Iago as Puppet Master of Shakespeare's Othello

Iago as Puppet Master of Othello

In act 3, scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago works in stages to convince Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, Othello’s right-hand lieutenant. The strategy Iago implements to attain his goal can be compared with a person who is about to undergo a lethal injection. In this instance Iago is the doctor who administers the poison and Othello is the convicted prisoner. However, there is a distinct difference. In the case of death by lethal injection, the administering of the dose usually takes place within a matter of minutes, thus rendering the victim dead. In the case of Othello’s ‘death,’ Iago administers the poison drop by painful drop, until the old Othello is no more and a new one emerges like a phoenix from a fire: Othello is caught by Iago when the handkerchief is introduced as evidence. Nonetheless, this is not to say that the whole plot unfolds in the way Iago initially plans it because this is certainly not the case. But what is clear is that it is Iago who initiates the notion of an ‘affair’ having taken place and who transforms Othello into a puppet of which he is the puppet master.

Iago begins to plant the seed of doubt in Othello’s mind when they return to Othello’s quarters and see Cassio leaving Desdemona. Iago exclaims: “Ha! I like not that” (35). When Othello asks him what he said, Iago plays it off and insists that it was nothing. Then Othello wonders if he indeed saw Cassio leave his wife. Meticulously, Iago defends Cassio by saying he would not be the type to sneak away from Othello’s quarters in such a manner. Iago’s words begin to puts questions in Othello’s mind since Othello made no connection between the way in which Cassio left Desdemona ...

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...for Iago and his loyalty, Othello makes Iago his lieutenant (475).

Iago has a very elaborate strategy when it comes to seducing Othello into thinking that his wife is having an affair with his lieutenant. Though the final result is successful toward the end of the scene, it is throughout the scene itself that Iago marks himself as a very smart person with lots of manipulative power up his sleeve. He brings down the regaled general while at the same time bringing himself to the power and prestige he so long wanted (but it is still not at the level he desires). He figures that since he can never be the general Othello is he can bring Othello down to his level. With Othello’s transformation, Iago inarguably succeeds to that end.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Kenneth Muir. The New Penguin Shakespeare. London: Penguin Books, 1996.