Who's to blame in the story of Othello? Well, my theory involves everybody. Most people would blame the antagonist, Iago, the villain of the play, but actually, everyone played a role in the downfall of the story; either it was a lack of intelligence on how to handle the story, or spinning “little web” (II.i. 183) of lies, that made everyone responsible, but some people were more responsible than others.
Michael Cassio:
Cassio played but only a small part (5%) in this tragic situation. He “paddles with the palm” (II. i. 77) of Desdemona's hand, which started everything: the friendly interaction between the two seen as flirtation spinned into a lie out of control and in the end created “a jealousy so strong” (II. i. 323). He was framed for being the culprit of an affair when, in all honesty, he was just a little too friendly.
Desdemona:
Desdemona would be to blame more than Cassio (10%) because she was too submissive and did not communicate to clear up the situation.Said to be “a most exquisite lady” (II.iii. 20), she was to blinded by the task of getting Cassio his job back to see that her pushing his name down Othello’s ear was evidence to Othello that she was cheating on him. The had the wrong priorities of Cassio over her marriage with Othello. To everyone, Desdemona was considered “perfection” (II. iii. 83), but Iago was able to change the mind of Othello and make him think otherwise.
Rodrigo:
Rodrigo would be to blame as much as Cassio (5%); is involvement was more direct, but he was blinded by his love for Desdemona and his quest to win her over. He was Iago's right hand man and bank to let him afford to travel to execute his plan.
Othello:
Othello is the second most to blame in this situation (30%); he let Iago sneak his way into his heart and mind and drive him so mad he would commit the murder of his own wife. Iago manipulate Othello to care more about his “reputation” (II.iii.280), than his marriage-- Othello was not going to be the man who let his wife cheat on him. Othello is to blame because he didn't communicate, just as Desdemona. If Othello would have confronted his wife about the rumors, then maybe things would have ended less tragic and deadly.
Iago:
Iago is the most to blame (50%) because his role was to “play the villain” (ll.ii.356).
He “sets the pegs that make this music” (II. i. 219) and put everything perfectly into place for his plan of either revenge or to get a higher ranking position in the military. His motivation for his action are unclear; he makes the statement, "wife for wife” (II. i. 79), implying that the “lusty Moor” (II.i.317), in his own terms, slept with his wife, but as a reader, we truly may never know why he did the things that he did, but we do know that he did them and he is to blame. Lying was his biggest strength and he had such a way with words-- he was able to trick everyone to do as he desired by knowing their weaknesses-- and for Othello, his weakness was his love for Desdemona or the jealousy that came with it. Iago played every character and they were so unsuspecting of it until the end when they all were able to talk things through.
As you can see, not only the villain is at fault; everyone plays their part with the downfall of the situation.