Iago's Behaviour In Othello

In Shakespeare’s play Othello, the antagonist Iago is a creative and brilliant mastermind. The play revolves around Iago’s masterful plan to ruin Othello 's life. He is able to ruin Othello’s life through a ploy to trick Othello that his newlywed wife Desdemona is cheating on him with his lieutenant Cassio. He is able to trick Othello by manipulating his trust and getting him to doubt the sincerity of others. He eventually convinces Othello that Desdemona has committed adultery causing Othello to smother Desdemona. Iago’s passionate and creative plan to ruin Othello originates from his envy towards Othello’s love life and his jealousy towards both Cassio and Othello high positions in the military. Iago is driven to ruin the life of Othello by his envy towards both Othello and Cassio. Early in the play, Iago reveals his jealousy towards Cassio due to the fact that Cassio, not he, got promoted to lieutenant. For Cassio has “never set a squadron in the field,/Nor the division of a battle knows/More than a spinster – unless the bookish …show more content…
Iago’s plan is the most passionate and creative part of the play since it is driven by some of the most powerful human forces--envy and jealousy. “O, beware, my lord of jealousy!/It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/The meat it feeds on. (3.3 195-200) Iago is aware of the dangers of jealousy, for, he is an example of what it can make a man do. His own jealousy is “feeding” on him, harassing him, so much so that it drives him to risk the lives of himself, his wife, and anyone who gets in his way. The passion and creativity of his plan derive from Iago’s jealousy and envy, which manifests in both skillful deception and malicious deceit. After Othello catches a glimpse of Cassio leaving his bedroom Iago uses this as a means to instill suspicions in Othello of an affair between Desdemona and