Fourth Source : Othello

Source Four : Shakespeare’s Othello

"OTHELLO : O misery!

 IAGO : Poor and content is rich, and rich enough, 

             But riches fineless is as poor as winter

             To him that ever fears he shall be poor.

             Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend

             From jealousy!

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...Iago is a master of deception. His plots are sophisticated and carefully manipulate Othello into believing Desdemona is disloyal. He is an intelligent villain, has intense patience, and has a wonderful understanding of Othello’s behaviour, and what he would do in certain situations. Similar to Shakespeare's Macbeth, Iago uses skillfull manipulation of all those around him to get what he wants. Using this knowledge of how to mold the human mind, he carefully devises a scheme that works all too well in the end. He pretends to be looking out for Othello’s best interests, when in reality, it’s the opposite. However, by the end of the play, when Iago refuses to tell Othello of his destructive motivations, it seems that his character is deceiving the audience as well as Othello. We have watched the play believing that the truth will be revealed to us, and why Iago is manipulating Othello is such a manner, but we never truly find out. So, in this play, it seems that the ultimate deception is not made towards any of the characters, but to us. Which is, I believe, the most clever deception of them all...