I am not what I am This line reveals that he hides his true face He is false by nature not by need His evil comes from within not from reason Jealousy and Hatred Mixed Together Iago s mind is full of envy and anger He is jealous of Cassio s promotion and of Othello s love and fame He feels small beside their greatness When he sees Cassio s polite manners he says that Cassio has a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly His jealousy burns like fire But his actions go beyond jealousy He wants to destroy good people simply because they are better than him His hate is senseless yet powerful Love of Evil and Deceit Iago takes pleasure in his wicked acts He lies and cheats only to taste the joy of evil When he begins his plot he says Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to the world s light These words show his dark joy in planning sin He fools Othello cheats Cassio and uses Roderigo as his toy He says proudly Thus do I ever make my fool my purse This indicates that he derives pleasure from exploiting others for his own selfish purposes Power over Othello s Mind Iago s main success lies in his power to control Othello s mind He makes Othello doubt Desdemona s honesty He tells Othello Look to your wife observe her well with Cassio These simple words plant deep suspicion in Othello s heart His poison of jealousy turns Othello s love into hatred Iago never forces Othello to act He only whispers and lets Othello destroy himself This cunning power makes Iago more evil and more frightening Complete Absence of Regret Iago s most shocking quality is his lack of remorse He never feels sorry for his crimes His lies ultimately lead to the deaths of Desdemona Emilia Roderigo and Othello yet he remains silent His final words are From this time forth I never will speak word This silence shows his cold and heartless nature He neither asks for mercy nor explains his reasons His soul is empty of love and full of darkness His evil has no end and no meaning In termination Iago truly stands for the motive-hunting of motiveless malignity His excuses are weak and false His cruelty is born from envy pride and a love of evil He destroys happiness only for his own pleasure Shakespeare portrays him as the epitome of moral corruption He is not human in heart but devilish in mind His evil is purposeless yet perfectly planned