In Othello, Iago's personal agenda is
to destroy Othello and anyone and anything associated with him. Iago is one of the most
enigmatic (as in incomprehensible and impenetrable), but nonetheless cunning and
calculating characters, ever created. His ability to charm and apparently almost
hypnotize everyone with whom he has any contact is what creates suspense and disbelief
as he fools one character after the next. Even when there is doubt, he mitigates the
circumstances until even a ridiculous notion becomes
believable.
Iago persuades Roderigo that he will help him
win over Desdemona despite the fact that she is married to Othello and that Brabantio,
Desdemona's father, has previously rejected Roderigo's advances on his daughter as being
without foundation, reminding Roderigo that she is "not for thee"
(I.i.99).
Brabantio learns of his daughter's apparent
betrayal from Roderigo's initial shouts, courtesy of Iago, and Iago quickly steps in to
take control and convince him that Othello, whom Brabantio has welcomed into his home on
many occasions, is nothing more than a "Barbary horse" (I.i.111). It takes quite some
persuasion to convince him that Othello did not bewitch his daughter. Accordingly, even
though Iago has been proven wrong, it is enough to create suspicion in Brabantio that he
even doubts his own daughter's allegiances. He overlooks the fact that his own wife did
a similar thing when she married him and warns Othello that "she has deceived her father
and may thee" (I.iii.293). It is significant that the very next line mentions "honest
Iago" (294).
This comment in line 294 shows that Iago is
taken into Othello's confidence very early on and truly believes in the sincerity of
"honest" Iago even telling Michael Cassio that he is "most honest" (II.iii.7). This
belief together with Iago's "ocular proof" (III.iii.364) will drive the story forward to
its tragic end.
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