Cyprus

The role of Cyprus throughout this whole play to me seems very important.  It allows the characters to act in a primal or instinctual way, which leads to the deaths of just about everyone.  In the first part of the play, all the characters are in Venice, a place which seems very civil and modern, where disputes are settled in courts (like Othello marrying Desdemona), and there is a somewhat sophisticated and organized system to society.  What Cyprus is to me is a place where you can go and do basically whatever you want.  Its part of Venice but far enough away to where the rules of Venice don't actually apply, and only then do we get to see who these characters truly are.  How they act in moments of weakness or vulnerability, or what they choose to do when conflicts arise and they have no organized system to settle them for them, and they must do it themselves.  It takes all of three days in Cyprus (or however long they're actually there), and some characters undergo huge changes.  Rodrigo begins to feel desperate out of his love for Desdemona, and suspicious of Iago and of what happened to the jewels he gave him to woo her with.  At first he seemed a loyal friend to Iago as well as a hopeless romantic, but by the end it seems as though Rodrigo is tired of Iago giving him the run around all the time, and just wants to do whatever it takes to be happy.  Othello has gone from standing proudly and fearlessly in front of the court on his own behalf in act I to losing his ability to speak and seizing on the floor in Act IV scene i.  Other characters do not undergo such radical changes but it still feels as if the second the Turkish threat was defeated these people had nothing left to do but prey on each other.  I guess what I'm getting at here is that the Othello we knew in Venice, a brave, fair (he gives out punishment to an old friend), and respectable man is not the Othello we know in Cyprus.  Granted Iago was actively trying to deceive and ruin him the entire time, i still do not think Othello would resort to having Cassio killed and killing his wife himself if they were still in venice.  I think he would have handled it all very differently, very similar to how he handled himself in the first act, and everything would have been avoided. With no "system" to rely on, or to keep people in check, we get to see these people for who they really are.  We always knew who Iago was, but Othello has become a jealous, violent and all around unlikable character.  The Othello in Act 1 seemed like the kind of guy who would be above Iago's tricks, but soon we see he is not.  So, did how you felt about Othello change from beginning to the end of the play? And same for Roderigo, did how you feel about him change from beginning to end?