Who Is The True Villain: Othello Or Iago?

542 Words3 Pages
Who is the true villain: Othello or Iago? Manipulation is the The deaths happened in result of Iago's plotting to claim revenge against Othello and Cassio because of Othello's judgement towards giving Cassio the promotion of a military position, instead of Iago. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is more of a villain than Othello because of his ability to notice weaknesses within people, and use those weaknesses to manipulate them through his lies. , Iago plotting his way through the play, enabled him to identify the weaknesses of the people who he seeked revenge on. It is shown that when Iago anticipates to himself, “If I can fasten but one cup upon him,/with that which he hath drunk tonight already,/he’ll be as full of quarrel and offense as my young mistress’ dog,” (Shakespeare, 2.3.49-52) that he knows of how Cassio becomes drunk way too easily. Another example of when Iago was able to identify someone's weakness was when…show more content…
One of Iago’s first lies that he ever told Othello located in act 3, scene 3, lines 495-497 was, “I know not that; but such a handkerchief-I am sure it was your wife’s-did I today, see Cassio wipe his beard with.” Iago knew that the handkerchief that Othello gave to Desdemona was a key element that represented their love. Iago was smart enough to have Emilia try to steal the handkerchief from Desdemona, while not knowing the reason why she was stealing it in the first place. Iago wanted Emilia to steal the handkerchief so he could lie to Othello about finding the handkerchief in Cassio’s possession. Since the lie was successful, Iago was able to manipulate Othello to believe the scandalous lie

More about Who Is The True Villain: Othello Or Iago?

Open Document