Iago and Cassio

Shakespeare develops the character of Cassio in this scene by using extravagant language, showing him to be a gallant gentleman via the way he treats women with great respect even if they are on a same or lower class. On the other hand, Iago is crafted as a man who criticizes his wife incessantly (100-1 when she lets Cassio kisses her) and makes ugly comments about women in general. Shakespeare explicitly describes Iago’s view of women through lines 108-11, in which he believes that women are play-minded creatures who appear to be all nice and quite when out in public, are just silent images, or just “pictures out of doors” but when all they do at home is whining and talking like “bells” and “wild-cats”. By having Cassio serves as a foil to Iago in terms of relationship between men and women, I think Shakespeare has built a background of the society in which the play is set in, enabling the audience to gain a better knowledge of the characteristics of the expected role of women and men – how men are able to treat women, it is their choice and that women, at the time, are considered to have high status and are respected by others. More importantly, this contrasting portrayal of men-women relationship helps to raise dramatic tension as we gain an understanding of Desdemona being an independent girl who could directly speak to men – thus maybe she will have the power to stop Othello’s blindness in being tricked into the Iago’s scheme.