At the beginning of 3.3, Othello is completely in love with Desdemona. By the end of that scene, 480 lines later, Othello is ready to murder her for having an affair with Cassio. How have we gone from the first position to the second position so quickly? How does Iago plant the idea of Desdemona’s infidelity in Othello’s mind, and how does he make it grow?

In Act 3 Scene 3, the storyline races extremely quickly and so does Othello’s mind, all thanks to Iago’s manipulation and careful planning. First, in Act 2 Scene 1, Iago has orchestrated the brawl. He gets Cassio drunk and has Roderigo pick a fight with him. Iago gives a falsely sympathetic account of Cassio’s behavior “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth than it should do offence to Michael Cassio”, and Othello is taken in by Iago’s cunning words and confirms that his “honesty” and “love” have made it “light to Cassio”.Othello then decided to fire Cassio, “Cassio, I love thee but never more be officer of mine.”, which is a stepping stone for Iago’s plans.

Afterwards, Iago convinces Cassio to let Desdemona convince her husband to grant him his lieutenancy back again, “Our general’s wife is now the general…Confess yourself freely to her, importune her help to put you in your place again. She is of so free, so kind, so apt, so blessed a disposition, she holds it a vice in her goodness not to do more than she is requested.” However, in Iago’s soliloquy a few lines after, Iago’s intention becomes crystal clear, as he himself explains to the audience,
“So will I turn her virtue into pitch
And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all.”

Moving on to Act 3 Scene 3, Desdemona assures Cassio that
“My lord shall never reast,
I’ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience
His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift
I’ll intermingle everything he does
With