Act 5 Scene 1

At the beginning of Act 5 scene 1, Iago and Roderigo plan to murder Cassio, this almost mirrors Act 1 scene 1; the point in the play in which Iago first manipulates Roderigo into helping him take down Othello. Act 5 scene 1 also mirrors Act 1 scene 1 because the scene is set in the dark evening, Iago will fight with Roderigo and Cassio, attempting the murder them both, and in the opening scene Brabantio’s men try to fight Othello over Desdemona. Iago’s opportunist nature is portrayed in this scene because he takes advantage of this poorly lit scene to strike and kill his pawns.

In this scene, Iago states “I’ll be at thy elbow” this is ironic as in the time in which ‘Othello’ is set, people would say that the devil is at your elbow; Iago is the devilish character in the play and he almost presents himself to be the devil.

The fact that Roderigo doesn’t die no matter how many attempts Iago has, presents the inevitability that Iago will eventually be unmasked and his plan will surface; this is the start of Iago’s downfall. After Iago’s failed second attempt to murder Roderigo, Roderigo will know that his theory of Iago’s duplicitous nature is correct and that all the events leading to and Desdemona’s murder were Iago’s fault.

As Bianca turns up out of the blue straight into the scene where two attempted murders have taken place, Iago is quick to blame her for the occurrences. As Bianca admits “he supped at my house” Iago can make up the story that the two men were fighting over Bianca (as although she wasn’t, she was sleeping with both men), therefore she is a prime target for Iago.