Iago

Brian Monahan

Mr. George

World Lit. Honors

1 December 2010

Iago

            Iago is one of the greatest villains in all of literature due to his ability to literally brainwash Othello and make him truly believe his wife was cheating on him, all for revenge.

            At the beginning of the play, Iago tells Roderigo of his disdain for Othello following Cassio’s promoting over Iago; a disdain that would fuel Iago’s thirst for revenge and spark this tragedy. Iago’s plan begins to take form at the end of Act Three when he decides to use Othello’s good nature and marriage to make it seem like Cassio is cheating with Desdemona. In his soliloquy, Iago states, “After some time, to abuse Othello’s {ear} / That he is too familiar with his wife. / He hath a person and a smooth dispose / To be suspected, framed to make women false. / The Moor is of a free and open nature, That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, / And will tenderly be led by th’ nose / As asses are” (1.3.438-445). His plan involves filling Othello’s mind with images of Desdemona cheating with Cassio, a man who is known for being a ladies’ man. Iago knows that Othello thinks all men are honest, and will use his nature against him: as long as Othello thinks he is honest, Iago can tell Othello anything and he’ll believe Iago. Over the course of the play, this plan comes to fruition and causes the downfall of Othello, making Iago one of the greatest villains in literature.

            Iago is a puppeteer, pulling on the strings of Othello, using him as a puppet to do his dirty work for him. A puppeteer’s job is to create an illusion of reality by controlling a puppet to act as a real object. Iago creates an illusion of trickery and cheating by using Othello’s mind as a base for the puppetry and Othello’s body as the puppet to make the illusion a “reality” to Othello.

            Iago is like the Neighborhood Watch Alliance in Hot Fuzz; Iago controls Othello making the cheating illusion a reality, and the NWA controls their village’s image and people in it, making it look like the village is perfect.