Iago's Deception In Othello

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In the play Othello written by Shakespeare, Iago uses deceit as a framework for his multiple schemes. Iago ends up tricking almost every character in the play but his motives for each character is different.
The first person Iago tricks is Roderigo. In the beginning of the play, we see that Roderigo is paying money to Iago because he believes that Iago will get him Othello’s wife, Desdemona. In the play, Roderigo tells Iago “I am changed: I'll go sell all my land” ( ). This means that Roderigo is trusting Iago and giving him everything he has to get him, Desdemona. We know Iago has motives against Roderigo because “One does not steal if it does not profit him” ( ). However, Roderigo is too gullible to realize that Iago …show more content…
Iago is seemed to have many motives for deceiving Othello. He first reveals to Roderigo that the reason he hates him is that he gave the lieutenant promotion to Michael Cassio instead of him. So one of Iago’s motive is revenge because “the military general who did not promote him, against the captain who, lacking his qualifications, got his place, and against the system that permitted it” ( )However this may not be Iago’s true intentions for disliking the Moor. In a soliloquy, Iago says to the audience “I hate the Moor: And it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets He has done my office: I know not if't be true; But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, Will do as if for surety. He holds me well; The better shall my purpose work on him” (1.3.743-748). This shows to us Iago's true reasons for hating Othello. He hates him because there are rumors he slept with his wife, Emilia. Even though they are only rumors and have not been proven true yet, he says he will act as if it happened and will plan his revenge on him. The plan Iago comes up with is to make Othello think his wife, Desdemona, is cheating on him with Michael Cassio. Iago tells Othello “One may smell in such a will most rank, Foul disproportion, thoughts unnatural. But—pardon me—I do not in position Distinctly speak of her, though I may fear Her will, recoiling to her better judgment, May fall to match you with her country forms, And …show more content…
The reason Iago wants to seek revenge on Cassio is because of jealousy. Iago's motives for killing Cassio “are: first, competition. Cassio got the lieutenancy which Iago believed should have been bestowed on him. Second, he suspects Cassio of having slept with Emilia; in other words jealousy” (Galz.269). So Iago’s plan for revenge is to Cassio removed from his new position by making him look bad. Iago achieves this by making Cassio, who never drinks, drunk and then provoking Roderigo to fight Cassio. By the time Othello comes to see what Cassio has done he then removes him from his new position for being drunk and pulling a sword on someone. The plan Iago had all along is then successful because of his
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