on; of Othello Iago says "He holds me well, the better shall my purpose work on him." [Act I, Scene III, Line 366] Iago is smart. He is an excellent judge of people and their characters. He knows Roderigo is in love with Desdemona and would do anything to have her as his own. Iago says about Roderigo, "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse." [Act I, Scene III, Line 359] By playing on Roderigos hopes, Iago is able to swindle money and jewels from him, thus making himself a profit, while using Roderigo to forward his other goals. He observes of Othello "The Moor is of a free and open nature that thinks men honest that but seem to be so" [Act I, Scene III, Line 375] and "is of a constant, loving, noble nature." [Act II, Scene II, Line 265] Iago is cunning and crafty and able to improvise when something unexpected occurs. Iagos ideas are born when he spies Cassio take Desdemona's hand before the arrival of Othello; "With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio." [Act II, Scene I, Line 164] When talking with Cassio about Bianca (Othello thinking the subject is Desdemona) Bianca comes in with the famous handkerchief. Though not part of his immediate plot, Iago uses this appearance to his full advantage. To Othello Iago taunts "And to see how he prizes the foolish woman your wife? She gave it him, and he hath given it his whore." [Act IV, Scene I, Line 63] Iago poisons people's thoughts, creating ideas in their heads without implicating himself. "And what's he then that says I play the villain, when this advice is free I give, and honest," [Act II, Scene III, Line 297] says Iago, the master of deception. Hes proud of his deceit; "Work on, my medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught, and many worthy and chaste dames even thus, all guiltless, meet reproach." [Act IV, Scene I, Line 42] As planned, people rarely stop to consider the possibility that Iago could be deceiving or manipulating them; after all,...
