We don’t know that Roderigo genuinely likes Iago. Perhaps he listens to him because he says what he wants to hear, which are positive statements on their Desdemona campaign and negative slurs on Othello, who Roderigo is of course jealous of and hates.
Iago has a complex and evil personality. It comes up full throttle in this scene as manipulative of Roderigo, resentful and vengeful over not being made lieutenant, and hence disrespectful towards Othello behind his back. However, he is very sure of his own character and duplicity, declaring “I am not what I am”, because at the moment he is acting pleasant and friendly in Othello’s presence but has a secret agenda:
“In following him, I follow but myself.
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty
But seeming so for my peculiar end”
This means that he only follows Othello so that he can see to his revenge on him – being the bitter character that he is. He hates Othello for not promoting him, which leads him to use some strongly racist terms such as “old black ram”. In Shakespeare’s day, this type of language was considered normal and in some cases, acceptable. The audiences then may have understood how Brabantio felt, and had more empathy for him and the other characters. These days people would think the characters are racist and horrible and not understand why Brabantio is so horrified at the thought of his daughter being with a black man.
The language the characters use tells us a bit about them – Iago’s long, complicated speeches show that he is a deep and complicated person; Roderigo’s lack of things to say shows a lack of things on his mind.
With or without Iago, Roderigo is a very foolish person who can be controlled like a puppet. This is very much the case in scene One, with Iago pulling his strings and giving him orders for waking Brabantio.
Othello is introduced by means of the comments of the other three. Although they are mostly derogatory, we discover that he is a very successful, and blatantly controversial, military general who has been in many a conflict, with Iago at his side.
“And I, of who his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds
Christian and heathen”.
Most of Iago’s anger comes from Cassio being chosen over himself as Othello’s Lieutenant, and although he is obviously jealous of Cassio, he has a very low opinion of him as a soldier. He says of him:
“A fellow almost damned in a fair wife
That never set a squadron in the field
Nor the devision of a battle knows,
More than a spinster, unless the bookish theoric”
He also says that Cassio is “meer prattle without practice”, that he may be a good strategist and thinker but doesn’t know what battles are really like because he’s never fought in one. Iago, on the other hand, has been in many battles and thought that he deserved the position of Lieutenant. He has a very high opinion of himself which is why he can always put others down.
The plot comes into motion, and we find out just how scheming Iago is, when he and Roderigo go to awaken Brabantio. Iago emphasizes that making a huge fuss is necessary, by instructing
“Call up her father
Rouse him, make after him, poison his delight”
Roderigo THINKS it must be done so drastically to make Brabantio furious enough to split up Othello and Desdemona for his own benefit, but it is really an attempt to ruin Othello’s happiness as part of Iago’s dire revenge.
Iago uses Roderigo by being very specific in telling him what to do, even telling him what tone of voice to use:
“Do, with like timorous accent and dire yell”
meaning that a quiet tone will make it more sincere so Brabantio would be more likely to listen. By being so direct with his instructions, Iago manages to take control of the whole situation, which is what he wants because it means it will go his own way. He uses this disturbance as an excuse to turn more people against Othello; disrupting Brabantio’s evening will make him even more outraged.
Iago stays behind the scenes when necessary because he wants to retain Othello’s trust (an enemy who appears to be a friend is more likely to succeed than an obvious enemy). If he pretends to be a friend he has more power to manipulate things for his own benefit. He says of the situation:
“Though I do hate him as I do Hell’s pains,
Yet, for necessity of present life
I must show out a flag and sign of love”
Anyway, Brabantio’s reaction, much to Iago’s delight, is of disbelief and horror. This is mostly propelled by Iago’s very vulgar descriptions of Othello. He says
“You’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse”
Barbary is a North African breed so these are racist terms, but they encourage Brabantio’s disgust and dislike of Othello. He is persuaded to believe that ‘thieves’ took Desdemona (meaning he is too incompetent to keep everything safe in his household) and Iago makes a point of humiliating him, as Brabantio would be more likely to remember this bad feeling and associate it with Othello. Iago fuels his despair by saying
“Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul”
At first, Brabantio refuses to believe anything they say (“What, have you lost your wits?”) because he is proud and can’t stand anyone disputing that, least of all Roderigo who he has already forbidden to marry Desdemona. So he denies being robbed, stating “This is Venice, my house is not a grange”.
By now the audience will be hearing of Othello as ‘evil’ and linked to the Devil, but we know it’s not true because Iago has already said why he hates Othello (for a petty reason) and that he himself is two-faced.
By the end of Act One scene One, we know how far Iago is prepared to go to get what he wants, which gives us the idea that this play will contain quite a lot of bloodshed. We know that Othello trusts Iago so he is very capable of ruining things and manipulating the situation. The very first drop of doubt is entered into Othello’s mind after Brabantio realises that Desdemona has married him, as he says:
“Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see;
She has deceived her father, and may thee”
This means that if Desdemona could betray her own father, she may well do the same to her husband. These are just the inklings of the main parts that fuel the story. From then on, Othello’s suspicion is to be made worse to the bitter end, and Iago’s revenge is to continue, to the same bitter end.
