One cannot deny that villains tend to make every sort of movie much more interesting. They have this foolproof scheme all planned out that’s just so exciting to see played out to the audience. However, no matter what type of villain someone is watching or reading about, manipulation is always involved in his or her villainous plan. One such villain is from the play Othello, Iago. He managed to manipulate plenty of characters throughout the play by convincing every one of the honest, trustworthy front he put up. This act of being a good person allowed him to use characters in the play to his benefit. They all thought he was their friend and was always honest, so they had no choice to take his word over anyone else’s. This was all possible, however, …show more content…
In Act II, Iago convinced Roderigo to fight with Cassio. This brutal fight that ruined Othello’s party, led Cassio to losing his position as lieutenant. The first person Cassio went to after being fired was Iago, who knew Cassio would come to him first, asking for advice. He was then able to convince Cassio to ask Desdemona to get Othello to give him back his position. Iago also knew that Desdemona would definitely try her hardest to help Cassio get his job back because it was in her nature to help out others. Iago would use this as part of his scheme to get revenge on Othello by making it seem like Desdemona was cheating on him with Cassio. According to this excerpt from the play, “…I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear, that she repels him for body’s lust; and by how much she strives to do him good, she shall undo hr credt with the Moor. So will I turn her virtue into pitch, and out of goodness make the net that shall enmesh them all,” Iago knew that he would easily convince Othello that Desdemona was being unfaithful by manipulating all three of them (II, iii, 347-353). He planned to get Cassio’s position taken away, and then told him to get Desdemona to get Othello to give him back his job. Right afterwards, Iago would tell Othello he believed Desdemona was cheating on him with Cassio. Othello would definitely believe him because he trusted Iago. In addition, Iago also knew that Desdemona would keep bugging Othello to give Cassio back his job, and this would further convince Othello of this treachery. Simply put, Iago easily took advantage of characters by pretending to be their friends, and suggesting advice they’d pay heed to that would lead to their
When Othello asks Iago for proof of Desdemona’s deceit, Iago describes scenes and events in which Othello has a reason to be jealous. In Act III, Scene I Iago is describing to Othello, Desdemona and Cassio’s imagined relationship, “It is impossible you should see this/ were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross as ignorance made drunk.” These images planted themselves inside Othello’s mind and haunted him until he did something about it. These images led to Othello believing Desdemona really did love Cassio.
After hearing Iago speak, Brabantio has had his eyes open to a new perspective of the situation. Iago then begins to uses a new manipulative strategy, he starts using bestiality to describe Othello.
manipulates people about Othello and his wife Desdemona. Iago starts manipulating people by hinting that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, and so in Act 3 scene 3 Iago puts his plans into action. starts manipulating people. Iago’s manipulation of Othello is admirable. Iago starts off very subtle.
Iago elaborates a master plan to get Cassio position as a lieutenant. Iago get Cassio drunk so he could fight Roderigo. Othello then discharge Cassio from the lieutenant position when he says, How must poor Cassio have felt? To lose all he had worked for, working up his reputation that any half-hearted human can tell he earned and deserved. Iago know that Othello who ask him about the deed because of he fame of being a honest man. Iago tell Othello about the deed winning his trust that is when Iago starts to crab Othello by his weak point his Love for Desdemona.
