Four Faces of Man in Othello The four main characters of the play Othello represent four different character traits of manhood: Roderigo, the failure; Othello, the hero, but also the mad lover; Cassius, the nobles; and Iago, the villain, but the strongest character in the play. Of these four characters, Roderigo reveals the weakest character traits. Iago effortlessly profits from Roderigo's lack of intelligence, in fact Iago himself said that he would not waste time and effort on "such a snipe" (I iii 387) if not for "sport and profit". Towards the end of the opera Roderigo reveals some traits that could classify him as a man with a backbone. He ultimately stands up to Iago and threatens to expose the conspiracy against Othello and Cassio, but ultimately his flaws prevail over his virtuous traits and he is convinced by Iago to kill Cassio. Similarly, Othello is the tragic hero of the play, but his character is also weak. Jealousy is Othello's main downfall. He reveals his insecurities in the scene where he hits Desdemona and calls her a “devil”. Similarly, in the brothel scene, Othello's insecurities emerge when he cruelly questions Desdemona. He condemns her as a "mere pimp" and a "whore", of which he has no real evidence. Iago also easily manipulates Othello, like Roderigo, throughout the play. Othello is naive. It shows that a few well-placed suggestions can alter his thinking, such as when Iago spoke to Cassio and made Othello believe that the lieutenant was talking about Desdemona instead of Bianca. Overall, Othello was a weak character and a naive man. In contrast, Cassio's character is strong. He spoke about Othello with dignity and grace, something no other character in the play does. Furthermore, Cassius showed extreme loyalty to the Moor. Cassio's only flaw is that he temporarily lost his mind when he was drunk and allowed himself to be manipulated by Iago. All in all, Cassius is a good example of how a man should behave; with dignity and honor. Likewise, Iago's character is also strong. He is an intelligent man, as seen in the soliloquy in which he devises a plan to frame Cassius “to get his place” (I iii). In the soliloquy Iago's intelligence is revealed in the statement “How, how? - Abusing Othello's ear / Who [Cassio] is too familiar with his wife.