Manipulation, although portrayed in a bad way by society, is very effective when used properly. The human mind is so fragile it can be broken with very simple techniques. Common examples in everyday life, like advertising, take advantage of these human mind defects. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago proves to be very experienced in manipulation. Throughout the play, Iago is able, with words, to control almost every character he speaks to, like a puppet master. His plan plays out perfectly before the very eyes of everyone, without them suspecting a thing. Keeping his loyalty looking clean, Iago is able to use his victim’s trust in him against them. He masters many persuasive techniques and demonstrates these through his wording, and quick, thought out responses. These include using imagery to target base emotions, delivering information in different ways, and camouflaging his motives. To begin with, Iago often employs imagery to provoke deep, strong emotions in Othello. Jealousy is one of the strongest emotions. Once someone is jealous, it never leaves their conscience. It can be amplified or weakened, but it never leaves. For this reason, jealousy can impact the strongest of minds the same way it does the weak ones. Othello, the moor of Venice, is a strong mind, but jealousy proves to have quite an impact on him. When Othello asks Iago for proof of Desdemona’s disloyalty, Iago describes for Othello images of situations in which Othello has a reason to be jealous. But instead of telling Othello, Iago lets him imagine the situation as he describes it to him. Referring to Desdemona and Cassio’s relationship, Iago says “Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, / As salt as wolves in pride”. By comparing Cassio and Desdemona to animals, Iago was able to accompany his words with images; Vivid portraits that haunt Othello. This proves to have pushed him over the edge when a later situation is analysed. Othello has reason to believe Desdemona has confessed her love for Cassio, as he misinterprets her words. Othello then screams “Goats and Monkeys!” as he exits. We already see that Othello’s mind has been poisoned by Iago’s words. After Othello seems convinced that Desdemona is in fact cheating on him, one could argue that Iago referred to Othello as a cuckold. The term comes from the cuckoo bird. The female cuckoo often changes its partner, and lays eggs in multiple nests – which is why a cuckold refers to a man whose wife has committed adultery. Also, cuckolds were said to grow horns, because fools were made of them. Iago uses this. “How is it, general? Have you not hurt your head?” Iago is insinuating that the horns might have “hurt” Othello’s head. In this situation, Iago is calling Othello a cuckold. Calling someone a cuckold was often seen as an insult, as it was common belief that “cuckolds” were dumb and deserving of insult. In this case, Iago does not aim to make Othello jealous, but to make him mad. Iago puts more emphasis on the fact that now, as Othello believed; he was a man with a cheating wife. Iago was turning doubt into reality. As Iago keeps mentioning Desdemona’s supposed adultery, Othello is constantly reminded of these images he has in his head, and dives deeper into madness and irrationality. Furthermore, Iago has proven to be able to break through the strongest of minds by delivering his information in different ways. Everything st