2008 Exam. To what extent is manipulation central to the play as a whole?

In the tragedy Othello written by William Shakespeare, manipulation is central to the play through the character Iago. Iago as a main character uses manipulation to convince to the characters that he is a good friend, finds people at their weakest points so they are easy to manipulate, and makes small hints to characters, so they will not believe that they are being manipulated. This all goes well for Iago, until he needs to manipulate his wife, but his lack of respect towards women succumbs to his manipulation, leading to his downfall.

Iago uses manipulation to convince characters that he is good. At the beginning of the play, the audience already knows that the characters believe Iago to be of an “honest” nature. The characters do not know that he is manipulative which gives the audience some insight into how he will influence the people around him. Because the other characters do not know he is really evil, they are easily led by what Iago tells them. For instance, when Roderigo finds out that Desdemona and Othello are married, Iago tells him “it cannot be that Desdemona should long continue her love to the moor” trying to convince him that he still has a chance with Desdemona. The audience notices that Iago is deceiving Roderigo through Iago’s soliloquy, when he mentions that he “ever make fool my purse.” The audience can see the dramatic irony between Roderigo and Iago because Iago is not going to help out Roderigo, but just use him for money. This is central to the play as it shows the early manipulation that Iago is capable of by deceiving the other characters into thinking that he is a good person while he manipulates the people around him.

Iago manipulates the characters by catching them alone and when they are at their weakest point. An example of this is when Iago meets up with Cassio after he has been demoted from second in command. When Iago finds him alone he manipulates Cassio by encouraging him to ask Desdemona to talk to Othello for him as the “generals wife is now the general.” This metaphor tells the audience that because of the strong relationship that Othello and Desdemona have, Desdemona has enough influence on Othello to convince him to get Cassio back. Iago, who is aware of this, pretends to care about Cassio by suggesting him to talk to Desdemona. Iago knows that Othello will not like Desdemona asking on behalf of Cassio, and “she shall undo her credit with the moor.” In his soliloquy, the audience can see a domino effect of Iago’s manipulation now indirectly affecting the other characters. Because Iago caught Cassio at a low point in his life, it is easier to convince him to talk to Desdemona, whereas if he wasn’t in this state he might have thought his decision through. How clever Iago is in choosing when to manipulate others becomes evident to the audience during the play and they can see how the rest of the play would become worse.

Iago guarantees Othello is convinced of Desdemona cheating on him, by making small suggestions towards this idea. He does this by pretending that Cassio is his “worthy friend,” making it seem as though the friendship between Othello and Iago are stronger. Iago hints Othello to “look to your wife, observe her well with Cassio” but not actually saying the bold statement. Because of his subtle hints, Othello begins to convince himself and Iago no longer needs to do the convincing, for instance he begins by questioning “how nature erring from itself” but then towards the end of the play Othello is indisputable to whether Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio or not. This is shown when he has already decided “I will kill thee” before he even talks to her, and when he does he decides “being done, there is no pause” and kills her anyway. Othello was an entire victim of Iago’s manipulation because Desdemona did not actually cheat on him, and it was all in his head and from Iago. This shows how central manipulation is to this play as is demonstrates the effects that it can have on people as at the beginning of the play, Othello and Desdemona had to convince everyone that they were deeply in love, and now it is all undone, and they both died.

The downfall of Iago was his lack of manipulation towards his own wife as he treats her with lack of emotion and respect, making him not regret any of his actions. Iago’s disrespect towards his “foolish wife,” Emelia is shown when she gives Iago Desdemona’s handkerchief. Iago snatches the handkerchief off Emelia and tells her to “go, leave me,” this shows the impatience he has towards his wife but also worries the audience because he does not act like this to anyone else but her. The downfall of Iago was caused by this lack of respect towards Emelia, because when Othello killed Desdemona, Emelia recalled the handkerchief that she gave to Iago and told Othello that “he begg’d of me to steal it.” Because Iago had not treated her right, she had no excuse not to tell him. Iago obviously regretted not treating the “villainous whore” with respect by acting in desperation and killing her, but unfortunately Emelia had already let slip his whole plan, causing Iago’s downfall. This is central to the play as it shows how manipulation cannot last, and that we should treat others with respect and be truthful. Iago trying to manipulate his whole life so he could become second in command did not work out, and it tells the audience that we should lead honest lives and not deceive others around us.

Overall, manipulation is central to the play as it shows the effects of how constant manipulation can indirectly and directly effect a lot of characters. This manipulation is central to the character Iago, as he puts on a fake persona, catches characters at their weakest point and subtly hints ideas so they do not think he is manipulating them. This manipulation resulted in the death of Cassio, Desdemona, Emelia, and Othello. Iago’s downfall in his manipulation was from his lack of respect towards women, which led to his plan being discovered.