Iago as the puppeteer of Othello In act 3, scene 3 of Shakespeare's Othello, Iago works in stages to convince Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, the right-hand man of Othello. The strategy that Iago implements to achieve his goal can be compared to that of a person about to undergo a lethal injection. In this case Iago is the doctor who administers the poison and Othello is the condemned prisoner. However, there is a clear difference. In the case of death by lethal injection, the administration of the dose usually occurs within a few minutes, thus rendering the victim dead. In the case of Othello's "death", Iago administers the poison drop by painful drop, until the old Othello is no more and a new one emerges like a phoenix from the fire: Othello is captured by Iago when the handkerchief is presented as evidence. However, this does not mean that the entire plot unfolds in the way Iago initially conceived it because it certainly does not. But what is clear is that it is Iago who initiates the idea of ​​an "affair" having occurred and who transforms Othello into a puppet of which he is the puppeteer. Iago begins to plant the seed of doubt in Othello's mind when they return. in Othello's quarters and see Cassio leave Desdemona. Iago exclaims: “Ah! I don't like this” (35). When Othello asks him what he said, Iago plays him off and insists that it was nothing. Then Othello wonders if he really saw Cassio leave his wife. Meticulously, Iago defends Cassio by saying that he would not be the type to slip out of Othello's quarters like this. Iago's words begin to raise questions in Othello's mind as Othello makes no connection between how Cassio left Desdemona... mid-paper... for Iago and his loyalty, Othello makes Iago his lieutenant (475) .Iago has a very elaborate strategy when it comes to seducing Othello into believing that his wife is having an affair with his lieutenant. While the end result is positive towards the end of the scene, it is throughout the scene itself that Iago establishes himself as a very intelligent person with a lot of manipulative power up his sleeve. He takes down the royal general and at the same time gains the power and prestige he has wanted for a long time (but is not yet at the level he wants). He figures that since he can never be the general Othello, he can bring Othello down to his level. With Othello's transformation, Iago unquestionably succeeds in achieving this goal. Work cited Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Kenneth Muir. The new penguin Shakespeare. London: Penguin Books, 1996.