*How F*ar *I*s Iago *R*esponsible *F*or *T*he *T*ragic *U*nfolding *O*f *E*vents *I*n ‘Othello’? Iago is responsible for the tragic unfolding of events in ‘Othello’. This can be seen through his manipulation of Othello, jealousy of Cassio becoming Othello’s lieutenant, hatred of women, racism and being altogether a tragic villain. A tragic unfolding is a sequence of events that takes place one after the other. Each event moves along the plot and has a direct effect on the emotional responses of the characters. The decisions that are made prepare the dramatic conditions for the next tragic event. Right from the beginning of the play, Iago’s involvement in the play is evident. He displays his hate for Othello: ‘Though I do hate him as I do hell pains, yet for necessity of present life I must show out a flag and sign of love.’ Here Iago is talking to Roderigo and it appears that he has been overlooked for promotion. This makes him vengeful and his first action is to tell Brabantio that Othello has eloped with his daughter, Desdemona. Iago’s behaviour and method of disclosure is designed to deliberately alarm Brabantio and give him a dreadful shock. Iago wants to poison Brabantio’s mind against Othello. He compares Othello to a ‘devil’ and inflames Brabantio’s prejudices. ‘Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you.’ According to G.K.Hunter, a modern critic of Shakespeare, in his essay Othello and colour prejudice, ‘Shakespeare intended in his hero to be a black man’ to produce a reaction in the audience. ‘It is fairly certain, however, that some modern reactions are not likely to have been shared by the Elizabethans.’ Yet, Iago’s description it could be argued points to prejudices and stereotypes of black people and these attitudes could undermine Othello’s confidence in him. Hunter writes the dramatic function of Iago is to reduce the white ‘reality’ of Othello to the black ‘appearance’ of his face’. This could be a motive for Iago because he can’t see...