Iago wanted Othello’s position and used others to shame Othello and gain stature. Iago dressed himself up a trustworthy man and worked his way into Othello’s trust with tricks and lies. He wore a very convincing mask; often temporarily defending the person he was trying to ruin to further his honest visage. He says to Othello, “Men should be what they seem…” (3.3.127) through these methods, Iago convinces Othello that Cassio, an officer, was having an affair with Othello’s beautiful wife Desdemona. As a vicious result, Othello is driven mad with anger and sadness and throttles Desdemona in their bed. The death and want left by Iago’s deception is vast hurting everyone involved most frequently on a mortal level. When the truth finally comes out, Othello, in his grief and remorse, ends up stabbing himself with a dagger. In the end, many die due to Iago’s deception, through villainy or despair, and none gain what they truly want because of it. This just goes to show that the mask of deception that a man wears can cause an unbelievable amount of harm, bodily and worse,
Implicitly targeting Othello’s doubts about marrying Desdemona and insecurities about her actions with infidelity, Iago eventually impacts Othello enough that the General himself confides in Iago about his own wife. Earlier in the play, ‘honest Iago’ needs to first gain Othello’s confidence and he does so by expressing his loyalty to Cassio, “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth/ Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio”, while Othello is present in a conflict (2.3. 203-204). Then, later in the play Iago baits Othello by suggesting that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Immediately, Othello wants more information; however, Iago nervously responds with, “…vicious in my guess-/ As I confess…” and tries to calm Othello by saying, “My noble lord-” (3.3 46-47, 93). When voicing his devotion to Cassio, Iago immediately begins to play on his false reputation as ‘honest Iago’. He enables Othello, and his fellow characters, to think highly of him and to respect that even when his partner, Cassio, has not been following orders, Iago would even endure physical pain and have his “tongue cut from [his] mouth” and proves his locality (2.3. 203). This leads to when Iago responds to Othello’s queries, about
In Act three, Scene three, Desdemona agrees to speak to Othello in Cassio’s behalf) As Desdemona and Cassio discuss Cassio’s loss of rank and trust in Othello’s eyes. Iago brings to Othello’s attention the discussion taking place between Cassio and Desdemona. Iago knowing full well why the discussion is happening. Iago hints the pair seems to be spending a lot of time together. Iago plants the seed of doubt in Othello’s mind Othello begins to ponder the idea of whether Iago suspicions are true.
Iago used reputation to his advantage in order to fulfill his plan to get revenge on Othello and Cassio. He uses each characters reputation to bring out their weaknesses, which he uses to his advantage. This includes his own. Over and over, Othello calls Iago, “Honest Iago.” Because his reputation is known for being honest, he tells Othello lie after lie because he knows Othello will believe him. This in turn helps him fulfill his plan because Othello falls right into his trap. Othello believes Iago when he says that Desdemona is cheating on him. He believes when Iago tells him how Cassio had a dream about Desdemona, and he believes Iago when he says that Desdemona gave Cassio the handkerchief. Another example of Iago using reputation to his advantage is with Desdemona. She is known for being sweet and innocent, and he exploits that with Cassio and Othello. When Cassio is desperate to get his job as lieutenant back, Iago simply tells him to get help from Desdemona because, “Our generals wife is now the general” (II.III.314-315). What this is saying is that because Desdemona and Othello are now married, she can control him, because it is his job to please her as she wishes. When Cassi...
Now maybe Iago didn’t necessarily want the death of Desdemona or even the death of Cassio. All the reader knows Iago’s true intention was to take Cassio’s position. That’s not to say Iago isn’t responsible for their death. Because all of his actions up to this point have ultimately caused their fate and misfortune. Iago didn’t even try to kill Cassio himself he convinced Roderigo to do it. Iago doesn’t like Cassio but doesn’t have the motivation to kill him. After Desdemona died Iago’s wife told Othello everything. Iago immediately killed his wife. After it was all said and done Iago remained silent. Iago doesn’t show any remorse or regret for his actions. There is no way of knowing for sure what Iago was thinking or felt at the
With one simple word, “Indeed?” (3.3.113), Iago manages to voice his qualms, while, as usual, not outright implicating or accusing anyone of anything. When, instead of answering Othello’s questions directly, he simply repeats them: “Honest, my lord?” and “Think, my lord?” (3.3.116-120): he is watering and feeding the seeds of doubt and suspicion he has already planted. With his faux surprise, and his seemingly unwillingness to speak out of turn, Iago manages to make Othello begin to doubt Cassio’s character. Iago knew that if he had outright accused Cassio of sleeping with Desdemona, Othello would have immediately dismissed his words, simply because of how much he trusted his wife. But, because of his tone of voice and his way of saying things without actually saying them, he is able to begin to weaken Othello’s belief in the people he thought he could trust. He suggests that there is a slight chance that his wife could be unfaithful, then feeds the doubts with twisted situations, concealed as evidence, until Othello can find no reason not to believe Desdemona has been
The situation above leaves an opening for Iago to fulfill his vital plan to bring down Othello through Desdemona. Cassio was a mental wreck and told Iago that his reputation was ruined. Iago told him that he can get his rank back through Desdemona and get back on Othello's good side. "Confess yourself freely to her, importune her help to put you in your place again (p. 54)." Once Cassio talks to Desdemona, Iago will speak with Othello and get him to think of his wife's trust. In Act three Scene three Iago is speaking to Othello and warns him to look out for Cassio and Desdemona. Othello asks Iago if it was just Cassio that left from speaking with his wife.
