Othello - Manipulative Iago

Manipulative Iago

Some men die for glory, some men fight for love, and one man lived for revenge. His was the soul of a trader. His name was Iago. The opportunity that he seized changed all of their lives forever. He was on a conquest for power and nothing was going to stand in his way.

Iago is the most complex and most disturbed of all characters in Othello. His character is one that feeds on power and is willing to do anything to get it. His entire scheme begins when the “ill-suited” Casio is given the position of Lieutenant, a position he felt like he deserved. Iago deceives, steals, and kills to gain that position. He not only wants that position, he wants it all. From the beginning of the play until the very end he causes conflicts which result in the deaths of Desdemona, Othello, Roderigo, and Emilia.

In the beginning Iago is very angry at Othello for making Casio his lieutenant. His first motive is jealously. We then hear a conversation between Iago and Roderigo. Roderigo seems to be angry at Iago because he has been giving him money in return for his assistance to help win the love of Desdemona, only to find out that she has married Othello. He is beginning to feel cheated but with a few words of manipulation, Iago convinces him to spoil Desdemona’s and Othello’s marriage by telling him to

“Call up her father/ Rouse him, make after him, poison his delight/

Proclaim him in the streets/ incense her kinsmen… (1.1.69-75)

Iago and Roderigo then wake Brabantio and tell him of his daughter’s relationship with Othello. Soon enough, they convince Barbantio and he says

“Strike on the tinder, ho!/Give me a taper! Call up all my people! /This accident is not unlike my dream/ Belief of it oppresses me already. /Light, I say, light!” (1.1.141-144)

That is exactly what Iago wanted to hear and his scheme is beginning to take place now. They exit the scene and in Iago’s soliloquies he says

“Though I do hate him as I do fell pains/ Yet it is necessity of present life/ I must show out a flag and sign of love/ Which is indeed but sign. That you shall surely find him/ Lead to the Sagittary the raised search,

And there will I be with him. So farewell” (1.1.155-160)

This part of his soliloquy is the beginning of how he’s using foreshadowing and tells the audience how it’s going to look in the end. He now has Roderigo’s attention and a small piece of a big puzzle has been planted. He continued to fancy the mind of the ignorant Roderigo and also began to fancy the mind of Othello when he tells him that Roderigo “comes to bad intent.”(1.3.58) He wants the Moor to look at him with praise even though he is the cause of the meeting with the senate. This is all part of his final plan.

After the senate questioned Othello, Barbantio gave Othello his approval to marry his daughter, Desdemona, and allowed him to take her with him. At the end of the meeting Roderigo confronted Iago about the outcome. He was feeling confused and didn’t know what to do now. Iago uses his way with words and tells Roderigo that “I hate the Moor.” and “Let us be conjunctive in out revenge against him”. (1.3.348-349) He gets Roderigo who has wronged absolutely no one to develop a hatred for Cassio, who just happens to be a victim of circumstances. At the end of the act, Iago’s soliloquy tells us

“Thus do I ever make my fool my purse/ For I mine own gained knowledge should profane/ If I would time expend with such a snipe/But for my sport and profit. I hate the Moor” (1.3.362-365)

Here he reveals his plan of cheating Roderigo out of his money and giving him unfulfilled promises. In that same soliloquy he manifests the idea that he will get Othello into thinking Cassio is in love with Desdemona. That way Casio will be