Iago argues that man is able to shape himself as gardeners shape their gardens, and that human reason keeps man in balance with the lower, animalistic passion. These ideas indicate that Iago was influenced by Renaissance humanism. But insofar as he has no aim towards virtue or goodness, the educational goal of the humanism, he is a perverted Renaissance humanist. As an internal dramatist, Iago ingeniously manipulates people around him. The problem, however, is that he has no morality or ethics which provides the fundamental basis for Renaissance humanism. By using various rhetorical strategies Iago successfully persuades Othello to suspect Desdemona’s infidelity which is actually groundless. Iago, however, seriously abuses rhetoric by inventing lies at the crucial moments of his persuasion. By pursuing his ‘peculiar end’ in which he only. serves himself with evil designs, he hurts or destroys people around him whose lives would be otherwise lived beautifully, disrupts the community in which they live, and finally meets his doomed fate as a heinous criminal. In this sense Othello is a tragedy staged by a perverted Renaissance humanist named Iago.