To What Extent Is Iago Responsible for Othello's Downfall

Othello trusts Iago and now Iago is trying to take his wife from him for someone else. Furthermore, “He takes her by the palm...sir in.” (pg. 71). Iago watches Cassio and Emilia because he thinks they had an affair he watches them carefully so he can figure out how to convince Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Another example involves the plan to help Othello kill Desdemona. “Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated” (pg. 185). Othello believes that Iago is most honest, thus he believed killing his wife Desdemona was the right thing to do. Iago brainwashed Othello into believing the wrong thing was the right thing. The characterization of Iago is created by the use of dramatic irony. The audience knew how devious Iago is, but the characters fell for his mischievous acts.

Iago warns Othello that “[Desdemona] did deceive her father, marrying [Othello], and when she seemed to shake, and fear your looks, she loved them most.” (Shakespeare 3.3.207-210). We can see that Iago is trying to make Othello jealous by pointing out that Desdemona has already betrayed someone that she loved so what would prevent her from doing it again. Iago manipulates Othello by claiming that Desdemona gave Othello’s handkerchief away “yours by this hand! And to see how [Cassio] prizes the foolish woman, your wife! She gave it to him, and he hath given it to his whore” (Shakespeare 4.1.170-173). The final blow to manipulating Othello, Iago tells him that Desdemona gave Cassio her handkerchief confirming her betrayal. This is the end to behaving rationally for Othello. Mark Rose insist that Iago is “playing his victim [Cassio] with wine has robbed [Cassio of his reputation]. The presentation of Cassio as a decent man changed into a drunken madman foreshadows the actions of Othello to come” (Rose 285). This displays the idea that Iago is manipulating anyone in any way in order to get to Othello. In this case he is manipulating Cassio’s reputation so that later in the play Iago can use Cassio against Othello to make him jealous of his wife cheating on him with Cassio. Iago is easily able to set this in motion because he damaged Cassio’s reputation so much that Othello doesn’t trust him, or want him

Iago plants ideas in Othello’s head, uses the innocent actions of others as his proof; and Othello, who is not practiced in worldly matters, believes his the misnomer of the “honest Iago”, and eventually is consumed by the lie.

Iago's manipulative nature has a profound effect on the decisions made by other characters in Shakespeare's ‘Othello’. Through his relations with those around him Shakespear characterizes him as a man full of malice, vengeance and dishonesty that is wholly inspired by jealousy. Furthermore it would appear that Iago has an exceptional ability to scheme, a talent which he uses to snake his way into the lives of others and exploit them through their weaknesses. Whether he does this for profit or for pleasure is a separate issue.

Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello

    Tragedy is an intrinsically human concept; tragic heroes are damned by what they themselves do. Othello is not so much felled by the actions of Iago, but by a quality all people possess-- human frailty. Accordingly, Othello is not a victim of consequences, but an active participant in his downfall. He is not merely a vehicle for the machinations of Iago; he had free agency. Othello's deficiencies are: an insecure grasp of Venetian social values; lack of critical intelligence, self-knowledge, and faith in his wife; and finally, insecurity-- these are the qualities that lead to his own downfall.

Iago is one of the most misunderstood villains in Shakespeare literature. We side with Othello from the start because his name is on the cover of our paperback, we read Othello when learning about heroes, so we expect Iago to be a villain, a ruthless manipulator. We don’t know why, he doesn’t state it plainly or in simple English, so we assume that he’s evil, that he’s just a disgruntled sociopath out to exact his exaggerated revenge on good and noble Othello. Iago’s misunderstood reputation is a result of not truly examining his character, and answering the “why” factor behind his actions. After all, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. His goal in the play was not just to destroy Othello for the fun of it. His objective,

Iago is a powerful predator who exploits those around him by infecting their perceptions of truth with carefully chosen fallacy. His skill in finding the proverbial chinks in others' armor allows him to skillfully weave his machinations of destroying Othello into their minds and actions; by manipulating character's perceptions of Desdemona, Iago gains the leverage he needs to exploit each character. No one is impervious to Iago's seething purpose; even Othello falls prey to Iago's suggestions and insinuations about Desdemona. Iago's constant presence as the stager, as well as his ceaseless - but subtle - reinforcement of events through narration, allows him to be the pivotal force that directs

This quote by Iago puts into Othello's mind that Desdemona may be cheating on him with Cassio. Othello then begins to question whether he was right to marry or not and although without proof, he believes in Iago's words. This is shown in his statement, “why did I marry? This honest creature doubtless sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds”(Shakespeare 1324), indicates that he quickly turns to doubting his love Desdemona and takes Iago as being credible and true. It also causes him to become jealous and angered with only a simple touch of trickery by Iago. This marks his first sign to a down hill plunge in moral.

