Te Essay....

Iago’s ability to judge character enhances his power to manipulate others. The players are played. Everyone is consumed by their passions which deepens their flaws. They trust him, and Iago abuses this trust without remorse. Roderigo lets him have his “purse as if the strings were thine” (I,i,2-3). Cassio takes his advice unhesitatingly: “You advise me well...Good night, honest Iago” (II,iii,329-337). Othello finds the idea of Iago's insincerity unfathomable: “'Tis pitiful; but yet Iago knows that she with Cassio hath the act of shame a thousand times committed” (V,ii,247-249). And Emilia, when confronted with solid proof of his deceit, is infuriated, but still skeptical: “Disprove this villain, if thou told'st him that his wife was false. I know thou didst not; thou'rt not such a villain. Speak, for my heart is full” (V,ii,205-208). Iago even goes so far as to try and win the trust of the audience by giving sensible reasons for his actions, “I hate the Moor; And it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets 'Has done my office” (I,iii,404-406). Iago then wholly and utterly exploits everyone's mislaid trust to better exact his revenge upon them whilst seeming the friend to all, and enemy to none. At the acme of Roderigo's skepticism, Iago says, “O, no. He goes to Mauritania and takes away with him the fair Desdemona, unless his abode be lingered here by some accident; wherein none can be so determinate as the removing of Cassio” (IV,ii,247-250). Relying on the trust that Roderigo has in him, Iago turns Roderigo's skepticism about his honesty into confidence and purpose. Roderigo believes that he must now kill Cassio. Iago needs everyone’s trust to take control, but at the same time he himself trusts no one. It is his very nature not to. Iago is trusted because he understands their weaknesses and plays upon them. He is like a chess grandmaster, carefully laying out a plan for emotional checkmate. But the flaws Iago sees in others he cannot see in himself.

Iago discovers and preys upon their inner most fears and untold desires to persuade them to do his bidding. After Iago orchestrates a drunken brawl, Cassio is panicking over his lost reputation. Iago says to him, “I'll tell you what you shall do. Our General's wife is the General...Confess yourself freely to her. Importune her help to put you in your place again” (II,iii,318-323). Seeing Cassio's distress and knowing he has Cassio's trust, he moves him into the perfect chess square. In doing so, he sets up Cassio and Othello for the endgame.

Othello and Iago are strikingly similar. They both share the passion of jealousy. Iago doesn’t realize this, but he is still able to gain power over Othello. Iago sees the jealousy in Othello’s heart and creates a catalyst to fuel it. In Act III, scene iii, in which Iago is convincing Othello that Desdemona is sleeping with Cassio, Iago actually does very little convincing.” Ha! I like not that...Nothing my lord; or if-I know not what” (III,iii,38-40). Only with subtle suggestions does Othello come to the conclusions which Iago has already made for him. Othello plants his very own seed of doubt. But Iago does not realize that his suspicious and jealous nature is the same as Othello’s. “If Cassio do remain, He hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly” (V,i,20-22) His suspicious nature drives him to jealousy which festers in maniacal plotting against those who are his betters.

Iago suffers from blind ambition. He has a lust for power and it consumes him. He realizes that his plans could crumble but he continues anyway “the Moor may unfold me to him; there stand I in much peril.” (V,i,21-22) Iago is so focused on his goals that he has tunnel vision. Just like a horse with blinders, Iago can only see one destination, the destruction of his friends.

Honest Iago succeeds because those around him assume that “men should be what they seem” (III,iii,148). But If “I am not what I am” (I,i,69) then how can he see what he truly is? Preying upon human instincts and weaknesses, the subjects of his revenge become his willing pawns. Leaving his own passion unchecked, the conman con’s himself.