Illusions In Othello

In today’s society people are manipulative. In Othello, Shakespeare uses the characters to show humans can be too trusting; believing an illusion instead of reality. Promptly at the beginning of the play, Shakespeare gives evidence of illusions. Iago is a main source for the illusions throughout the play. In Act 1 Scene 1, Iago tells Roderigo “I am not what I am.” (1.1. 67). Iago bluntly comes out and says he’s fake, but the gullible Roderigo thinks Iago will only be fake with Othello. Roderigo puts an abundance of trust within Iago, while Iago has no interest in actually helping him. We learn very early that Iago is two-faced. He is brilliant at making others believe he has good intentions. For example, Othello starts to assume Iago is truthful (2.3. 7). Othello has started to have high praise for Iago, but little does he know Iago is not at all honest or true. …show more content…
He’s placing his pawns. Now more than Roderigo and Othello believe in Iago’s facade. After Cassio lost his position, he went to Iago for assistance in trying to get it back. Following Iago’s advice, Cassio expressed “I never knew a Florentine more kind and honest.” (3.1. 37). Iago is continuing to gain the trust of everyone in order to follow through with his plan. He is also putting out that he has a dislike for people that are not truthful. He tells Othello “Men should be what they seem/ Or those that be not, would they might seem none!” (3.3 131-132). Iago saying this makes it more difficult for Othello to second guess his judgement on situations. Iago has now gained leverage to be able to fully complete his plan of using his deceitful ways to get to the