In What Ways Does Iago Manipulate Others

In what ways does Iago manipulate others in the early scenes? Does he even manipulate the audience?

Iago, is the machiavell of the play 'Othello', described as one of Shakespeare's most sinister characters. He is the real villain who in this story gets his revenge, using manipulation slowly climbing up the stairs of hierarchy to get to his general, who he hates. And the reason for that is not only not getting the position that he wanted but also his belief introduced by some rumour that Othello, the general, has slept with his wife, as he says in Act 2, scene 1 when he is on his own “For I do suspect the lusty moor hath leaped into my seat”. The fact that a rumour is enough for him to start planning out revenge emphasizes his easy to provoke, craving evil nature. Also the fact he carelessly calls his general “lusty” simply from suspicion just moments after he left highlights his machiavellian, duplicitous personality.
Now in order to get his revenge he wants to get the Moor to go mad, however it cannot look like he could in any way be responsible for the events happening, which is where the idea of manipulation comes in; Iago uses the other characters to subconsciously help him with his plan by picking out their weaknesses and giving them what seems to be a solution, however it is really just a step towards the revenge. The first time he does that is when he and Roderigo wake Brabantio up, the father of Desdemona, who secretly married the General. Now because Roderigo is in love with Desdemona, he believes that if Brabantio finds out about this marriage he will end it, meaning that Roderigo gets Desdemona. However seconds before he does this Iago informs us that he does not care for love - “not I for love and duty”, meaning that there is another purpose in the idea of telling Brabantio about his daughter. And he proves that by finishing with “I am not what I am”. In this quote he suggests that he is not what he seems to be, therefore even though this looks like friendly helping out with his friend's love problems, it is something different. The short sentence used in here emphasizes the matter of fact and Iago's confidence about his plan. Also the repetition of the pronoun “I” highlights that there two personalities hiding behind his face. This then links back to the idea of manipulation, as he gets Roderigo to do something for him, while thinking he's doing it for his own profit.
The next person to fall for Iago is Brabantio. Once they wake him up Roderigo isn't quite able to explain the situation to the angry Brabantio, therefore Iago steps in with another one of his clever speeches. He starts off by saying “Sir, you are one of those that will not serve God if the devil bid you”, which is something very brave to say as this suggests that Brabantio would stop serving God if only the devil paid him, meaning that Brabantio is greedy. Saying something like this will then shock Brabantio, finally giving Iago time to explain. Also he uses the confident “will” instead of “would” and this confidence creates an impression of Iago being powerful, then forcing Brabantio to listen. He then begins to manipulate Brabantio by making him associate Othello with very negative thoughts. He says “You'll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse”. In this quote the use of animal imagery makes Desdemona's and Othello's relationship seem unnatural. This would then make it much harder for Brabantio to accept the marriage, meaning that he could claim to have been robbed, as in the Jacobean period women were seen as their father's possession until they got married to someone their father approved of. If Brabantio did not approve, his daughter has been stolen from him, meaning that he will want to get her back and through that take her away from Othello, which will bring Iago his revenge. This links back to the manipulation, as through one sentence Iago planted his idea of Othello being an evil person in Brabantio's mind, through that forcing him to do something, again for Iago's profit.
Moreover another character who got into Iago's trap was Cassio, after he got fired by Othello for being a drunkard. Iago uses the moment when they are left on their own and suggests to Cassio to make friends with Desdemona, by saying “Importune her help to put you in your place again”. In this quote Iago commands him to do what he tells instead of poliely using „should”. This creates a sense of pressure again with confidence and power helping persuade Cassio to do whatever he tells him. Also the repeated pronoun „you” or „your” helps set the focus on Cassio, as Iago is directly addressing him. This then highlits the importance of Cassio's further decicions, and for that moment Iago's suggestion seems to be the only positive one. This means that Cassio will follow it, which links back to manipulation, where Iago will get him closer to Desdemona – he will think that he is getting his job back, where in reality he's just helping Iago break up Othello's relationship.
And finally we as an audience could also possibly fall for Iago's tricks. He charms the audience, when in Act 2, Scene 3 a few of the characters are gathered celebrating. Iago takes the role of the party entertainer throgh a few details, for example the fact that from line 71 he switches to prose instead of verse. This way he seems less formal, letting the audience relax from the tension of his evil plans. Also the informality makes us feel like we know him more, as we can relate to him more, which automatically will make the audience like his character. He also sings a few songs with entertaining rhymes but also mentions English being the best drinkers, as he says „Your Dane, your German and your swag-bellied Hollander - drink, ho! - are nothing to your English!”. In this quote he compliments the audience, which in the Jacobean time would mostly consist of English. And a compliment of course creates a positive attitude towards this character, making us like his personality more, which could lead to more manipulative actions.