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Passage adapted from Othello by William Shakespeare (1604)
IAGO: Three great ones of the city,
In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,
Off-capp'd to him: and, by the faith of man,
I know my price, I am worth no worse a place:
But he; as loving his own pride and purposes, 5
Evades them, with a bombast circumstance
Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war;
And, in conclusion,
Nonsuits my mediators; for, 'Certes,' says he,
'I have already chose my officer.' 10
And what was he?
Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife;
That never set a squadron in the field, 15
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric,
Wherein the toga’d consuls can propose
As masterly as he: mere prattle, without practise,
Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had the election: 20
And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds
Christian and heathen, must be be-lee'd and calm'd
By debitor and creditor: this counter-caster,
He, in good time, must his lieutenant be, 25
And I—God bless the mark!—his Moorship's ancient.
The speaker compares Michael Cassio to “the bookish theoric” in order to demonstrate __________.
Iago compares Cassio to “the bookish theoric” to demonstrate that Cassio is not adequately trained as a soldier. Iago is incensed that Cassio has been selected over him for a military promotion. This outrage is heightened by Iago’s observation that Cassio is unqualified to be a soldier, while he (in his own opinion) is qualified both in terms of his skill and experience. There is no mention that Cassio might be considering a career in academia, or that he has a passion for learning. Instead, the speaker emphasizes Cassio’s thoughtful disposition in order to discredit him as a soldier.
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