Shakespeare’s play ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'' follows the swift, downward spiral of Othello’s trust in Desdemona’s love for him. To the reader, it feels as though Othello is tricked by Iago hastily—at first glance an unbelievable plot. However, Iago’s manipulation of Othello’s mind and understanding of what Othello holds most sacred in life made him vulnerable and susceptible. Thus, in Act 3.3, Othello is unable to see that he is falling to his own demise, a tragic undoing plotted by his closest confidant.
In the earlier stages of the play, Iago describes Othello as someone that “thinks men honest that but seem so; / And will tenderly be led by th’ nose / As asses are” (Shakespeare, 1.3.392-394). Iago recognizes Othello’s
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Othello’s first gift to Desdemona is a handkerchief, which is of great importance to him. It was given to Othello’s mother from an Egyptian charmer:
“She told her, while she kept it, /
‘Twould make her amiable and subdue my father /
Entirely to her love; but if she lost it /
Or made a gift of it, my father’s eye /
Should hold her loathèd, and his spirits should haunt /
After new fancies (3.4.58-63).”
Because of the alleged handkerchief’s charm that frees a man from his wife if she loses it or gives away, Othello is able to justify his feelings of anger and jealousy in Act 3.3. However, until a certain point in this scene, Othello isn’t fully convinced of Desdemona’s affair—he wants “ocular proof” (3.3.360). Iago knows he needs evidence, and so he fabricates a story about him seeing Cassio use Desdemona’s handkerchief. He pushes that this is the evidence Othello is looking for: “If it be that, or any that was hers, / It speaks against her with the other proofs” (3.3.440-441). Although this isn’t ocular proof, Othello believes that Iago had seen the ocular proof, making Iago’s testimony satisfactory for Othello. It is at this point that Othello’s tone shifts—he becomes angrier. Iago has fully convinced Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful: “Now do I see ‘tis true…Arise, black vengeance, from the hollow hell!”
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Desdemona’s love for him—which he has not doubted before—has become a question of loyalty and honesty. The calm and logical Othello who vows to not be jealous almost immediately unleashes his jealousy and anger. Iago took advantage of Othello’s imagination, which made him vulnerable enough to succumb to the deadly sin of envy. This is justified by Iago’s manipulation of events surrounding the sacred handkerchief. In a tense battle for Othello’s mind, Iago won. Othello’s distracted mind had no room to realize that he was not being bested by his wife, but rather, by the one man who still had Othello’s