In act 1 Othello says to Iago “My life upon her faith! Honest Iago, / My Desdemona must I leave to thee” (1.3.297-8). One could argue this sentence is the essence of the whole play. First looking at “my life upon her faith”. Throughout the whole play, Iago is able to corrupt Othello’s faith in Desdemona, pretty easily. Iago really gives Othello no solid proof in regard to Desdemona’s infidelity. Yet Othello is so quick to believe him. This line continues with Othello having Iago’s wife, Emilia, attend to Desdemona. And while Emilia comes to the realization of her mistakes in the end, she plays a pretty major role in Desdemona death. In the final scene, when Othello is accusing Desdemona of giving Cassio the handkerchief, the only reason he …show more content…
“Honest Iago” is said all throughout the play. Shakespeare is poking fun for he is anything but honest. He is the puppet master in this production who’s only agenda, it seems, is to cause Othello as much pain as possible. Iago defiantly gets his wish, but as a cost. One of the first examples of Iago not being very “honest” is in 2.2.20-30. Here we see Iago coaxing Cassio into having a drink, even though Cassio has a drinking problem. “Iago: Well, happiness to their sheets! Come, lieutenant, I/ have a stoup of wine, and here without are a brace / of Cyprus gallants that would fain have a measure to / the health of black Othello. / Cassio: Not tonight, good Iago. I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking. I could well wish courtesy would invent some other custom of entertainment/ Iago: Oh, they are our friends. But one cup. I’ll drink for you.” (2.2.20-4). But this is just the beginning of Iago’s deceptions. As mentioned before, Othello leaves Desdemona’s life in Iago’s manipulative hands, and Othello puts more stock into Iago’s words than his wife’s. Throughout the whole play, “Honest Iago” and fragile Othello feed into each other, with poor Desdemona and Cassio the innocent causalities. Emilia too, while not as innocent, still perishes at “Honest Iago’s doing. If 1.2.297-8 didn’t happen, maybe Desdemona and Othello could have lived happily ever, but a las it
Othello trusts Iago and now Iago is trying to take his wife from him for someone else. Furthermore, “He takes her by the palm...sir in.” (pg. 71). Iago watches Cassio and Emilia because he thinks they had an affair he watches them carefully so he can figure out how to convince Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Another example involves the plan to help Othello kill Desdemona. “Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated” (pg. 185). Othello believes that Iago is most honest, thus he believed killing his wife Desdemona was the right thing to do. Iago brainwashed Othello into believing the wrong thing was the right thing. The characterization of Iago is created by the use of dramatic irony. The audience knew how devious Iago is, but the characters fell for his mischievous acts.
Othello is an easy target in this drama, because Iago already knows that he is a very insecure person. With that stated, it will be easy for Iago to use Othello’s jealousy to trick him into thinking that Desdemona is an unfaithful wife. Iago will manipulate the way Othello sees things in order to convince him that what he sees is innocent acts between Desdemona and Casillo. Iago’s starts to plant the idea in Othello’s head of an affair after Othello sees Casillo rush leaving Desdemona in a manner that looked as though he is guilty (1223). Alone with Othello, Iago begins to make Othello feel threatened by Casillo and Desdemona’s apparent relationship by bringing up the fact that Casillo served as Desdemona’s and Othello’s go-between during the time of their courtship. The conversation ends with Iago asking Othello to watch carefully of Desdemona and Casillo, and Iago exits giving Othello time to question the accusation of Iago (1225-1228).
Iago knows that Othello believes that anyone who seems honest, is honest. He thinks Othello will, “tenderly be led by th' nose/As asses are,” (I.iii.444-445). Iago believes that if he earns Othello’s trust, he will be easy to manipulate. When Iago aids in clarifying the spontaneous brawl between Cassio and Montano, Othello refers to him as “Honest Iago” (II.iii.189). Othello now relies on Iago for the truth.
