The contrast between illusion and reality was explored in many ways in Othello with much dramatic effect, particularly seeing how Iago managed to perverse reality for the characters in the play, and also for himself. Still, there are differences in the way the characters view themselves and one another, so much that Iago was able to exploit these differences and use them for his own ends.
             Iago is seen by every character in the play as the "honest" and trustworthy friend in need who was always on hand to give good advice. However, only the audience, who witness his soliloquies in which he says "I am not what I am" and double-dealing, know what his true intent is, creating dramatic tension in the play. This is paralleled, dramatically and ironically, in how he enters with a light amidst all the confusion when Roderigo had wounded Cassio at his order and gotten injured himself. He was supposedly the "valiant fellow" there to "give some help, yet his one of his true motives was to stab Roderigo without anybody else noticing, exposing, a moment too late, the "inhuman dog" that he truly was. Here, light and darkness are ironically used by Iago for his own ends.
             Illusion is one is Iago's tools, yet he also falls prey to his own beliefs which may not be true. After he suspects that Emilia has slept with other men like Othello, he thinks of her as a "strumpet" and cannot see past this. She gave him the handkerchief he wanted to "please his fantasy", showing her devotion to him despite the way he treated her, and yet he cannot see that. This illusion is one of his motivations for wanting to cause Othello's downfall. Iago seems to be creating a dramatic parallel to his own situation for Othello, without even understanding it.
             One of Iago's craftiest tools is the way he manipulates situations, particularly visual evidence, to prove the point he wants his victi...