Compare and Contrast Othello and Iago in Othello by Shakespeare.

There will be much out there written on this subject.  I
think that in assessing the relationship between both characters, one has to notice a
shift of weight.  At the start of the play, Othello holds a great deal of power over
Iago in terms of the latter wishing to receive the promotion from the former.  Yet, when
Cassio is favored, it is interesting to see how the relationship changes.  Rather than
become disempowered, Iago actually gains more power in terms of what he is able to do to
others with his manipulation of them.  It might even be argued that he gains more power
with his demotion than anything else.  I think that a comparison of both characters
focus in a study of insecurity.  Iago is insecure of Cassio's position and his apparent
favoring by Othello.  The decision to promote him over Iago triggers in much of this
insecurity, causing him to embark on a manipulative quest.  Othello's insecurities are
much more subtle, not really as evident until things start to work in Iago's favor.  He
is insecure of his ethnicity and age, his status as a soldier who has gained "insider"
status, and the fact that he cannot believe that someone like Desdemona is in love with
someone like him.  In the end, both Othello and Iago are haunted and fraught with
insecurities, making them more susceptible to enduring pain from deliberate and
unintentional acts of cruelty.