From the fact that Cassio kisses Emilia on her arrival, we know that he is a very welcoming and complimentary person. He tells us that it his 'breeding that gives me this bold show of courtesy' which presents the idea that his upbringing has caused him to be like this. This idea is reinforced by the fact that he describes the women in the play in very flattering ways. An example of this is he refers to Othello's wife as 'divine Desdemona' which also suggests that he idolizes her.
2. How does Iago plan to use Cassio’s character traits to usurp and ensnare both Cassio and Othello? (Lines 167-176 will help.)
Iago plans to use Cassio's warm and welcoming manor to 'strip you out of your lietuenantry' as everyone is known to this behaviour of Cassio, he believes it will be easy to convince Othello of the false betrayal of Desdemona. Because he doesn't respect Othello, he wants to get rid of both Cassio and Othello because he believes his 'seat' has been taken, i.e. Othello has taken his place. Iago is horrified by the fact that he is under the order of a 'moor' because it was unusual for white people to be taking orders from anyway, especially a black man.
3. What does Iago tell Roderigo to do, and why does Iago say it will help Roderigo to win Desdemona’s heart? (Lines 249-278 will help you with this question.)
Iago tells Roderigo to anger Cassio by 'tainting his discipline' because he's 'very sudden in choler', this portrays the idea that Iago wants Roderigo to get Cassio angry in order to get him out the way and therefore further Iago's agenda instead of helping out Roderigo. However, Iago convinces Roderigo that it will help him in his quest for Desdemona's heart because if Cassio is out of the way, then it will enable Roderigo to replace him and therefore gain his 'desires'.
4. What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in Act 2? What is the effect of having him share his thoughts and plans with us through his soliloquies? Pay attention to the language used in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of descriptive language does he use? How does it contribute to the picture of Iago that Shakespeare is drawing?
Nearer the start of act 2 we learn that Iago is actually quite sexist towards women as he reads out a list of stereotypes such as 'wild-cats in the kitchen' perpetuating the stereotype of women's main area in life is in the domestic sphere. He is also quite rude about his wife because he talks about her 'tongue oft bestows on me' which is about her always nagging at him, again using a stereotype of women always moaning about what the men are doing. The affect of using soliloquies to share his plans is that it tells us of his inner-most thoughts helping the audience gain a deeper understanding of the play.
Nearer the start of act 2 we learn that Iago is actually quite sexist towards women as he reads out a list of stereotypes such as 'wild-cats in the kitchen' perpetuating the stereotype of women's main area in life is in the domestic sphere. He is also quite rude about his wife because he talks about her 'tongue oft bestows on me' which is about her always nagging at him, again using a stereotype of women always moaning about what the men are doing. The affect of using soliloquies to share his plans is that it tells us of his inner-most thoughts helping the audience gain a deeper understanding of the play.
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