Post #3- setting morals aflame

"Iago, as Harold Goddard finely remarked, is always at war; he is a moral pyromaniac setting fire to all of reality.......In Iago, what was the religion of war, when he worshiped Othello as its god, has now become the game of war, to be played everywhere except upon the battlefield."
--Harold Bloom

Harold Bloom first remarks that Iago is always at war. This is certainly true, in more than one way- Iago is constantly and infinitely at war with himself, as the evil and hellacious character in Othello. Though he is extremely able to manipulate his peers, he is constantly uncertain of himself and his motives, and is "always at war" with himself. He is also at war with the other characters of the play and is constantly innovating ways to manipulate those around him. Indeed, the image of Iago as a "moral pyromaniac setting fire to reality" seems appropriate, ignoring the redundancy of the diction. As he proceeds through the play and manipulates his wife, his superior, and his peers, Iago has in fact burned reality to the ground in an attempt to create his own reality. Unfortunately for Iago , in the end he loses control of the fire that he has started. Though we as the audience do not witness Iago's "religion of war, with Othello as its god," we are aware of it. And when things do not go Iago's way in this religion, there is a shift created by Iago himself into Iago's own self-created war of manipulation and deceit. And, of course, manipulation and deceit have no place on the honorable battle ground.