In Othello I agree that with this view as the main reason for society becoming turbulent was due to Othello as Iago manipulates others exploiting multiple characters for his own benefit. He constructed false beliefs that caused Othello to act irrational and used Cassio’s vulnerability to create these lies. Shakespeare created the play in this way to criticise early Venetian beliefs that chaos is only caused by outsiders, whilst a twisted version begins to be discovered. Iago’s false ideology is revealed in Act one as he exclaims to Roderigo that he is willing to do anything to gain willpower. Roderigo presents Iago with a need as Iago instructs him in what he will do and Iago elaborates “I am not what I am”, foreshadowing his nihilistic perspective of life as he wants to deceive and remain powerful. The religious imagery interweaves the Bible as God is a symbol of light and hope to humanity, yet Iago, almost inverting this idea, declares he will manipulate Othello to get Desdemona with Roderigo whilst underhandedly gaining power for himself with his dark cynical connotations. Shakespeare does this for the characters to believe Othello’s “honest Iago”, possibly insinuating that Othello’s humiliation and downfall isn’t due to jealousy but vulnerability of social class that Iago exposes and exploits as Iago is “honest”. Shakespeare criticises Jacobean audience through Iago as he claims that they prioritise private selfish needs as Iago embodies all morals maybe he never had any to gain control. Some people even interpret that through Iago’s confession with Roderigo, he was also showing to Roderigo’s face that he will manipulate him as well, not only Othello, further reinforcing his immoral and self-absorbed nature leading to the manipulation and destruction of Othello. Furthermore, Iago pushes Cassio and uses Cassio’s insecurities to make him drink and is seen as a creative opportunist as he encourages Cassio to drink, knowing that he’ll be unable to act rational. This shows Iago creates a false sense of trust as he states “come, let’s have a cup of wine”, the imperative displays his need to control those around him whilst using a euphemism to minimise the amount of wine being consumed. This illustrates the view that due to misleading appearances, characters are destroyed as Cassio has lost the “immortal part of myself”, representing the magnitude that reputation held within Venetian society as it dictated people’s self-worth and identity. He dehumanises himself and declares that without his reputation he was no longer human. Shakespeare reinforces Cassio’s character like this to indicate Venetian ideology about reputation being so strong and important and its fragility therefore manipulation can completely destroy its whole appearance, reducing individuals to nothing, displaying that reputation really doesn’t matter and should not be a widely valued factor. In contrast, Emilia sees men for what they truly are and informs Desdemona that they are still flawed, suggesting that destruction is caused due to inherent flaws of humanity. She exclaims that men are “jealous for they are jealous”, illustrating her keen wisdom as she has realised that there is no way to combat or explain it, instead reluctantly legitimising jealousy within men. Furthermore, she states that jealousy is a “monster begot on itself and born on itself”, Shakespeare utilises plosives to foreshadow the doom that will fall onto Emilia and Desdemona as they both know that jealousy resides in men naturally, yet still stay with their husbands, meaning that ultimately Emilia seems to challenge typical patriarchal values of Venetian society, but is still submissive to it and obeys the system, same with Desdemona not fighting back Othello when he kills her. Shakespeare presents the unbreakable completeness of the patriarchal society as women are able to recognise it but aren’t able to fight against it, ultimately making women victims. Therefore the broader interpretation of this is that jealousy is not caused by external factors but rather is inherent nature we experience. Overall, the main reason for characters’ destruction is because of misleading appearances, however another important factor is the patriarchal hierarchy in society preventing characters from escaping impending doom. Emilia and Desdemona have recognised inequality, but are still unable to escape and end up dying due to this patriarchal control system. Shakespeare created the play like this to bring awareness to patriarchy and hierarchy that forbids change and progress.