To elaborate my point I will start from line 16 – “she is sport for Jove”. Notice how Iago starts off the dialog when Cassio calls upon their duty to go to the watch. Cassio is a man whom as we can see, definitely has a sense of honour, loyalty, and duty; as soon as Othello exits, he quickly welcomes Iago and then immediately outlines “we must to the watch”. Iago on the other hand in a very carefree manner, responds that it is still early; then goes on about Desdemona’s “saucy” character – “she is sport for Jove”. Mark the contradiction of this remark to Cassio’s “She is a most exquisite lady”, followed by Iago’s slander “And, I’ll warrant her full of game” – audiences pick up on this kind of vibe and where Cassio pays a true and pure compliment to lady Desdemona, Iago’s comments come across as crude, kinky, and carry dodgy undertones. Line 26 literally made me laugh – “Well happiness to their sheets!” – look at how the ensign views Othello’s and Desdemona’s relationship. Where Othello considers it a union in holly matrimony, Iago sees an animalistic affair – as all affairs are ofcourse according to him – where the only thing binding them are fleshly pleasures – hence his funny remark on the sheets.
Iago’s persuasion skills then come into play when Cassio refuses to drink more exclaiming that “I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking”. “What, man!” and “O, they are our friends” are Iago’s replies to Cassio’s refusals to drink, with the purpose of making the latter feel guilty for not engaging in the revels. At this point Cassio is furthermore established as a dutiful lieutenant to his general, striving to follow orders; but Iago’s is no easy man to “escape” from and Cassio gives in. This also shows Cassio to be quite a weak individual – but that is debatable because he is dealing with the likes of Iago; practically the devil’s advocate himself! Iago by insisting on Cassio to drink exposes his lack of respect for Othello, or any other sort of authority for that matter; he shows neither loyalty nor deference towards the general.
A soliloquy is then followed by the ensign where he outlines his scheme of getting Cassio drunk in order to cause mayhem that will disgrace him in a way “that may offend the isle”. Iago’s language in his soliloquy sounds like it’s almost sown to the plot – “the very elements of this warlike state – have I tonight flustered with flowing cups”. Notice the alliteration of the “f” sound and how it flows when you read it out loud. The same way his words flow, so does his scheme, which is like a “boat [that] sails freely both with wind and stream”. Iago in this soliloquy has completely acquainted us to the idea of “flow” both in his words and in practice. The way his plans for the future are revealed through the use of a vessel both with the accommodation of wind and stream, is most effective in capturing his success.
The occurrences of certain events in this scene have a prophetic ring to them. Iago for starters needs no introduction on the matter as his boat of schemes is on its comfortable way to a destination of chaos as we will see later in the play. Cassio being exposed as an irresponsible drunk in this scene is followed through later on in Iago’s slandering and recalling of Cassio’s unbecoming behaviour to Othello. This scene is but merely the beginning of Iago’s quest to destroy Othello mercilessly where Cassio is the prime and catalytic factor to it all. At the end of the day, Iago is making Othello look bad just as much as Cassio to the gentlemen and Montano, because it is he that chose Cassio to be the lieutenant over “honest Iago”.
The beginning of this scene to lines 57 certainly draws immense boundaries and contrasts between Cassio and Iago. The former is a loyal, obedient servant to his master, whereas the latter is just a seeming loyal, obedient servant to his master whom clearly has other plans in mind.
