Iago is the puppet master of the play Othello and definitely
is a large contributor towards Othello’s tragic downfall due to Iago’s envy of
Othello’s rank and reputation.
Iago, pervious to Act 3 Sc 3, had planned to pull Cassio
away from his lieutenancy because he felt as though he would be more suited for
the position of Othello’s lieutenant- despite the fact that he dislikes
Othello- and in aim to gain Othello’s trust Iago ends up sabotaging Othello’s
marriage.
The fact that Iago had a plan in the first place makes him a
strategist, however Iago in act 3 sc 3 (so far) performs no asides which are to
inform the audience to of his plan. Iago instead includes glimpses of what his
plan entails in conversations with Othello which carry the element of
spontaneity. Iago didn’t exactly plan in depth what he was going to say to
Othello about Cassio, because Iago wasn’t to know that Cassio would walk away
when Othello approached Desdemona, so his choice of words ‘that he would steal
away so guilty-like’ (40) displays that Iago only had a minute or so to come up
with a remark thus presenting Iago as an opportunist. Othello around 70 lines
later asks ‘When Cassio left my wife. What didst not like?’ (114) proving that
Iago’s unplanned comment did not go to waste, so him being opportunist paid off
in this situation because Othello’s interest is peaked.
Iago seems to be more of a strategist than an opportunist
because in Act 3 Sc 3 he links a lot of his speeches to his plan to bring Casso
down ‘note if your lady strain his entertainment’ (253) however does take the
opportunity to enrich his plan when the time arises eg. incorporating the
napkin into the situation, but I think he is too cunning for his doings to all
be spontaneous.
