The Perfections and Flaws of Iago’s Grand Scheme to Manipulate Othello

The often fiendish plans of evil architects work only to certain extents before the truth is eventually exposed. One old yet an excellent example of this kind of plan is found in William Shakespeare’s tragedy of Othello. Iago can manipulate Othello to murder his wife, however, once Iago's scheme is exposed, Othello then commits suicide. Iago can take down Othello because he is very clever with his use of language, has unique philosophies that enable him to act in his interest, and has a lot of luck on his side, however, it doesn’t always come by when Iago needs it most. Despite his success in ultimately bringing Othello down, he was not able to prevent the other characters from exposing his plan at the end, demonstrating how even the most diabolical and secretive plans can still be exposed by anyone at any point in time.

Language is a powerful and influential communication tool; it can be used to communicate the truth or to deceive people and advance evil objectives for oneself. Iago’s clever use of language enables him to manipulate the other characters in the play to advance his scheme. He uses it as an effective deception and persuasion tool; he uses it to flatter Othello; he also downplays other's concerns to manipulate them to do what Iago secretly wants them to do. One example of Iago downplaying other’s concerns is when he gets Cassio to drink another cup of wine at a party. He does this by saying: “O, they are our friends! But one cup; I’ll drink for you” and “What, man! ‘Tis a night of revels. The gallants desire it”. By trying to convey a message that it is not a big deal to Cassio, Iago can allay the concerns presented by Cassio not being able to do his job properly as he reveals that he has a low alcohol tolerance. Iago’s soliloquy that follows right after he convinces Cassio to drink another cup of wine foreshadows the ugly fight and firing of Cassio that comes shortly after. In the soliloquy, Iago states: “If I can but fasten one cup upon him with that which he hath drunk tonight already, he’ll be full of quarrel and offence as my young mistress’ dog”. The foreshadowing comes from when he says that Cassio will have the urge to fight if he drinks another cup of wine. Another example of Iago’s clever use of language is when he plants doubt into Othello about his possibly unfaithful wife. Othello asks Iago to give proof of Desdemona’s disloyalty and Iago responds by explaining: “In sleep I heard him say ‘Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our loves...would gripe and wring my hand, cry ‘O sweet creature!’ then kiss me hard...cried ‘Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor!’”. Iago explains to Othello how Cassio is dreaming about Desdemona and that he has been acting erratically while in bed around Iago, causing his sleeplessness. When explaining it, Iago tries to frame the dream as if Cassio had slept with Desdemona; Othello accepts it as the 'living proof' of his wife's unfaithfulness. Iago’s clever use of language to manipulate is a major reason why he is successful in taking Othello down. Although Iago can manipulate Othello, his manipulation bites him back at the end through the exposure of the real purpose of Iago’s plan.

Everyone has certain philosophical beliefs that define who they are. Iago has a personally unusual philosophy that reveals his reckless, evil personality to achieve his greater objectives. Iago is a very egocentric and immoral person, caring only for what benefits him and how to attain them at any cost. When Iago gets angry at Roderigo’s threat to drown himself for Desdemona, Iago uses an analogy and explains: “Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners. So that if we plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop...why the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills”. Iago is explaining using the analogy that the body is a garden that Iago himself controls what plants to grow, or in a real-life context, he is the master decision-maker of himself. This passage demonstrates Iago’s excellence in self-control as well as manipulation, which he uses effectively to cast doubt on Othello about his possibly unfaithful wife. Iago also believes in rational and logical thinking as a very important skill to have. In the continuation of his garden soliloquy, he states: “If the balance of our lives...blood and baseness...conduct us to most preposterous conclusions”. In this part of his soliloquy, he explains how the urges of our body would take over if there is no rational thought. Iago himself acts deceivingly calm and composed especially when delivering the “living proof” that Othello urgently desires, thus being ironically labelled “honest Iago” by Othello. Iago’s belief in rational thinking, logic, and reasoning enhances the deceiving characteristic of himself, helping to execute his scheme much more smoothly. Nevertheless, the real purpose of Iago’s plan is still exposed anyway in the end despite his manipulation efforts through most of the play.

Luck is a phenomenon that comes by chance; some are positively affected by it and some are negatively affected by it. Iago’s luck plays a big factor in advancing the scheme, however, he isn’t able to control all extenuating circumstances as evidenced at the end of the play. Iago’s wife, Emilia, reveals Iago’s true personality by telling Othello that “If he says so, may his pernicious soul rot half a grain a day! He lies to the heart!”. This revelation means that Emilia knows that Iago has lied to and deceived Othello the entire time without Othello himself knowing it. Once Iago admits to lying to Othello, Emilia gets very angry because of the murders that had happened from Iago’s decision to tell that lie to Othello. After, Iago tries to cover up the whole situation by telling his wife to go home immediately but, Emilia refuses to stop talking and continues to reveal more information about the grand scheme to take Othello down. More pieces of the grand scheme are revealed through letters found in Roderigo’s pocket. Lodovico pulls out the papers and reads: “The death of Cassio, to be undertook by Roderigo!” and “Roderigo meant to have sent this damned villain, but that, belike, Iago in the interim cam in and satisfied him”. Within these letters, it reveals to the other characters kept in the dark about how the murders were supposed to happen within Iago’s scheme. The second letter specifically reveals that Roderigo had wanted to complain about Iago’s evil scheme but then was killed by Iago to prevent Roderigo from lodging the complaints. This blatantly exposes the fact of how Iago is responsible for the string of murders that have occurred. Both of these examples demonstrate how Iago is not able to control most extenuating circumstances that may arise, despite his efforts to try to minimize the influence of them. Iago’s volatile plan depends very heavily on luck; it is on his side until the end of the play, in which he is not able to control external forces that dissect his plan and arrest him. Ultimately, Iago is not able to control his fate at the end of the play; external forces expose his plan before he could get away with it.

Iago’s masterfully crafted scheme is on a scale that no one would have been able to comprehend back in his period. He can bring down Othello because of his clever use of language, unique and peculiar beliefs, however, uncontrollable external forces decide the fate of Iago. Iago uses language as an effective tool of persuasion and manipulation; this is evidenced by convincing Cassio to drink as well as Othello to kill his wife. Iago is a very egocentric, immoral person who only cares about reaping benefits for himself at any cost as evidenced through his soliloquies expressing his world views. Luck is one big factor that lets Iago accomplish his ultimate objective of taking down Othello, however, his plan gets exposed once Emilia finds out about Desdemona's death as well as when Lodovico reads letters written by Roderigo complaining about Iago’s plan. Absolute control over everything is practically impossible for humanity. If that were to happen, everything we do would be dictated by the object that controls everything. In the case of Iago’s plan, he is not able to control every aspect of his deceivingly destructive scheme, thus it means that humans are never able to control themselves one hundred percent of the time.