Manipulation In Othello

In many stories, there are villains who seem to control how the characters act by manipulation. These kinds of villains use multiple techniques to get what they want and to execute their plans. The techniques are used to affect the characters in a negative way in favor of the villain. In Othello, the antagonist Iago, plays that role. Iago affects the characters’ lives in a negative way by his honest reputation, his ability to “read” people, and how he “proves” to be Loyal. Iago’s honest reputation and his two-faced personality ensnares the protagonists into his plan. Initially he gets the character to think that he is generally honest and then builds that small reputation up to a bigger one so then he can spill out lies to trick them. He seems to be honest through his actions when he is in

By proving himself to be loyal he can have an easier way of influencing the other characters. He also has another advantage of being “loyal”, it means that the characters will let him do what he pleases without suspicion because they trust him so much. In the beginning of Othello, Iago protests against Othello to Roderigo “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” proving that Iago clearly does not want to honestly follow Othello. Roderigo is affected by this, because he believes him and keeps letting Iago use him unknowingly, leading to his death. Although Roderigo is misled by Iago’s he still keeps his mental and emotional state normal with little doubt, until the end. Othello puts so much trust into Iago, claiming that he is “full of love and honesty” that he doubts his wife, and everyone that Iago says is suspicious. His mental state gets affected greatly and is even more inclined to believe in Iago, even promoting him to lieutenant. Iago reassures him even more pleading himself to Othello saying “I am your own