if drink not rock his cradle" (Iago: act2 sc3 123-5). Emilia, also falls victim to her husband's (Iago) villainy. He persuades and uses her to obtain the handkerchief, which plays a key part in his overall plan. He does this by recognising her need for attention from him, and this is his way of giving her attention. It is clear that Iago has little humanity, also evident in many of his soliloquies - "So I will turn her virtue into pitch, And out of her own goodness make the net That shall enmesh them all." (act2, sc3, 336-8) and also when Othello has a fit, he simply says "Work on, my medicine, work" (act4, sc1, 44-5).
The main character that falls victim to Iago's villainy is of course Othello. Iago recognises Othello's insecurities, that is his age, background, culture, and his inexperience in love, and his ease to jealousy. Iago also sees the weaknesses within Othello such as his trusting and gullible nature, and his despera-tion to fit in. He then uses these flaws and convinces Othello of the apparent affair between Desdemona and Cassio. However, Iago does not only use his persuasive words, but also his action. Such incidents include the framing of Cassio with the handkerchief and also making Cassio appear he was laughing and joking about his affair with Desdemona, when he was actually talking about Bianca. Another of Iago's powerful tactics is to always appear to be the close trustworthy friend as he did with Roderigo (act 1, sc 3, 300-400), with Cassio when he appeared reluctant to turn him in, and of course with Othello. While it is clear that Iago is an extremely effective villain, it would have been much harder for him to succeed in deceiving so many characters if it weren't for each character's flaws and weaknesses, which are very apparent in Othello.
Othello's flaws and weaknesses within himself contribute a great deal to his downfall. He is very prone to jealousy, mainly because of his insecurities about his background and fitting into the Venetian society.
