The True Beast in Othello"What remains when honor is lost?" This 1st century BC maxim plays a vital role in Shakespeare's Othello. The question serves as the basis for the fight between Othello and Iago. Both men are engaged in a battle for Othello's honor. Iago is intent on destroying Othello's sense of honor and reducing him to a bestial state. Iago sees Othello as a beast disguised in warrior clothing. He wants to return Othello to what he believes to be his natural bestial state, and realizes that to achieve this he must trick Othello into violating his code of honor. Ironically, as Iago tries to expose Othello's bestiality, it is the beast within him that is exposed. From the beginning of the play, Iago's view of Othello as a beast is obvious. Iago repeatedly describes Othello in terms of animals. When Iago attempts to incite Brabantio's anger, he does so by referring to Othello in vulgar and bestial terms. He tells Brabantio, “Even now, now, just now, an old black ram / Is mounting your white sheep” (1.1.89-90). It continues with: "you will have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; / you will have your nephews near you; / you will have coursers for cousins ​​and gennets for Germans" (1.1.110-114). He even exclaims to Brabantio that "your daughter and the Moor are now creating the beast with two backs" (1.1.117-118). Each of these animalistic phrases could only be seen as Iago's attempt to anger Brabantio if it were not for the fact that Iago also refers to Othello as an animal when he is alone. In his soliloquy at the end of Act 1, Iago says that Othello "shall be tenderly led by the nose / As asses are" (1.3.395-936). He refers to Othello as a donkey again in Act 2: “Do the Mo… in the center of the card… asks: “What remains when honor is lost?” His answer comes from Cassio's mouth: "Reputation, reputation, reputation! / Oh, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial" (2.3.254-256). Works Cited Bandello, Matteo. "Certaine Tragicall Discourses of Bandello." Trans. Geoffrey Fenton. Shakespeare's Narrative and Dramatic Sources. Ed. Geoffrey Bullough.Vol. 7.New York: Columbia UP, 1973.Cinthio, Giovanni. "The Hecatommithi." Narrative Sources Shakespeare's plays.Ed. Geoffrey Bullough, Vol. 7. The book of beasts: being a translation from a twelfth-century Latin bestiary Ed. TH White, London, 1954. Shakespeare, William "Othello"., 1951.