli, 2005, pp. 451–454). The presence of republican principles has been suggested by other historicist critiques of Shakespeare's plays (Patterson, 2002, pp. 28–29; Pocock, 1975, pp. 272–230; Scott, 2004, pp. 45–49, 233–240), including specific links that have been cited between Machiavelli's ideas and Iago (Lievsay, 1964, pp. 20–26; Pocock, 1985, p. 565; Reese, 1985, pp. 282–285). However, a republican interpretation of meritocracy would proceed from a civic devotion to the common good (Bock, Skinner, & Viroli, 1993, pp. 136–140) that certainly would not be a motivation that could be applied to Iago. This essay is focusing upon a different interpretation of “merit” as it is associated with the emerging marketplace of this transitional period of English and European history. From that perspective, the emphasis upon the associated values of liberal individualism remains, arguably, the more appropriate context for this particular historicist and political-theory analysis.

2 An acknowledgement that the later evolution of conservative thought is derived from these early origins typically has been expressed within classic treatises on the subject (Burke, 2001, pp. 145–184). An analysis of that overall ideological development of conservatism provides insight into those foundational principles (Kirk, 1986, pp. 12–70).

3 Along with an abstract notion of “property” (a concept intrinsically associated with personhood) and the individual right to bear that property (and the eventual development of a concept of equality), these values have provided the essential core of modern liberal ideology (Macpherson, 1969, pp. 1–24). This ideological approach also has been assessed in relation to this Shakespearean treatment of autonomous individualism (Viner, 1963, pp. 29–34, 548–559).