Michael Cassio from Othello

Michael Cassio from Othello
Michael Cassio is Othello’s lieutenant and is trusted by Othello for his safety. More than a lieutenant, Othello regarded him as his friend. Cassio was the person who approved of Othello and Desdemona’s marriage when no one supported their love. He was the only person trusted by Othello to convey his messages to Desdemona and vice versa. Moreover, he was a faithful, reliable and capable lieutenant. Michael Cassio was the hinge on which the play turns, because he falls prey to Iago’s jealousy, is manipulated from a protagonist to an antagonist and planted as a seed of skepticism in Othello’s love life resulting in pain, sorrow and death in Othello’s life. But ultimately survives.
Cassio is Othello’s lieutenant, second-in-command. Cassio is highly educated but young and inexperienced in battle. Michael Cassio is an important person, in the whole situation. He is linked directly to most of the characters in the story. He is trusted by Othello for his faithfulness and equally trusted by Othello’s better half, Desdemona, as well. Cassio is truly a sincere and innocent man. Cassio is a little too much of a lady 's man as shown by his flirtatious charisma. Cassio is the kind of guy who likes to put women in one of two categories – virgin or whore. When he talks about Desdemona, we can tell that he sees her as a kind of secular Virgin Mary. Here is what he says when Desdemona arrives in Cyprus:
O behold […] You men of Cyprus, let her have your knees,
Hail to thee lady! And the grace of heaven,
Before, behind thee, and on every hand,
Enwheel thee round. (Shakespeare, William: Act2, Scene1.Page8)

Cassio worships Desdemona, but he has a tendency to mock his girlfriend, Bianca, who sadly, is pretty smitten with Cassio. As Iago points out, "when Cassio hears of Bianca, he cannot refrain from the excess of laughter.”
"Now I’ll ask Cassio about Bianca, a prostitute who sells her body for food and clothes.
She’s crazy about Cassio.
That’s the whore’s curse, to seduce many men, but to be seduced by one.
Whenever he talks about her he can’t stop laughing (4.1.19).

This shows he had not much experience with the women in his life.
Cassio is well educated whereas, Iago is a military veteran from Venice, who does his best at trying to manipulate Cassio. Iago is the villain of the play. Although he is obsessive, relentless, bold and ingenious in his efforts to manipulate and deceive others. Iago’s motivations are notoriously murky. At various points in the play, he claims to be motivated by different things, such as the rumors that Othello slept with his wife, Emilia; and the suspicion that Cassio slept with his wife too. Finally, Iago resented the fact that Othello passed him over for a promotion in favor of Michael Cassio. Iago gives the impression that he is tossing out plausible motivations as he thinks of them, and the final straw was pulled by promoting Cassio over Iago that really drives him to villainy. Finally, he decides to bring down the great Othello. He tried fulfilling his revenge by pulling in Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, by telling him about Othello and Desdemona, but ultimately failed. Iago, realizing the fact that he can use Cassio, who is the perfect dupe for him. He would remove Cassio from his way, punish Desdemona and finally bring down Othello. Iago clearly knows Cassio is not an experienced lieutenant. According to Iago, Cassio is "a great arithmetician, one that never set a squadron in the field" (1.1.1). Cassio knows battle only from books, unlike Iago who understood tactics and use them against Cassio. When Iago tries to get Cassio to have a drink in celebration of the Turks ' defeat and Othello 's marriage, Cassio says, "I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking" (2.3.3). After knowing Cassio’s low capacity for alcohol, Iago gets him drunk, and that finally results in a fight, planned by Iago, between Cassio and Montano that was initiated by Rodrigo. This resulted in Cassio’s demotion. Iago knows Cassio is apparently a handsome man because the ladies are attracted to him. He also knows about his other weaknesses, which he later manipulated.
Iago has total control over Cassio for the duration of the play. When Othello strips Cassio of his title, he gained his greatest desire, to regain that reputation. He plays right into the hands of Iago, who in turn sets him up so his story can fit. Iago suggests Cassio to approach Desdemona as she is the only person who can afford to get him his title back. Desdemona is Othello 's wife, who admires Cassio, and Cassio also thinks she is a lovely, beautiful woman. She thinks he is a respectable fine young man, and makes it easy for Iago to frame the two of them as lovers even though this is untrue. By doing so, Iago killed two birds with one stone. He had already planned his next move in the game of jealousy and secondly gained Cassio’s confidence.
On the other hand, Iago convinces Othello that Cassio and his wife had an affair. And then initiates talks about jealousy, as a green eyed monster
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. . . . . (3. 3. 191-193)

