Act_Without_Words

Iago and the whistle both represent manipulation of the circumstances surrounding the main characters. As an individual, I am provided the opportunity of freedom of choice however, those choices can be influenced by outside forces. This is the role of Iago and the whistle in both plays as they are the antagonist characters. The mime represents man in the external world and he experiences how he has no control over the bad or good things that can happen to him. The mime is literally flung onto the set of a desert which symbolizes the harsh environment of the external world in which he finds himself in. There is wide expansive space and the sun is scorching. It is unforgiving and there is no way to manipulate the land for comfort or even survival. This represents the external world because once you strip away assets, culture, even language, all one is left with is the primitive instinct to survive. The whistle taunts him with possible routes of escape but he is flung on his face. The mime, Karl Reisz, creates a humored report with the audience as we laugh at his tumbling, bumbling failed attempts to escape the synthetic prison. It is a fair assumption that outside this prison the world is hostile because the motivations of the whistle are unknown, therefore only leaving the assumption that the whistle is antagonistic by nature. The mime yields to the inescapable situation when the whistle beckons him a third time “whistle from left wing. He reflects, goes towards left wing, hesitates, thinks better of it, halts, turns aside, reflects”. He learns that escape is not an option and he deals with the circumstances presented to him by beginning to ignore the source of his immediate pain…the whistle which forces it to provoke reactions in other ways. The whistle gives him a false sense of security by providing him with the palm tree for shade and the scissors. This is the whistle’s way of gaining the mime’s trust by donating comforts in his deprived existence. The fact that the mime did not ask for these gifts instills hope that some good can come of this and ensures the whistle that he will try to gain more comforts. That is when the whistle lets down a glass of water by rope that is long enough to be inches from his grasp. He attempts to jump for the water, but he does not succeed. Crates are provided by the whistle so that the mime does not give up trying. The mime’s mind is the best weapon he has and we witness the learning of it as he attempts to stack the boxes, starting with the smaller one on the bottom. After falling, he realizes that it doesn’t work and switches the order. The whistle knows to continue playing the game, it must control what decision the mime may make in using the tools provided. Freedom of choice makes the mime one step ahead of the whistle. When the mime does not succeed in using the tools to get the water, he evolves and adapts their uses to fit his needs. These are freedom of choice decisions that the whistle cannot control but still has the opportunity to manipulate its outcome. The mime uses the large crate and the rope to set up a suicide attempt of hanging himself on the palm tree limb. The whistle cannot change the mime’s mind, but it makes the palm tree branch limp. The whistle reminds me of a little kid who wants to win, but every time it starts to lose control, will change the rules. Once the mime realizes that this situation is hopeless, the only method to retaliate is to be passive and not play anymore. Throughout the play, I was laughing as the mime had Jim Carey tumbling habits and I even laughed at the thwarted suicide attempts. But when he gives up entirely, that was when I felt sorry for him as if he just laid down and stopped breathing everything would be alright and his dilemma would be solved. At the beginning, I was under the impression that the whistle was on the offensive, that is was in control. I equated the whistle to the puppeteer pulling the strings of the mime. This was why I was laughing because the mime was reacting to the manipulated circumstances. By the end, I surmised the contrary as the mime is more on the offense as he responds to the manipulations from the whistle in unexpected ways such as the suicide attempt. This forced the whistle to remove all the tools of the mime’s existence and the mime’s reaction was what caused me the most turmoil because he made the decision to lie down, to give up. Iago is a more antagonistic villain in Othello, compared to the whistle in Act Without Words I. The whistle seemed more vulnerable because it had not accounted for the possibilities of the mime’s choices at the beginning the game, thus leaving control to the mercy of the mime. Unlike the whistle who was unprovoked, Iago was consumed by envy that the “ignorant, ill-suited” Cassio was appointed lieutenant, a position Iago favored to be promoted to. So he planned to destroy Othello by making it appear his beloved wife, Desdemona, had been unfaithful. Iago used every character and every turn of events to allow his scheme to be accomplished, pushing everyone to a tragic end. What I found to be remarkable was how effortless he was in manipulating all those around him. It appeared as though each possible reaction and decision was taken into account because only in the last Act is Iago discovered to be the perpetuator of these manipulations. Iago has a keen intellect that keeps his devious plot afloat by adapting every situation to benefit the undoing of Othello. For example, when Cassio takes hold of Desdemona's hand before the arrival of Othello, Iago says, "with as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio”. Iago uses his wife, Emilia, to acquire the handkerchief from Desdemona to plant on Cassio in order to convince Othello of the fictitious affair. By using his wife, he knows that if she questions his motivations, he can distract her. Just like the whistle, Iago takes advantage of the character’s trust and used their weaknesses against them. Othello “holds (him) well; The better shall (Iago’s) purpose work on him”. Iago’s intentions are never considered to be dastardly as he is referred to as “honest Iago” who is "of exceeding honesty, knows all qualities, with learned spirit of human dealings." Othello’s weakness was his own personal fulfillment to be a successful soldier. Once the Turks were not a threat in Cypress, Othello was left with idle hand, or idle mind which Iago used to manipulate and poison. Othello’s only tool was his mind similar to the mime, but instead of not reacting he feeds the game by not questioning the decisions. By no longer having the means to prove his manhood in a public setting, Othello begins to feel uneasy with his footing in a private setting, the bedroom. Iago capitalizes on this uneasiness, calling Othello’s epileptic fit in Act IV, scene i, “[a] passion most unsuiting such a man.” In these regards, Iago resembles a mentalist who gauges the human condition to predict people’s choices. For example, when on the night of Cassio's watch, Iago convinces him to get drunk knowing full well that Cassio could become irrational and be provoked to fight, thus losing his confidence with Othello and his lieutenant position.