The character of Iago in OthelloOne of the most intriguing characters in the tragic play "Othello", by William Shakespeare, is the "friend" of Othello, Iago. At first glance, Iago appears to have no motive for the destruction he causes. However, despite Iago's unquestionable malevolence, the motivation behind his actions lies more in Iago's quest for personal gain, rather than simply being evil for evil's sake. In order to achieve his personal gain, Iago manipulates Rodrigo, Cassio, and, most importantly, Othello. Iago's main interest is the destruction of Othello. The reason is that Othello chose another man, Cassio, as second in command, preferring him to Iago. This resentment, along with Iago's fabricated accusations of adultery and his blatant racism, causes Iago to despise Othello and, soon after, begin to conspire against him. Instead of simply killing Othello, Iago proceeds to attack him emotionally. Iago begins to manipulate the people around him to hurt Othello and make him believe that his wife, Desdimona, and Cassio are having an affair. The first to fall victim to Iago's manipulation is Rodrigo. Iago knows that Rodrigo has feelings for Desdemona and would do anything to make her his own. Iago tells Rodrigo that the only way to win Desdemona's love is to earn money to buy her gifts. "...put some money in your purse..." (Act 1, scene 3, line 339). However, Iago is content to take the gifts intended for Desdemona and keep them for himself, thus making a substantial profit. “So I always make my fool my purse” (Act 1, scene 3, line 376). Rodrigo eventually begins to question Iago's honesty. Faced with this accusation, Iago simply suggests that killing Cassio will help his cause and the gullible Rodrigo falls for it. “I have no great devotion to this act and yet he has given me a satisfactory reason” (Act 5, scene 1, line 8). In doing so, Iago keeps Rodrigo in the dark and continues to take advantage of him financially. Cassio, like Rodrigo, follows Iago blindly, thinking all the time that Iago is trying to help him, when in fact Iago, motivated by his lust for power, attempts to remove Cassio from his position as lieutenant. Iago does this by getting Cassio drunk and causing him to fight and bother Othello, Othello then demotes Cassio from his rank of second in command, thus securing Iago's position..