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Iago's Deception In Othello

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“Iago is an extreme instance of diseased intellectual activity, with the most perfect indifference to moral good or evil, or rather with a decided preference of the latter” -William Hazlitt. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the main antagonist who drives most of the plot and creates great conflict for Othello and other characters. Iago hates Othello because Cassio was promoted to Lieutenant over Iago, causing Iago to craft a destructive revenge plan to convince Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with Cassio and actually trying to sleep with her himself. This plan will ruin the lives of Othello, Cassio, and anyone else in Iago’s path. Because of the pure jealousy that fuels his revenge, the genius complexity in his destructive plans, and all the while manipulating everyone around him without their knowledge, Shakespeare presents Iago as one of the most compelling villains in all of literature. …show more content…

Early in the play, Iago contemplates how to go about bring down Othello and Cassio (1.iii.435-447) and later addresses his plan to drive Othello into a rage of jealousy and madness through the supposed infidelity of Desdemona with Cassio (2.i.205-231), out of which he concludes “So will I turn her virtue into pitch,/And out of [Desdemona's] own goodness make the net/That shall enmesh them all.” (2.iii.262-264). First, Iago manipulates Cassio to get drunk and stab Roderigo which causes Othello to lose faith in Cassio. Then, Iago poisons Othello’s mind to believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, and finally he kills Roderigo and drives Othello to the point of murder. At almost every point throughout his endeavors, Iago is coercing or manipulating someone to further his agenda. “Evil has nowhere else been portrayed with such mastery as in the evil character of Iago” -A.C.

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