In many literary works there is a widespread idea that appearances are deceiving and that not everything is as it seems. Most writers use this idea to create conflict within this story; among these writers is William Shakespeare. In one of his most popular plays, Othello, Shakespeare gave the character Iago a two-faced personality. Iago pretends to be Othello's friend by giving him useful advice and suggestions; however, he is secretly trying to sabotage Othello's wedding. He deceives Othello into thinking the worst of Cassio and telling him that he is having an affair with Othello's wife, Desdemona. Throughout the tragic play of Othello, Shakespeare uses a continuous theme of appearance versus reality to show how Iago manipulates each character, particularly Roderigo and Othello, by misinterpreting what they see. Iago is a very complicated character; he pretends to be a faithful servant of Othello, but at the same time he is also secretly destroying his marriage. There is a lot of dramatic irony throughout the play, the audience knows all about Iago's motivations and no one else does. At the beginning of the play Iago talks about his hatred towards Othello and gives the audience an inside view of all his true motivations. “I hate the Moor, / And abroad it is thought that between my sheets / He did my office. I don't know if it's true, / but I, for a simple suspicion of this kind, / will act as if I were sure. (Othello 1.3.366-370) Iago has heard some rumors that Othello has been sleeping with his wife and this gives him enough hatred to try to destroy Othello. He also wants Cassio's position, so he decides to defeat both Cassio and Othello with a lie. “After some time, abuse Othello's ear / Who is too familiar with his wife. / He has... half the paper... his time with Desdemona. Although in reality Iago was telling him about Bianca. Throughout the entire play of Othello, Iago uses manipulation to create situations where Desdemona appears to be cheating on her husband. He doesn't care who he hurts in the process, but his main goal is to destroy Othello's relationship and gain the position of lieutenant. The theme of appearances versus reality recurs several times throughout the show. Othello sees different things happening but interprets them all wrong. He judges everything based on the outside or their appearance and does not bother to dig deeper and find the true meaning of events. Works CitedArp, Thomas R., Greg Johnson and Laurence Perrine. Oedipus Rex. Perrine's literature: structure, sound and meaning. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009.1226-272. Press.