Othello is a play full of deception, greed, jealousy, and racism. All of these are used by Iago, the antagonist, and show his true villainy as he stops at nothing to achieve his goal, no matter who gets in his way. A noticable trait of Iago is his ability to manipulate, which he uses for his own personal gain, and exploit weaknesses of characters such as Othello and Cassio. Iago is the catalyst for Othello’s change, causing Othello’s change of view and behaviour of his wife, Desdemona, which then results in the death of many important characters in the play. He manipulates many of the main characters of the play, changing their perceptions of each other dramatically.
A master of deception, Iago is able to percieve individuals weaknesses and exploit them for his own personal gain. Deception is shown in the characterisation of Iago, when he swears by Janus, the god of two faces, “by Janus!” (I, ii, 38).
This is adds to his character and is ironic, as Iago is two faced, manipulating and deceiving others for his own personal gain. Throughout the play, characters reference Iago as “honest Iago”, which is ironic as he says himself, “As I am an honest man” (II, iii,285), which in turn is undone with his own admission of dishonesty in a soliloquy,
“Divinity of hell!
When devils will their blackest sins put on,
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,
As I do now” (II, iii, 370-374).
The Essay on Othello Manipulation To Gain Power
Othello: Manipulation To Gain Power Manipulation is a very powerful word. People use this tactic everyday to get what they want in life. By deceiving people or tricking them into seeing a certain point of view, people gain power. To skillfully use the power of manipulation a person must use another person's weaknesses. By using a person's emotions against them, they can be manipulated with ease. ...
Deception is shown here through the contrast of imagery between the darkness of hell and the purity of heaven. His interactions with characters throughout the play show his ability to change his appearance towards others in order for them to appeal towards him.
Through the twist of words within sentences, he’s able to skewe the after effects in his favor, making others believe what he’s saying is the truth, thus making him “honest Iago”. He’s able to notice the trust other have in him and uses it to his advantage, furthering him towards his goal. Words are his weapon of choice, a poison that slowly spreads into their minds, which make them believe something that isn’t actually true. He places quiestions within Othello’s mind of Desdemona’s faithfulness convinces Othello of this multiple times throughout the play, slowly poisoning his mind of ill thoughts of Desdemona and Cassio having an affair. These thoughts cause him to become jealous, even though he has not seen any concrete proof, and he changes because of the jealousy spreading within his mind, blinding him of his actions.
It is possible that there is a strong hatred and jealousy within Iago himself, which might lead to his deceptive and villanous behaviour. His jealousy most likely roots from Othello making Cassio his lieutenant. Another soliloquy he says in the end the of act two, scene one shows his jealousy, as he speaks of Desdemona,
“Now, I do love her too;
not out of absolute lust, though peradventure
I stand account for as great a sin
But partly led to diet (feed) my revenge” (II, i, 313-316).
This shows his want for revenge, due to his own suspicions of Othello going to bed with his wife, Emilia. He continues on by saying,
“Till I am even’d with him, wife for wife,
or failing so, yet that i put the Moor
atleast into a jealousy so strong
that judgement (reason) cannot cure” ( II, i, 321-324).
Iago wants Othello to feel the same jealousy that he feels himself, giving some motive behind his actions. He is not that concerned that his wife commited adultery, but the thought it might have been with Othello brings about the jealousy within him.
Iago firstly uses Roderigo, a Venetian man in love with Desdemona, to start off his plot to take down Othello in act one. Roderigo is convinced of Iago’s honesty and does whatever Iago tells him to do. Thus he convinces him to wake Desdemona’s father, Barbantio, and inform him of his daughters marriage with a “moor”. “an old black ram/ is tupping your white ewe” (I, i, 97-98), is what Iago tells Barbantio, which in turn changes Barbantio’s view of Desdemona, as she has deceived her father. Barbantio then says to Othello, “She has decieved her father and may thee” (I, iii, 334), which in turn hints to Othello that Desdemona could commit adultery since she has decieved her father. From this point on, Iago’s plot to take down Othello is set in motion. He even admits his hatred of Othello to Roderigo, stating “I hate the Moor” (I, iii, 408-409).
The Essay on Othello Tush Iago Desdemona Wife
... his demise begins. Iago's jealousy is depicted early when he is suspicious of Othello pursuing his own wife, Emilia. Iago tries to have Desdemona's father do ... gave to Desdemona to plant in Cassio's room. This eventually lead to Othello finding Cassio with the handkerchief and falsely verifying Desdemona's affair with Cassio. Iago hinted ...
In his conquest of revenge against Othello, Iago at one point in the play, manages to get Othello to listen in on a conversation between him and Cassio. The two are talking of Bianca, Cassio’s mistress, whereas in Othello’s ears, Cassio is talking of Desdemona. This enrages Othello, fully believing that his wife is having an affair. Othello starts to believe that each time Desdemona and Cassio are around each other, they are commiting adultery, which starts driving him insane, making him unable to make rational decisions. Iago attempts to warn Othello of the dangers of jealousy with his speech containting the “green-eyed monster” which is a symbol for jealousy.
“O, beware my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But, O, what damned minutes tells he o’er
Who dotes, yet doubts , suspects, yet strongly loves!” (III, iii, 195-200).
This speech not only describes jealousy, yet also provides imagery of “its psychological destructiveness” (Weller).
According to Philip Weller, “The meat that the monster feeds on is a person’s heart, which it eats away. At the same time, the monster mocks that person’s heart, so that he or she feels shame. And the monster is insatiable, always gnawing away, so that the jealous person is never at peace” (Weller).
The Essay on Othello : Iago Hates The Moor
Iago has a large appetite for revenge. In his perspective, he believes that it is he who should be in charge, not Othello the moor. This creates an anger in Iago, who entraps Othello in a web of deceit. He does this through a series of suggestions and hesitations that entice and implant images in Othello's head that lead to his demise. But what is more important is that he gives Othello the motive ...
This is exactly what happens to Othello, as the thoughts of his wife having an affair slowly corrupt his brain and he is unable to find any happiness, because dark thoughts are basically scarred into his mind. These thoughts tear away at his behaviour as it changes towards his wife, becoming more agressive and violent as time passes.
Othello himself is already an outsider, being a moor, so he’s different from the rest in society, standing out to everyone else, this being a vulnerability to him. According to Barbra A. Schapiro, Othello is “exceedingly insecure and vulnerable from the beginning in his erotic relationship with Desdemona, and Iago’s destructive energy which ultimately consumes him emerges from this context” (4).
His most vulnerable weakness is his choice in who he trusts, being unable to know who some people really are, which works against him and blinds him from making rational decisions. He chooses to believe “honest Iago” over his own wife, due to his own misjudgement and complete trust in Iago. Othello’s actions end up costing him him and his wife’s lives, all from assumptions turned into misunderstandings. Desdemona pleas for her life, ” Alas he is betrayed, and I am undone” (V, ii, 96), which Othello takes in as her admitting her sins to him. All of these misunderstandings come from Iago, his goal of destroying Othello now complete and his longing for revenge fufilled.
Conclusively, Iago’s nature of villainy and deception is complex, as he is masterful of human nature and emotion. His ability to notice peoples weaknesses and manipulate them for his own personal gain, turning loved ones against each other and messing with the perception of how others see people close them turns their minds inside out. He knows himself that he is not what everyone else believes him to be, as he is human, with a twisted, dark nature, using who and what he needs to achieve his goals, no matter the cost.
