Othello As Iago Essays - Othello, Iago, Michael Cassio, Emilia

Othello As Iago As villain in Shakespeare's play Othello, Iago has two main actions. They are to plot and to deceive. Iago hates Othello for two reasons. He believes that Othello made love to his wife, and Iago is mad that Cassio was chosen to be Lieutenant instead of himself. From this hate comes the main conflict of the play. Iago plans to ruin Othello by carrying out a plan based on lies and deceit. This plan will make Iago the only person that Othello believes he can trust, and Iago will use this trust to manipulate Othello. First, Iago plans to remove Cassio from his position as lieutenant so that he himself take over Cassio's position as confidant and Lieutenant to Othello. Then Iago hopes to convince Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. If Iago's plan unfolds properly, he will be granted the revenge that he believes he deserves. Iago's plan and his motives are disclosed through a series three of conversations. He speaks with Roderigo twice and Cassio once. These three conversations show how Iago manipulates others to gain his own ends, and they also give motives for Iago's behavior. The conversations all follow the same pattern. Iago first speaks with Roderigo and Cassio to forward his plan, and then Iago has a soliloquy in which he discusses his motives. Iago states that the reasons for his hate are that Othello slept with Emilia and Cassio was chosen to be Othello's Lieutenant. However, Iago's actions lead to ends that do not revenge his given motives. Coleridge calls Iago's actions "the motive-hunting of a motiveless malignity" . In other words, Iago's only reason for destroying Othello is that Iago is an inherently bad person. The conversations that Iago has with Roderigo and Cassio show that Iago invents reasons for his actions against Othello, so that his own selfish ends can be met. Iago's first dialog with Roderigo serves as an introduction to Iago's plan. In this scene the reader learns that Roderigo is in love with Desdemona, because he threatens to drown himself when he learns that Othello and Desdemona are engaged. Uses Roderigo's weakness to help him remove Cassio from his lieutenant position. Iago tells Roderigo to "put money in thy purse" (333) . Iago believes that Othello and Desdemona will not be together for a very long time since Othello is a Moor and Desdemona is an aristocrat. Iago urges Roderigo to earn money now so that he can be an eligible suitor when Desdemona is looking for another husband. This conversation and the soliloquy following it introduce the two different sides of Iago. Iago tells Roderigo what he wants to hear in order to enlist his help. However, in the following soliloquy the reader is introduced to what Iago really has planned. He states that he would never associate with someone like Roderigo except to gain his own ends. "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse--/ For I mine own gained knowledge should profane/ If I would time expand with such a snipe/ But for my sport and profit" (365-368). Iago feels that Roderigo is a foolish man who exists only for Iago's use or "sport." This idea a strengthened by the word "snipe". The Arden Shakespeare defines snipe as "fool" (p. 159) and states that the word meant "gull or dupe" (p. 159) before Shakespeare. These definitions emphasize the fact that Iago feels no respect for Roderigo and is manipulating Roderigo only to further his plan. In the same speech, Iago's real plan is revealed only to the audience. Iago wants to convince Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are in love. They are the two people that Othello trusts, and if Othello believes that they have turned on him, this will lead to his downfall. Iago plans to tell Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. Cassio is a ladies man, and Iago believes that Cassio's charm makes women fall in love with him. Iago will make the innocent flirtations of Cassio and Desdemona seem like secret love to Othello. "After some time to abuse Othello's ears/ That he is too familiar with his wife/ He hath a person and a smooth dispose/ To be suspected, framed to make women false" (378-380). Iago planted a seed of hope in Roderigo, and the next time they speak Iago uses this hope to turn Roderigo against Cassio. In this scene Iago tells Roderigo that "Desdemona is directly in love with [Cassio]" (215). From there previous discussion, Roderigo believes that