“I hate the Moor,
And it thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets
He’s done my office”
The entire plot, and its conduct, seems to be in the hands of the villain Iago. His intricate plans which so far involve the duping of Roderigo; the ‘poisoning’ of Brabantio’s mind and the discrediting of Cassio are purposely designed by Iago to meet his need for revenge.
As the villain of a Shakespeare play Iago shares many characteristics with others such as Don John in Much Ado About Nothing. Many attempts have been made to account for Iago’s evil disposition, and he, himself adduces a number of motives for his destruction of Othello. The critic that claimed Iago is driven by motiveless malignity would only be correct if all the motives Iago claims to have are merely excuses for
Throughout Iago’s motives, seem to revolve around greed and envy.
Viewing Iago’s character as a moral type, Iago is evil and in contrast, Desdemona is good. Here Shakespeare is using dramatic characterisation. Iago’s character is therefore a counterbalance to the moral values of Desdemona. Then introducing a theme of conflict between ‘appearance’ and ‘reality’ because Iago is plotting to ‘blacken’ Desdemona’s goodness. Iago instead of relying on any sense of morality as other characters do
Everyone trusts Iago this again is a conflict of appearance and reality; Iago ‘appears’ to be loyal but in ‘reality’, he is plotting the downfall of Othello, Cassio, and Desdemona. In Act 1, Scene 3 Othello describes Iago as “A man he is of honesty and trust.” Cassio observes Iago’s outspoken frankness and mistakes it for ‘honesty’ and suggests that this is because he is a soldier: “He speaks home, madam, you may relish him more in the soldier than in the scholar”.
Iago’s quick-thinking and opportunist nature help him to have an advantage over all the other characters. He seems to be able to identify their weakness that will eventually lead to their downfall. In the case of Othello Iago tells us in Act 1, Scene 3 that: “The Moor is of free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, And will as tenderly be led by th’nose As asses are.” He knows Othello will trust him and is likely to believe him. Again in Act 2, Scene 1 Iago reveals in a soliloquy “The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not, /Is of a constant, loving, noble nature,” and from his motives we may assume that Iago’s aim is to corrupt while Desdemona’s ‘goodness’ will “make the net/That shall enmesh ‘em all”.
In conclusion, Iago’s success depends very much on the secrecy of his plans and his control of the plot. Iago’s lies are plausible, and there is some truth in his evaluation of experience, but he fools everybody, and his lies are, nonetheless lies. He is defiantly evil but Shakespeare complicates the plot by giving him a series of motives. Iago’s motives are partly convincing but
