So, you’re a pretty nice guy. Got this beautiful fiancée or wife, and she’s totally faithful to you. And this dude comes along and tells you that she’s been disloyal. You get sad then mad, and you want her killed. We’ve seen this before in Othello and now Cymbeline. You’re the Moor or Posthumus. She’s Desdemona or Hero. And that “dude” is Iago or Iachimo.
Is similarity in the name intentional?
There are some that believe that Iachimo means “little Iago.” Not quite sure I buy that.
Iago is both a Welsh (not likely for OUR Iago) or Galician (more likely, as it–since Galicia is in Spain–is continental) version of the Hebrew Jacob.
Iachimo is a variation of the Italian name Giacomo. Giacomo is the Italian version of Iacomus. The Latin Iacomus became the English James, which also has roots in the Hebrew Jacob.
Jacob, James.
One and the same. Except that during the Middle Ages, conventional wisdom was that Jacob was a Jewish name, and James was Christian.
Iachimo, James, Italianate, Christian. Thus, his repentance at the end?
Iago, Jacob, Jewish. Is this Jewishness further motivation for Iago versus the Muslim (but converted Christian) Othello? Can his lack of repentance be seen as anti-Semitic (à la the portrayal of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice)?
Is there really something there?