Everyday people use manipulation to get what they want, which is ultimately power. Manipulation is destructive because people gain power by deceiving people or tricking them into seeing a certain point of view. The ones who want power don’t care about others and only want to achieve what’s best for themselves. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago's various plans for manipulation and hunger for power wreaks destruction on the lives of the people he knows best.
Iago convinces everybody to refer to him as “honest Iago” so that he can gain their trust while sneaking behind their backs. The love-struck Roderigo is one of the first people to get exploited. He is heartbroken by Desdemona's marriage to Othello, the Moor, to the point where he'd consider
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He points to the evidence that the handkerchief given to Desdemona by Othello, which means a lot to her, is now in the hands of Cassio. Iago says, "And did you see the handkerchief. What is that mine? And to see how he prizes the foolish woman your wife: she gave it him, and he hath giv'n it his whore” (IV.i.172). Iago suggests to Othello to “strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated” (IV.i.226-227). Here, Iago has completely warped Othello’s mind into thinking that he should kill his wife, the love of his life. The manipulation stops at nothing, even when it starts to consist of the death of innocent people. Iago’s power is extremely destructive because he is culpable for innocent Desdemona’s death, which ultimately leads to Othello’s death as well.
Iago’s form of manipulation is commonplace in today’s society. Everybody wants personal success, and to get there some people cheat their way to the top by manipulating people at their moments of emotional weakness. Iago knows that since Othello is so unsuspecting, he could to lead him "by th’ nose," making Othello believe that his wife is having an affair with Cassio (I.iii.444). Automatically when we hear something bad, it is hard to fight the urge to not listen and be swept by our