Iago is called “honest” by Othello, and Desdemona’s care is entrusted unto him by Othello, but the audience has already seen examples of his dishonesty in the way he is leading Roderigo on with false hopes and taking money off him, and when Roderigo leaves, he says “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse”, which again shows the audience the way in which Roderigo is being manipulated.
Roderigo’s love for Desdemona seems mad and irrational, and he does not think for himself as much as he follows what Iago tells him. Since the audience already knows of Iago’s plan, the way Roderigo blindly does what Iago says shows his gullibility and the way that he will do the more risky things as well as the more innocent things Iago says.
Desdemona does not show that she knows anything about the extent of Roderigo’s love for her, but she seems to be as passionate about Othello as Roderigo is about her. Othello’s deep love for Desdemona is not in keeping with his soldier’s attitude, and this shows an audience his capacity for emotions not expected of him from his seemingly controlled, measured manner in the start. He trusts Iago enough to give him the responsibility of caring for Desdemona, and his blind trust in Iago that is again, not expected of his soldier’s manner, is already known by the audience to be mistaken.
In the second act, Cassio shows great respect in the way he greets Desdemona, and Iago, seeing this, decides to use the relationship between them to further his own plot for revenge on both Othello and Cassio. When Othello arrives, he greets his wife lovingly, but Iago’s aside reminds the audience of his hatred and desire for vengeance, which Othello still doesn’t know about. He tells Roderigo to provoke Cassio, and fight with him in the hope that Cassio will be demoted. He continues to manipulate Roderigo for his own gain, and shows no sign of stopping any further on in the play. His soliloquy shows the audience that he knows Othello’s strengths and weaknesses, and his ruthlessness is shown to us again when he says that he loves Desdemona but because he believes Othello has slept with Emilia, he will be “evened with [Othello], wife for wife”. He is, at this point, one of the most rational characters in the play, Othello being the other, but although Othello changes and becomes driven by his jealousy, Iago stays constant the whole way through. The reason for Othello’s change is seen as being because of the trustfulness in his nature that Iago recognises and decides to exploit in one of his soliloquies.
Iago decides to make Othello violently jealous of Cassio, thereby making Othello seek revenge on Cassio and leaving himself, Iago, to be the honest friend trying to help. He gets Cassio drunk, and gets Roderigo to start a fight with him. When Othello arrives, he demotes Cassio after having listened to Iago’s ‘honest’ explanation and gives Cassio’s position to Iago. The audience might see this as being Iago’s revenge on Cassio, but his plan to get his revenge on Othello also by now involves Cassio.
Cassio then asks Iago to help him redeem himself in Othello’s eyes, and Iago tells him to ask Desdemona to beg Othello. Iago then clarifies his plot in soliloquy, deciding to make Othello jealous of Cassio. He also decides to exploit Emilia’s position as Desdemona’s maid, and make her push Desdemona for Cassio’s reinstatement as Othello’s lieutenant.
Iago’s power to manipulate people has become more apparent as he goes on to take advantage not only of Roderigo, who is shown to be gullible and naïve, but also Cassio and, eventually Othello, although he has already duped Othello into thinking of him as “honest”. The successfulness of all his plans so far lead an audience to believe that his plan will be victorious and beneficial to himself, however his plan will only work up to a certain point, and although he has taken the measure of Othello and Roderigo well, his judgement in Cassio is proved wrong in the end, as he intends for Roderigo to murder Cassio, but Cassio is not killed by Roderigo, having presumably been a better swordsman. This is the first of Iago’s careful preparations that goes wrong, and although he does take revenge on Othello, he does not benefit in any way from any of the deaths at the end of the play. Iago is presented throughout the play as being calm and in control of every situation, but he does not seem to have given enough thought to Cassio’s character and the way in which Cassio is not as easily manipulated as Othello, which is not in keeping with the way Othello is presented at the start of the play as being a calm, measured soldier, well respected for his good decisions in matters of war, and Cassio being socially lower than Othello in terms of him being Othello’s lieutenant who later gets demoted.
Iago’s intentions towards Othello and Cassio are shown in the opening acts of the play, and are followed through during the course of the play, right until the deaths at the end of the play.
