I Am Not What I Am
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Langlois 1
Jean- Philippe Langlois
English
Prof. Barnard
May 8th, 2006
I am not what I am
In both Twelfth Night and Othello, we are presented to the strange statement I am not what I am. Viola makes this odd statement in order to change her appearance, identity, and gender. Iago makes this odd statementwith the intention of hiding reality and truth. With this statement, Iago is able to gain Roderigos trust, while Viola tries to discourage Olivia love for Cesario. In these two plays, Iago and Viola both appear to be someone who they really arent. In Twelfth Night, Viola, even though she is disguised, keeps her personality and acts the way she would in normal circumstances. Iago, on the other hand, only appears to act for duty when in reality he is pursuing his own peculiar ends. Viola and Iago are keys to meaning in Twelfth Night and Othello because the action of each play evolves around these fake characters. The statement I am not what I am helps understand why they do what they do.
In the first scene of act III of Twelfth Night, Olivia confesses that she sent Viola ring and tell her that she is ashamed. She also says that the emotions of her face are hidden by a cypress, but her heart displays all her love. Viola then tells her that she pities her in a negative way and then Olivia says she might as well accept it and tells her she
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can leave. As Viola is about to go, she asks one last time if Olivia has any message for Orsino. She does not, but she does wants to hear from Viola:
OLIVIA
Stay.
I prithee tell me what thou thinkst of me.
VIOLA
That you do think you are not what you are.
OLIVIA
If I think so, I think the same of you.
VIOLA
Then think you right. I am not what I am.
OLIVIA
I would you were as I would you have be.
Viola is suggesting that Olivia thinks she is in love with a man who really is a woman. Also, since Viola is not interested at all in Olivia and tell her I am not what I am and reveals everything about her appearance, reality, gender, identity and truth. Although not much emphasis is put on that speech; it is very discrete, it holds a very deep meaning. In fact, Viola had previously introduced herself to Olivia as Cesario, a boy. Her statement of not being what she is reveals her true gender. While she appears to be a servant of Orsino, she is really a shipwrecked lady trying to protect herself by changing her physical appearance. If Olivia paid more attention to Violas statement, she would have realized that she was in love with a woman and at the same time she would have
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understood Violas rejection of that love. Unfortunately for her, Olivia is unconscious of Violas words.
Olivia plays around with physical modifications, but, even though she is disguised, we can still feel that Viola stays genuine. As a servant to Orsino, she is loyal. She is devoted to the point that even if she loves him, she still tries to get Olivia, a potential rival to her, to love him back. Underneath Violas mask rests her true personality. She stays trustworthy and is able to become Orsinos confident and best friend.
While Viola remains authentic, Iago, in Othello is the complete opposite. He never transforms his physic but appears to be somebody else because he alters his psychological side. In the first scene of Othello, Iago tells Roderigo “I am not what I am” and echoes a biblical remark of God identifying himself to Moses as “I am what I am”. Thus, making Iago the opposite of god, and therefore the devil.