All Iago had to do was hint at Desdemona being unfaithful and Othello’s becomes very bothered it and eventually starts believing it. The author of an essay does an analysis on Iago and says “He slowly poisons people’s thoughts, creating ideas in their heads without implicating himself. Iago even says himself that the advice he gives is free and honest and thus, people rarely stop to consider the possibility that Iago is fooling them.“ (Shakespeare’s Othello – Honest Iago). So Iago would hint at something going between Desdemona and Cassio so that Othello would become bothered and ask him what he means by that, it was like a game that Iago was playing, he would drop a little hint and then expect Othello to pick up on it and start questioning it and become more even suspicious. Brabantio tells Othello “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee” (I.ii.286-287), So In this scene Brabantio warns Othello that Desdemona has already fooled him and she might fool him too, so be careful, and it turns out, Othello believed in him after all and that’s part of the reason of why he thinks that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. It leads him to start questioning Desdemona in a very suspicious way. At one point he even hits her in front of a nobleman and that was very shocking to the nobleman because he believed him to be a very calm and collected gentleman but obviously he was a changed man. The nobleman even expresses his shock by saying that “My lord, this would not be believed in Venice, though I should swear I saw’t. ‘Tis very much make her amends; she weeps” (IV .i.217-219). This negative thinking and insecurity was one of the main reasons to Othello’s change in a negative way. A lot of this was Iago’s doing but it was also Othello’s fault to fall for Iago’s
Throughout the drama, Othello let Iago control him as if he was a puppet under his master’s hands. When Iago first brought up the idea that Desdemona and Cassio might be having an affair, Othello did not believe him, he had faith in his wife. After many lies that Iago planted in Othello’s ears, Othello started to believe him and he dropped most of the faith that he had in Desdemona. Iago told Othello that in his sleep, Cassio said “Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our love”. Cursed fate that gave thee the Moor” (III.iii.416-417).
The play Othello it has many themes that are seen today but the one that is most used in the play is manipulation. In the play Lago manipulates Othello very often, and makes him believe that his wife and cassio are lying and making of fool of him. Lago manipulated many people into doing things for him and making the people who helped him think that they wanted to do this and that it will help or he just lied to get what he needed. Lago manipulation led to a lot of death and tragedy in the play.
Iago has a sophisticated way of deceiving the characters of the play, making him a very intelligent person. Early in the play Othello introduces Iago to the Duke of Venice as, “My ancient / A man he is of honesty and trust” (!. iii. 284-85). This is but one of the times in the play that Iago is referred to as honest and true. Throughout the play Iago is considered to be honest, but is actuality the villain. In order to maintain this false image one has to have a beguiling character. After Othello and his lieutenant, Michael Cassio, return from the war against the Ottomans, there is a celebration. At this celebration Iago puts his manipulation to work. He knows that Othello and Desdemona’s love for each other is very true, but he tells Rodrigo that Desdemona had love for Cassio: “With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio. / Ay, smile upon her, do…” (II. I. 164-65). This quote shows that Iago deceives Roderigo into believing that Desdemona loves Cassio, when in Roderigo’s eyes it is virtually impossible. Iago basically controls Rodrigo because Iago deceives him into believing that he can have Desdemona, by both Cassio and Othello.