While reading the play, Othello, I was intrigued by the character of Iago, and his powers of deception and his selfish demeanor. In every dilemma that he seemed to get himself caught up with, it would always be because of his own selfish ways. In the first scene of the play, Iago makes his frustration ubiquitous to Roderigo as well as the reader, since Othello appointed Cassio as the new lieutenant and not Iago. So, throughout the play, Iago reveal his splenetic persona towards anyone that gets in the way of what he wants.
What frustrates Iago the most, is the fact that he knows that he is more qualified to be Othello's lieutenant than Cassio is. But, in the end Othello is too complacent with Iago being his "ancient" that he offers Cassio the position instead. The relationship between Othello and Iago gets further destroyed when Iago suspects that Othello slept with his wife, Emilia. The reader is left with a question in their mind...is Iago upset because Othello betrayed him, or because he is the one that is in love with Othello (which is such an incongruous assumption) ?! So, in order to make things more pernicious, Iago decides to conspire a dreadful rumor that Desdemona has been sleeping with Cassio. This is a stroke of brilliance because now he will be able to obliterate Cassio's reputation, and ruin the sacred relationship between the newlyweds.
Overall, Iago is a master of scheming and lying through the entire play. In the beginning of the play, he states, "I am not what I am" (Shakespeare). This helps the reader to realize that he cannot be trusted and is a reticent person that rarely reveals his true thoughts. His only goal during the play is to enervate anyone that will come between him and his plans to bring down anyone that is a threat to him.
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