Iago carefully recognizes Othello's weakness in his soliloquy at the end of Act I, scene 1: "'The Moor is of a free and open nature,/ That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,/ And will as tenderly be led by the nose/ As asses are.'" Iago concludes his thought with assonance to stress insight of his thought. Iago also uses paradox when he states, in Act I, scene 1: "'Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago./ In following him, I follow but myself; Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, But seeming so, for my peculiar end. . . I am not what I am.'" His phrase, at first appears to be contradictory but it reveals that Iago is truly not what he appears to be to others. Iago reveals that he does not feel bound by love and duty, but is only responsible to God, which stresses his individualistic nature. He is motivated to destroy the lives of Othello and Cassio because Othello neglected him in appointing the theoretician, Cassio, as lieutenant. Iago also has suspicions that Othello has slept with his wife.
             "The tragic flaw is the most important part of the hero and the events that occur in the work is a reflection of that flaw." – Aristotle
             "Most potent, grave, and reverend signors,
             My very noble and approved good masters;
             That I have ta'en away this old man's daughter,
             It is most true; true I have married her.
             The very head and front of my offending
             Hath the extent, no more. Rude I am in my speech,
             And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace;"
             ...