In Othello, Act IV, scene ii and iii, Emilia, Iago’s wife, reveals her opinion about relationships to the reader as she attempts to comfort Desdemona. She indefinitely believes that many men, as well as women, are frequently guilty of deception and betrayal of their partner. By this part of the play, Othello’s suspicions of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness have greatly increased, and he begins to accuse her of cheating on him. When Desdemona persistently denies his accusations, Othello becomes enraged. He sarcastically asks for her pardon and claims that he took her to be the “cunning whore of Venice” (Act IV, scene ii, line 88). Desdemona is heartbroken by her
Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello
He explains that this evidence “…speaks against her with other proofs” (3.3.501). He says that he has “a point”, and that “if imputation and strong circumstances which lead directly to the door of truth will give you satisfaction, you might have’t,” (3.3.463-465). He explains that he has strong evidence to prove his point, and he will show it to Othello. Iago uses these instructive words to prove a point, and wants to sound as factual as he can so Othello will be persuaded. In addition to pieces of evidence, Iago explains that Desdemona is capable
(Shakespeare. 4. 1. 71) This shows how Othello is an honorable man because of his level-headedness, skill, and knowledge. Iago is envious of Othello’s skills and achievements and the reputation he has made because of them, so Iago tries to tarnish Othello’s
Iago’s deception contributes to the whole play since he convinces everyone to trust him. He has this great ability to fool others into naming him as “Honest Iago.” Iago continuously lies and also makes himself look like a person people can trust. To many characters in the play, he appears to be sincere and reliable when he is truly deceiving them. Iago continues to lie to Othello about Desdemona cheating on him with Cassio.
In the play Othello, with love being an important theme, Iago manipulates Othello into believing that Desdemona
In all fairness, it is true that Othello doesn’t know Iago is dishonest. Indeed, his love for Desdemona was completely authentic because he remains loyal until the end. However that is not significant because at the end he commits a crime in murdering his one and only loved one. He trusts Iago to the extent that he doesn't even bother to give Desdemona a chance to speak. Iago is only able to beguile Othello because Othello is jealous that Desdemona may be having an affair with Cassio, although there is no confrontation with them. Othello goes up to Desdemona and dares to call her a whore, however he does not tell her what she has done wrong. In a conversation between Desdemona and Othello: “Alas, what ignorant sin have I [Desdemona] committed?/ Was this fair paper this most goodly book,/ Made to write “whore” upon? What committed?” (4.2. 81 - 83). For that, Othello is extremely jealous of what he hears from Iago, which results in him not being compromisable with Desdemona. The first line is said by Desdemona, which shows her being clueless about why Othello is raging at her. The second line is said by Othello who does not confront the situation but instead insists that Desdemona has cheated on him. If Othello isn’t jealous of Cassio, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Iago to manipulate him. Desdemona doesn’t even know what “ignorant sin” she has done, however, Othello automatically suspects her and calls her a whore. The fact that he is unable to communicate with Desdemona, enables Iago to plant seeds of doubt. He eventually kills his own wife and by the time he discovers the truth, it is all too late. Othello’s jealousy overtakes his reasoning and allows Iago to spread false information regarding
Iago once sees Cassio holding Desdemona's hand while talking to her, so he decides to convince Othello that his wife cheats on him. Iago's wife, Emilia, is Desdemona's attendant, which makes Iago make use of this as well. Iago tells Othello that he has heard Cassio call out Desdemona's name in his sleep, and he suspects Desdemona and Cassio to be in love. This makes Othello get anxious about losing his wife's love for him; he says: "She's gone.
Iago, the villain in Shakespeare’s Othello, is a round character of great depth and many dimensions. Iago works towards an aim that is constantly changing and becomes progressively more tragic. Yet, at times, "honest" Iago does actually seem honest. This essay will explore the complex character of "honest Iago.
Throughout the play, Othello by William Shakespeare, Iago doesn’t change much as a character being that he tries to get revenge on Othello throughout the entire story. Despite his lack of change throughout the play, Iago affects everybody’s character and life. These effects on the other character’s lives pushed them to extreme conditions. Iago begins planning his revenge on Othello after he finds out that Othello gave the promotion of lieutenant to Cassio instead of him. In order to get his revenge, Iago plans on spreading rumors about Othello’s wife, Desdemona, and Cassio.
Othello replies with "Damn her, lewd minx. O damn her, damn her". From that reaction we can tell that Iago has reminded Othello of what she has done, and rather than agree with what he has said it sounds like he is more determined to kill her. Iago has succeeded in condemning Desdemona to death at Othello´s hands. Iago´s effectiveness at noticing innocent situations and making them look suspect is another way in which he gets Othello to believe of Desdemona´s unfaithfulness.
Othello’s immediate trust for Iago’s speculations demonstrate the truth of the matter that Othello is not close with his wife to be able to hear the truth from her. Othello exhibits assurance in Iago and goes to him for advice. In return, Iago deceives Othello by pointing out Desdemona’s actions saying “She did deceive her father” by marrying a Moor (III.iii.206). Iago is implying that Desdemona is not to be trusted because she lied to her father. Othello now disregards Desdemona and changes his attitude towards her. Othello believes that if she was able to lie and hide a relationship from her own father, she is capable of hiding her cheating ways from him. Othello is persuaded that Desdemona has what it takes to go behind the backs of the people she loves and this creates