It has been suggested that perhaps he is unable or unwilling to express his true motivations, although this is unlikely because the audience learns of his motivations and justifications through his soliloquies which are designed to demonstrate the characters true thoughts and feelings because they are an insight into what is going through the character’s mind. This raises the issue, therefore, that what Iago says in his soliloquies not only is the truth which underlines the previous argument, but also raises the issue of whether Iago is immoral or amoral. If in his thoughts he justifies his actions he must therefore believe they are right. This makes his actions all the more terrifying. He is willing to take revenge on anyone, Othello, Desdemona, , Roderigo, even Emilia, at the slightest provocation. This supports Auden’s idea because Iago is a “practical joker” in that his plots, if the soliloquies are true, are not based on evil but rather just revenge. Also the idea of “of an appalling kind” is also explored in that if Iago is amoral his actions have not limit.
Iago is an expert at manipulating the distance between characters, isolating his victims so that they fall prey to their own obsessions. At the same time, Iago, of necessity always standing apart, falls prey to his own obsession with revenge. The characters cannot be islands, the play seems to say that self-isolation as an act of self-preservation leads ultimately to self-destruction. Such self-isolation leads to the deaths of Roderigo, Iago and Othello. This is suggested by Leavis’ quotation in that Iago “represents something that is Othello”, that something being obsession and perhaps jealousy.
Both Iago and Othello have obsessive natures. Othello is driven mad by his struggle with obsession over Desdemona and obsession over her infidelity. Ultimately, his fixation with unfaithfulness, not Iago, brings him to his downfall. Although Othello’s poor judgement of character also plays a massive role in his defeat. Likewise, Iago is obsessed by revenge and even has the ability to pragmatically change his plot in light of new events, for example his receiving of Desdemona’s handkerchief. This brings him to his tragic death.
Both Iago and Othello can be viewed as jealous characters, Iago warns Othello of the "green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on" (III.iii.170–171). Othello becomes increasingly more jealous the more Iago manipulates his mind about Desdemona’s affair. Eventually this jealously consumes his rationality and self control which he prides himself on. Likewise, Iago could be seen to be increasing engrossed in jealously from his resentfulness at Cassio being promoted over him. This jealousy motivates him to take revenge. However, this interpretation is flawed by Iago’s soliloquies in that he can justify his actions so they are not just the outbursts from pent-up envy. Also Iago is a clear minded trickster, he has to be so that he can adapt his plans to unexpected events. He can not be overrun with emotion because he has to be rational and quick thinking.
Another way of regarding Iago’s role in the play could be to bring subtle humour. Iago is often funny, especially in his scenes with the foolish Roderigo, which serve as a showcase of Iago's manipulative abilities. He seems almost to wink at the audience as he revels in his own skill. This brings about a lighter side to an otherwise completely pessimistic play. As entertained spectators, we find ourselves on Iago's side when he is with Roderigo, but the interactions between the two also reveal a streak of cowardice in Iago, a cowardice that becomes manifest in the final scene, when Iago kills his own wife (V.ii.231–242). This demonstrates further to the audience the danger of Iago’s manipulative mind.
Another way of regarding Iago’s role in the play could be to demonstrate the flaw of misplaced judgement in all the characters. It is Iago's talent for understanding and manipulating the desires of those around him that makes him both a powerful and a compelling figure. Iago is able to take the handkerchief from Emilia and know that he can deflect her questions. Plus he is able to tell Othello of the handkerchief and know that Othello will not doubt him and he is able to tell the audience, "And what's he then that says I play the villain," and know that it will laugh as though he were a clown (II.iii.310). Though the most firmly established liar, Iago gains from all of the play's characters the trait that is most lethal to Othello, trust. This trust in Iago plants the seeds for the inevitable downfall of all the characters.
Another way of regarding Iago’s role in the play could be to bring out the reflection of Othello’s emotional state by the quality of his language. In spite of his obvious eloquence in Act I, scene iii, he protests, "Rude am I in my speech, / And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace" (I.iii.81–82). This shows that at the beginning of the play Othello is in a stable emotional state and the distinction of his speech shows this. While Othello is never rude in his speech, he does allow his eloquence to suffer as he is put under increasing strain by Iago's plots. In this way, Iago is used to force Othello into a state of emotional upheaval and so the audience can see his language suffers. In the final moments of the play, Othello regains his composure and, once again, seduces both his onstage and offstage audiences with his words. The speech that precedes his suicide is a tale that could woo almost anyone. It is the tension between Othello's victimization at the hands of a foreign culture and his own willingness to torment himself that makes him a tragic figure rather than simply Iago's ridiculous puppet.
Another way of regarding Iago’s role in the play could be to show how the characters seem to be the product of certain inevitable, natural forces, which, if left unchecked, will grow wild. Iago understands these natural forces particularly well: he is, according to his own metaphor, a good "gardener," both of himself and of others. Iago’s line "Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme … the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills" (I.iii.317–322) best explains how the plant metaphor functions in the play are more importantly, how Iago is able to manipulate everyone. Many of Iago's botanical references concern poison, for example, "I'll pour this pestilence into his ear" (II.iii.330); "The Moor already changes with my poison. / Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons, / … / … Not poppy nor mandragora / Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world / Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep" (III.iii.329–336). Iago cultivates his "conceits" so that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic way in which Iago's plots consume the other characters and determine their behaviour makes his conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago's efforts.
In conclusion, Iago has many roles in the play, including those suggested by Leavis and Auden. Although I find Leavis’ more convincing though because it is almost dramatic irony that Iago uses Othello’s weakness’ to bring him down whilst at the same time he is feeding his own weakness of the same nature and effectively brings himself down.
