Iago's Treachery In Othello

The play literally opens to Iago’s treachery in motion, as he informs Roderigo of the elopement of Desdemona and Othello. Knowing that Roderigo is infatuated with Desdemona, he does this in a manner which seems to be out of friendship and concern, thus simultaneously gaining Roderigo’s trust and a willing pawn in his network of schemes. He and Roderigo then proceed to go wake up Brabantio and alert him to the fact that his daughter is with Othello. Already inciting conflict in the first scene, Iago seems to try to make it as incendiary as possible by telling Brabantio: “Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” (1.1.90-91) and “I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making …show more content…
Roderigo believes him and is now sufficiently against Cassio that Iago further persuades him to agree to start a fight with Cassio later that night. As cyclic and serpentine as The Ouroboros, Iago then almost immediately seeks out Cassio amongst the island-wide celebration of the victory against the Turkish fleet and pressures him to come drink with him. Despite Cassio’s protests that he cannot handle alcohol well and has already had enough to drink, he succumbs to Iago’s insistence and ends up getting quite intoxicated. Roderigo is then easily able to start a fight with Cassio and when Montano tries to intervene, Cassio wounds him. Iago tells Roderigo to go cry mutiny, or “sound the alarm” so to speak, alerting Othello and generally calling as much attention as possible to the situation he schemed into being. He then “reluctantly” (“mistakenly”, even, due to his apparent incorrigibly honest nature) tells on Cassio before Othello and the others, causing Cassio to lose his job. After everyone leaves, Iago is left alone with the disgraced and distressed Cassio. He uses this opportunity to suggest that Cassio should try to win back his rank and Othello’s favor through Desdemona, since Cassio is too afraid and ashamed to talk to Othello directly. He argues she is “…so free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a disposition” that his chances will be much better that she can convince Othello to forgive him (2.3.287). Cassio agrees and expresses gratitude toward “honest Iago” (2.3.298). By himself again, Iago once more ponders in satisfaction about how well his complex net of manipulation is going so far and how he is now even using ideas which could actually logically be good for Cassio in such a way that will work against him in the reality of the greater scheme of