Act two begins on Cyprus, as according to The Details.
"With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio" means that Iago will use the tiniest things for evidence, using Cassio's own good intentions and gentle nature against him in this wed of lies. In context, Iago is the spider, weaving a web of lies that will entrap all these flies, Othello, Cassio, Desdemona, and Cassio would possibly be the hardest to take down on a normal day. Cassio is a great man, and very honourable, and would never truly do anything bad in all his life. It will be Iago's greatest achievement to take down Cassio. The rest of the play will be taken up with twisting Cassio's intentions, making him seem the villain. It is a precursor to the rest of the plot. |
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Pontification is when a person argues constantly for their point of view, not allowing a word of contrasting argument by overloading the other person with facts and ideas so that they cannot remember the first argument or idea to counteract it.
Iago encourages social drinking, singing drinking songs- sing a verse, drink a verse- and generally shoves ale in Cassio's face until he's drunk as a sailor on shore. A drunk man loses some of his inhibitions, and certainly his restraint. Iago is trying to use this to get Cassio to hit Roderigo and seem unfit for office, when Cassio in his right mind would never hit anybody outright. Iago advises Cassio to go to Desdemona, and ask her for her help in getting Cassio his job back. He claims that Desdemona will more easily be able to convince Othello to give Cassio his job back. |
By getting Cassio to meet Desdemona on his own, he can more easily sow the seeds of discontent, and get Othello suspicious of his wife. He can point out that Cassio has been speaking secretively with her, and that they spend a lot of time together. As well, if Cassio gets Desdemona on his side, she will constantly bug Othello about Cassio, and make herself seem suspicious by her unending suit.