Iago's Influence On Othello

During these lines, we can clearly see the influence that Iago has over Othello—even though it’s through manipulation. A rhetorical strategy I see that Shakespeare uses is confusion; Othello wants to believe that his wife is faithful, but at the same time it is hard to believe, but it is interesting when he states that he trusts Iago, but he doesn’t at the same time. What I believe this is doing to the scene is that it is expressing how distraught Othello is, and in a way that is setting the scene (and I would even say foreshadowing). We see that Othello is capable of making irrational decisions on assumptions. Othello is basically planning murder (or it can be a plot twist and he’s planning suicide) because he is in an irrational state. Iago

Iago still wants people to believe in him, and he is using the right words—the right rhetorics—to continue this lie. He say’s he is sorry that he put that idea in Othello’s head, but he continues to inject more ideas into his head. Later on, he suggests that the way to catch them is to catch them in bed together, with him on top of her; he is still saying these things regardless of how distraught Othello is, but the rhetorical strategy here is to overflow him with ideas so that he becomes more irrational. Iago then tries to make this situation circumstantial by feeding more ideas, but then wording it in a way that makes it seem like it can happen, but it can’t be proven, so Othello just has to believe it. Iago does this by saying it would be difficult to lure Desdemona and Cassio into bed together and having Othello watch, so he words it in a way that makes it sound difficult (because it isn’t possible because she’s not having an affair), but this form of rhetoric—word choice—makes it seem like it’s going to happen, and he just has to believe him. Iago then says that if he is willing to accept the truth, he can get proof; the rhetoric behind here is to convince Othello that he has no doubt that he can get proof, which gives a sense of validation that this is actually happening; this is done by sounding so certain, that an audience is forced to believe you because you have given them no reason to doubt