Examples Of Manipulation In Othello

Othello harbors doubts about Iago and Desdemona, but he lets himself be convinced by circumstantial evidence of Desdemona’s false actions. In a conversation with Iago about his cuckolding he says, “I think my wife be honest, and think she is not; / I think that thou art just, and think thou art not” (3.3.384-385). He knows that he should be more distrustful of appearances and Iago, but he nevertheless let’s himself be convinced of her guilt. Othello is torn between his conflicting beliefs, but puts his trust into the wrong person when he confides with Iago. Had he investigated further it would have been possible that he discovered the truth, but his suspicions of Cassio, and Desdemona alienated him from his lieutenant a wife and his anger prevented him from confronting them in a reasonable manner. Othello is controlled by his emotions, and the faith which he puts into others was easy to take advantage of by someone as cunning as Iago. A hero, who’s flaws, not all bad in principal, lead to his self-destruction.

but he also manipulates Othello into thinking that he is a trustworthy friend who will listen to all his problems. Iago defects Othello’s mind with lies and backs himself up by stating that he will never lie to someone he respects. Iago states that he does not have the right to speak against another because he does not want to in front of

Othello’s origins and race is one of his many insecurities, that Iago is able to exploit. For example, Othello says: “Her

“One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, a fellow almost damned in a fair wife, That never set a squadron in the field” (1.1.21-23). Iago vents his frustrations to Roderigo and talks about how Cassio is inexperienced and he is more qualified to be lieutenant. To get his revenge, Iago tricks Cassio into getting drunk. While he’s intoxicated, Cassio gets into a drunken fight and stabs Montano, the governor of Cypress. This results in Cassio being relieved of his position as lieutenant.

Iago then got his accomplice, Roderigo, to fight Cassio. In this case Iago is actually manipulating Othello by getting Cassio drunk. Iago's plan is to use Desdemona to ruin Othello and he needs Cassio to achieve his evil goals. Once Othello found out about this fight, he fired Cassio and appointed Iago as his lieutenant. The act of pushing Cassio to become intoxicated is cruel because Cassio had told him multiple times that he was not good with alcohol.

Undoubtedly, Othello comes to believe in these lies and sees them as being true. As a gesture of gratitude, he promotes Iago to his desired position as lieutenant. Ironically, Othello accepts Iago’s lies.

Iago manipulates every fault in every character to give the outcome he wants. Cassio also cares a lot about his reputation. As soon he has been fired, the first thing that Cassio is worried about is his own reputation. Iago takes advantage of Cassio’s desperation to feed him the advice which he can use to

“Iago's deception is potent because of his patience, his cleverness, and what seems to be his intrinsic love of elegant manipulation” (Shmoop). Throughout the story Iago manipulates the characters of Othello as if they were dolls in a little girl’s game of make-believe. He does this, not by persuading each character to do is evil biding, but by playing off of their fears and personal insecurities with eachother. His manipulating ranges from his best friend, Othello, to his own wife, Emilia. The way Iago plays off of everyone’s flaws, he doesn’t have to work very hard, because his antics either seem like a reasonable solution to the characters’ problem or takes advantage of them without them even realizing it.

William Shakespeare used various tactics of manipulation in his works such as in Julius Caesar and Othello. In Julius Caesar, one of the ways it's used is when Decius influences Caesar enough that his wife’s dreams have been “all amiss interpreted”, which eventually convinces Caesar to attend the senate where he’s later murdered (Julius Caesar 1.1.83; Albarran) Jealousy in the play Othello is a major driving force for the plot, but the use of manipulation is arguably the biggest theme that sets up the plot between all of the characters in the play. Manipulation and trust play a huge role especially in Iago as the trust between him and other characters trust forms a manipulative reputation that he builds. Shakespeare may have titled this play of a certain character, but this can be argued that this is Othello’s story but Iago’s play and that he actually the most important protagonist in the play. In the end, the story will ultimately showcases Othello’s downfall, but the main plots and themes are started and used to focus on Iago’s actions.

Iago gets into both Othello and Cassio’s heads by telling them that he hates the other and spreading rumors that trigger them. He tells Othello that he notices how much Cassio has been talking to Desdemona and he plants ideas in Othello’s mind. “O, that's an honest fellow. Do not doubt, Cassio, But I will have my lord and you again As friendly as you were.” said Desdemona. Cassio was fired by Othello, and he is trying to get Desdemona to talk to Othello about giving him his job back. Iago knows what Cassio’s intentions are, yet he tells Othello how suspicious it is that when they talk and Othello comes near them, Cassio leaves. Othello then wants proof of Iago’s suspicions so Iago makes drunk Cassio laugh, which to Othello seems that Cassio slept with Desdemona. Iago uses the idea of sex and adultery to turn Othello against Cassio and Desdemona leading to his tragic

“The basic tool for manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the of words you can control the people who must use the words. ”(Philip K. Dick) In Othello, By William Shakespeare,Iago is secretly jealous and has resentment towards Othello mostly because he made Cassio his lieutenant despite Iago’s expectations of this position. Iago was also suspects that Othello had an affair with his wife Emilia.

Cassio falls right into Iago’s plans by drinking and becoming intoxicated under Iago’s pressure. After causing a fight, Othello was left with no choice but to demote him. Although Cassio is a good man at heart, his weakness is that of his pride. When he lost his reputation, he thinks of it as if he has “lost the immortal part of myself (Cassio), and what remains bestial…” (II, iii, 245-249). Cassio depends too much on his reputation, literally giving Iago an opportunity to take advantage of him, Cassio would do anything to get his status back, and “honest Iago” (II, iii, 161), comes to give Cassio advice and hope by telling him to confide in Desdemona to help him gain his reputation back. It may seem like legitimate advice, Iago plans to use this in his scheme to bring him down. Iago appeals to Cassio’s trusting nature, “in sincerity of love and honest kindness.” (II, iii, 307) It is clear that Iago is deliberately misleading Cassio so that he can use Cassio’s misguided behaviour to insinuate that he desires Desdemona. In a way, Iago can be seen as the devil in disguise, preying on Cassio’s trusting nature, just like Roderigo’s gullible and innocent nature to turn him into a pawn. Iago successfully do the same to the unwitting and trusting Cassio. Cassio, who sees Iago in good heart, would

Despite Othello being a skilled general with well reputation, Iago points out his major flaws: Othello is not attractive nor is he young enough for his wife Desdemona. Most importantly, Iago emphasizes how Othello is not Venetian for he was born in Africa. When Iago misleads Othello into thinking that Desdemona had cheated on him, this causes Othello to doubt not just Desdemona, but himself as well. “Her name, that was as fresh As Dian’s visage, is now begrimed and black As mine own face” (III,iii). Othello points out his racial flaw of being an outsider; he has associated his African race with being dirty along with Desdemona’s actions.

By doing so he appears sincere and reliable to the other characters, but what they do not see is how deceiving he really is. Iago continually lies to Othello about Desdemona having an affair with Cassio. He purposely used Cassio to show Othello how noble he is by making Cassio look like he is the bad guy. It is easy for Iago to lie to Othello because Othello sees him as a close and honest friend who would never lie to him. One example where Iago lies to Othello is when he says, “Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; / Wear your eyes thus, not jealous nor secure” (3.3.228-229).

Othello first begins to distrust Desdemona when Iago points out that, as he and Othello approached Desdemona and Cassio, Cassio quickly departed.” (Dominic, 330). Othello does not seem to think Iago is up to something (Shakespeare,