Iago Relationship In Othello

To begin, the introduction of both Iago and Roger in their respective books are divergent. When they are first introduced to the audience/reader, it is obvious that Iago speaks more and is a major character in comparison to Roger, who only "mutters" his name and suggests that they have a vote for a chief. Othello starts in media res – in the middle of an argument, which plunges contemporary and modern audiences straight into the action. The play opens with Roderigo, who says "Iago, who hast my purse." This immediately causes the audience to see Iago in a negative light when As a result of Iago abandoning his part of the bargain and taking advantage of affluent but naïve Roderigo, Iago comes across as deceitful and Machiavellian, planting the

Iago is first shown to be a manipulative villain and stays the same throughout the entire play. However, the extent to which he deceives other characters increases as the play progresses. Iago has been evil all along, although it surfaces gradually. In Act 1 Scene 1 of Othello his trickery only causes Roderigo to be cheated out of his money, while in Act 2 Scene 3, Iago 's deception causes Roderigo to pick a fight with drunken Cassio, hence causing Cassio to lose his position as lieutenant. Moreover in Act 5 Scene 2, after he poisons Othello 's mind with his carefully crafted words, Othello murders Desdemona as a result of Iago 's manipulation. While Iago does not become more evil throughout the course of Othello, Roger clearly does. In other words, Roger goes from the "slight" and "furtive" choir boy he was at the beginning of Lord of the Flies, to descending into savagery at the end of the novel. The earliest you see Roger away from all of the choir boys is in chapter 4, when he walks out the forest with Maurice. Relieved of fire duty, they decide to come down for a swim. Roger kicks down the sandcastles Henry and some other littluns built, causing them only emotional pain. However, soon Henry is sitting alone in the sand, and from behind a tree Roger threw a stone, but he "threw to miss," showing how he was still

At the time, Elizabethans strongly believed in the devil and that evil was difficult to detect, this caused Iago 's actions to be more plausible and terrifying. Iago says "I am not what I am" which can alternatively be interpreted as "I am not what I seem." This causes dramatic irony due to the fact that the audience are aware of his perfidy while the other characters in Othello are not. Moreover it is also a reminiscence of a quote from the bible where Moses asks God his name, God replies with "I am that I am" and if that stands for God, then "I am not what I am" is the contrary and hence the opposite of God, that is the devil. Jesus describes the devil as a deceiver and a thief, likewise Iago deceives Roderigo and steals his money in Act 1 Scene 1. The devil is also depicted as a tempter and a distorter, in the same way that Iago distorts the truth, tempting Othello into believing that Cassio is having an affair with his wife. Furthermore, at the closing stages of the play when Emilia approaches Othello to expose her husband, Iago murders her in order to conceal the truth. It could also be interpreted that he caused the death of Desdemona and the Othello through his manipulations and deception; thus destroying the happiness of several characters. Consequently Iago is malicious and nefarious as he conducts his villainous actions throughout the play without a purpose. Some may claim that he has a motive in view of the fact that Othello promoted Cassio to lieutenant instead