The more Othello sees Cassio and Desdemona together; the more his doubts grew stronger under Iago’s influence. A couple of times, Desdemona tried talking about Cassio and his situation, but was again taken in the wrong direction under Iago’s influence. Othello is taken aback, and he demands evidence from Iago about his accusations. This is the situation where he plants the evidence. He manipulates Emilia, Desdemona 's lady-in-waiting, into taking from Desdemona a handkerchief that Othello had given her; he then tells Othello that he had seen it in Cassio 's possession. Once Othello flies into a jealous rage, Iago tells him to hide while he (Iago) talks to Cassio. Iago then leads Othello to believe that a bawdy conversation about Cassio 's mistress, Bianca, is in fact about Desdemona. Mad with jealousy, Othello takes a swearing oath with Iago that he would kill Desdemona and Iago would kill Cassio for him. Finally, Iago the schemer and manipulator, as he is often referred to as "honest Iago", displaying his skill at deceiving other characters so that not only do they not suspect him, but they count on him as the person most likely to be truthful.

Iago is most honest.
Michael, good night.
Tomorrow with your earliest
Let me have speech with you.—(2.3.2)

This is how Iago changes Cassio’s image in Othello’s eyes, portraying him as an evil person who back stabbed Othello and took his love, life and everything away from him, that was in the form of his wife Desdemona. Finally, before Othello strangled his wife, he had the thoughts shooting across his mind, which clearly shows that Iago had poisoned his mind completely by sowing the seed of skepticism. Othello strangles his wife to death, thinking that she should not betray any more men in the name of love, having no idea that he will regret it soon.
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,
It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore (5.2.1)

As Emilia discovers that Othello murdered Desdemona and Othello, in his justification, claims that she had betrayed him. Emilia was taken aback and revealed in the truth about Iago and how he manipulated the truth, as his treachery knew no bounds, and how he misused the handkerchief and planted it as evidence. With the revealing of the truth “honest Iago” manipulated Cassio that resulted in the lose of three lives, just to quench his thirst for jealousy. He was placed under arrest and in his justification he spoke nothing and said he would not say anything more in his justification, not even a single word. “Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. From this time forth I never will speak word” (5.2.17).
During the whole play Michael Cassio was the hinge on which the play turns for a simple reason, the way a small hinge in the door works, regardless of whether it is a palace gate or just a simple door to a house. It is a small hinge that all it takes to move the door or gate to pass through it and reach your destiny. In the same way, the nimble carpenter, Iago, who understood the situation in order to gain his destiny that was revenge on Othello, he had to build a door to his success that could only be held by a strong hinge that was Michael Cassio.
Shakespeare conveys a very strong message through Michael Cassio, though he was in experienced in a battle field, had not much knowledge about his surroundings, but was a sincere, decent man with a simple nature who fell prey to another person’s jealousy. Whereas Iago was more aware of his surroundings, and had more practical knowledge then Michael Cassio but had selfish intensions. Shakespeare even mentions that no person is perfect. Every person has some or the other imperfections or drawbacks due to which Cassio trusted Iago and fell prey to his jealousy. But the most important message conveyed by Shakespeare is that no matter what ever happens, one can twist the truth and manipulate it. Maybe one has to pay the price, in this case Desdemona and Emilia had to pay by giving up their lives. Ultimately the truth will stand out to be victorious as it had happen in Michael Cassio’s case. He got back his lost title and regained everybody’s respect.

Bibliography:
Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York: Washington Square, Aug 2004. Press.

Bibliography: Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York: Washington Square, Aug 2004. Press.