Manipulation

Othello
William Shakespeare

At the end of Act 2, Iago manipulates several people to make them think differently than what is actually happening. He starts off by manipulating Cassio. Cassio is not a very good drinker, so he tries to restrain himself from partaking in the party after they won the war. However, Iago persuades him to drink with "their friends" in celebration. He then manipulates Montano into believing Cassio has a drinking problem. Montano asks, "But is he often thus?" Iago responds, "'Tis evermore the prologue to his sleep." (II.iii.109-110) Therefore, basically Iago told Montano that Cassio gets drunk every night, so Montano becomes concerned for Cassio, which leads to Montano inadvertently triggering the fight. After this Iago manipulates Othello into believing that he actually cares about Michael Cassio and does not want to rat him out. All of these manipulations lend themselves to the dramatic irony. The reader knows that all of these characters are being manipulated and that all of them believe Iago is on there side, but he's not. As readers, you wonder how they could ALL fall for Iago's tricks.