Othello 4

Othello
William Shakespeare

Shakespeare portrays Iago is a mischievous character who is also manipulative to many of the other characters in Othello. Following the firing of Cassio from his lieutenant position, he wanted to speak with Desdemona privately about his job loss. As Cassio is leaving his talk with Desdemona, he sneaks off in order to avoid any type of anger with Othello. However, Iago tries to plant the seed in Othello's head that Desdemona and Iago have something to hide from Othello. Iago says "that he would steal away so guilty-like, seeing you coming"(III.iii.40). This indicates that Iago is overtly fabricating the details in order to cause Othello to have doubt and concern. Iago enjoys having so much control over everyone and he continues to do so in an inconspicuous way. I believe that Iago will not get away with his manipulation for much longer though. Many of the other characters are smart and will catch onto Iago's tricks that he is playing. Iago's trickery and deceit is ironic because he hates women for being deceitful to men. However, Iago is deceitful to everyone that he encounters.