But not only this, he goes on to say that he believes that Othello has had sex with his wife, Emilia “Hath leaped into my seat”. In this silioquy Iago shares the beginning of his plan, to make Othello so jealous with the idea that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair “jealousy so strong that judgement cannot cure”. However because of the reasons he put forward to Roderigo earlier in the play, we cannot be sure that Iago is telling the truth to the audience, even though he is seen to be confiding in the audience with his master plan. Through the use of this silioquy, and the others in the play, Shakespeare creates dramatic irony, where the audience know more about what is happening than the characters themselves do. This assists his portrayal of Othello as a tragic hero, as the audience is able to see his fatal flaw, and learn the devastating result because of it.

One of the most interesting questions that crops up is concerning Iago’s motives. What are his reasons to kill every major Venetian in Cyprus? Shakespeare seemingly sets the stage for Iago’s actions, giving him two distinct reasons to avenge Othello. The first is the fact that Othello promotes Cassio, an "arithmetician" to the rank of lieutenant and passes over Iago who is but a

Iago’s story of Desdemona and Cassio has the power to turn a man in love into a man full of hatred. Othello’s attitude, during the first discussion with Iago, is one of clear denial. He claims that he would simply "whistle her off, and let her down the wind", or divorce her in other words (Vanita 3). As time goes on, the accusations that Iago has made, against Cassio and Desdemona, begins to churn in Othello’s mind. He tries hard to forget the claims but when Iago offers him proof, he begins to break down and cries out "I’ll tear her to pieces" (Oth. 3.3.631). One would normally ignore this remark, assuming that he was simply speaking in anger, if it were not for his call for "revenge" shortly after (Oth. 3.3.631). The true evil in Othello begins to show when he commands Iago to kill Cassio by saying "Within these three days let me hear thee say / That Cassio’s not alive" (Oth. 3.3.632). What makes this directive so evil is that Othello has not yet seen any proof. He has only heard the accusations from one person (Iago), and yet he

He gets Cassio to talk to Othello’s wife, Desdemona, to ask for his position back and he begins to point out small things like them whispering. When Cassio exits the scene when Othello approaches, Iago does not hesitate to make his move and mentions it. Asking of Iago’s suspicions, Iago says, “Good my lord, pardon me, Though I am bound to every act of duty I am not bound to that all slaves are free to Utter my thoughts” (138-140). This places Othello in the position of being alarmed because what could be so horrible that this “honest” man would want to keep secret from him. Eventually, Iago comes out with his fake suspicions and Othello somewhat believes it but wants some kind of evidence. Fortunately, Iago’s wife, Emilia gets a hold of Desdemona’s handkerchief and gives it to him. He puts more of his plan into action saying, “in Cassio’s lodging [I] lose this napkin. And let him find it. Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of holy writ. (331-334). This is enough to convince Othello of Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, enraging him to want to murder the two. Othello decides he will kill his wife, and asks Iago to do the same to

Shakespeare portrays Iago using ethos to persuade Othello that his wife has been cheating on him and states, "Men should be what they seem, or those that be not, would they might seem not" (3.3 126-127). Iago ironically states that people should look the same on the outside as on the inside and they shouldn’t be twofaced. Iago cleverly knows that once an idea has been put into Othello’s head no matter what Iago says, Othello will follow that idea and be effortlessly manipulated by Iago. Iago proceeds to use the appeal of pathos in his words when he appeals to Othello’s emotions and provoked him. When Othello thinks that Cassio has Desdemona’s handkerchief Iago does his best to convince Othello that it is nothing but the truth and Iago states, “If it be that, or any that was hers, It speaks against her with the other proofs”(3.3 500-501). Othello maddened by Iagos words ragingly responds, “Oh, I’d kill that bastard Cassio forty thousand times if I could! Killing him once is not enough revenge. Now I see it’s true…”(3.3 502-504). Iago knows exactly how to appeal to Othello and push his buttons for him to think the exact way Iago wishes him to. When Iago puts the handkerchief by Cassio, he changes the scenario into proof that Desdemona was cheating on Othello and ruins their

Othello may be seen as a tragic hero throughout William Shakespeare’s famous play, Othello. From the get go Iago masters manipulating Othello, he continues to do so until he suffers his major downfall. Iago is not remorseful for it at all. In fact, he’s doing it for revenge of the