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Manipulation Lies And Deceit In Othello

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Manipulation, lies, and deceit. They typically live hidden and unnoticed but the truth is, it's all around us and I can admit that I’ve fallen victim to them. I had a friend, I might’ve even considered her my best friend, I told her things I’d never dared to mention to anyone else, and I confided in her because I trusted her greatly. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that the “secrets” I told her, weren’t being kept secret. William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, Othello, does a great job showcasing the impact of manipulation, lies, and deceit through his character, Iago. Iago is able to use his exceptional speaking skills and clever intuition to manipulate every character in the play, managing to convince all of them that he is a “good and honest man” while being the complete opposite. …show more content…

His age, military background, as well as being a black man in a white society has caused him to face a lot of prejudice and racism. A good example of this being used against him is in Act 3, Scene 3, lines 270-278; “Of her own clime, complexion, and degree,/ Whereto we see in all things nature tends—/ Foh! One may smell in such a will most rank,/ Foul disproportion, thoughts unnatural—/ But pardon me—I do not in position/ Distinctly speak of her, though I may fear/ Her will, recoiling to her better judgment,/ May fall to match you with her country forms/ And happily repent.” Iago, being the master manipulator that he is, recognizes Othello’s insecurity and is able to play upon them. He manages to plant seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind. “She did deceive her father, marrying you,/ And when she seemed to shake and fear your looks,/ She loved them most” (Shakespeare, 3.3.238-240). Iago reminds Othello that Desdemona was able to deceive her father, implying that if she was capable of doing that, she’s surely capable of

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Iago’s Plan In Shakespeare’s “Othello”, manipulation and deceit are prevalent throughout the play, and the use of these tools causes multiple characters to become more and more violent as a result. Through the use of verbal and physical manipulation of others combined with the use of irony, simile, and metaphor, Iago progressively shifts Othello’s positive mental attitude towards his peers into one more similar to that of the cold blooded and vicious killer that he is deep down which can be seen through his actions. At the beginning of the play, in Act 1 Scene 1, Iago can be seen verbally communicating with his peers in which his lying spree begins.

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Iago then brings up the fact, that Desdemona secretly married him. “She did deceive her father, marrying you, And when she seemed to shake and fear your looks, She loved them most.” (Act 3, Scene 3 lines 208-211) This also cause Othello to wonder if she really loved him. Iago continues to twiddle with Othello’s mind, to the point where Othello only trusts Iago, the last person he should be trusting.

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Othello’s confidence for a loyal man to maintain honesty and morals are contradicted through Iago’s actions: “in a man that’s just / They are close dilations, working from the heart, / That passion cannot rule” (3.3.123). Iago, due to the understatement to his name, is not perceivable as hateful. Othello’s willingness to sense Iago’s distress, and to believe his accusations, is because of the lack of awareness Othello has for his vengeance. Iago is of such little power and relevance within societal ranking that if he were to have intentions to sabotage anyone, which he does, are not considered, thus making him easily trustworthy to those of greater dominance. Society’s view of an individual determines how others consider and surmise their persona, though these conclusions may be false.

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Throughout history many of the great generals often had a right hand man or lieutenant to help make important decisions. When Iago was passed over for this great position he was willing to go to any length to achieve the position he felt he deserved. In the play, Othello by William Shakespeare, Iago became the antagonist in one of Shakespeare's most well-known plays. Iago used manipulation, deception, and creative thinking to hatch a plan that would cause the death of nearly every main role in the play.

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To Othello, Iago is more reputable now causing Iago is, at this point, reputable, meaning Othello will to believe anything that Iago says even if it is a lie. Iago’s psychopathic manipulations of Cassio then ultimately cause his downfall once Othello discovers that Iago has been dishonest, his punishment of torture and imprisonment at the end of the play is his downfall. Iago’s Throughout the play, since Iago is trustworthy to Othello, Iago plants seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind. In Act Five, scene two, Othello shows the audience how he believes that Iago is “most honest” (Shakespeare 1302).

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This statement depicts the nature of people because Othello believes people see him as a weak man and he wants to find a way to change that, rather than look for actual facts to see if the rumor is true in the first place. Iago also pushed Othello to believe he has been embarrassed, stating “Sir, be a man. Every married man has been cheated on. Millions of men sleep with wives who cheat on them, wrongly believing they belong to them alone. Your case is better than that.

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Iago uses very clever methods of persuasion and manipulation aimed to use Othello’s hamartia against him, pointing out that “ “She (Desdemona) did deceive her father, marrying you,” so much so that Brabantio “thought ’twas witchcraft”. Through this, Iago is subtly raising the issues of Othello’s cultural differences with Desdemona; a root cause behind Othello’s insecurities with his wife – along with inadequacy due to race, degree of sophistication and age. As Iago prompts Othello to think the worst, his utterances are short and uneasy, revealing the beginning to his downfall, whilst Iago’s dialogue is at length highlighting his growing power of

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Unfortunately, he trusted the wrong person due to his growing lack of self-esteem. Iago, a hypocrite who hid his evil thoughts by appearing as a man of extreme honesty, saw that he could erode Othello’s self-esteem because of who he was, a moor living in European society. He realized he could manipulate Othello for his own evil ends. He slyly used pathos to gain his trust, saying, “My Lord, you know I love you” (III.iii.118) to convince him of his honesty and reliability. Then he suggested the unpredictable nature of Desdemona by saying, “Ay, there’s the point: as, to be bold with you, not to affect many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion, and degree, whereto we see in all things nature tends - Foh!”

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Iago embodies dishonesty using lies and deceit to entangle everyone in his trap. In Act 1, Roderigo questions Iago’s faithfulness to Othello. Iago answers by saying, “Whip me such honest knaves,” meaning he only pretends to be faithful and loyal to Othello, fooling him into trusting Iago (1.1.49). As the play progresses, people describe Iago as honest; however, Iago decieves everyone into believing his word. Othello frequently describes Iago as “A man he is of honesty and trust” (1.3.284) as well as “most honest” (2.3.6).

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Iago uses Roderigo to inform Brabantio about the relationship his precious daughter Desdemona has with a moor Othello. Iago’s initial intention is the downfall of Othello and get the position, as a lieutenant, he wants. Throughout the play, Iago continuously manipulates Othello by showing him false proofs and telling him rumors about Desdemona and Cassio. “I know not that, but such a handkerchief - I am sure it was your wife’s -

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Manipulation is shown in many ways such as politics, the media, misleading information and false advertising. To convey one’s thoughts to your own advantage is seen as crude and unnecessary. However, many people have their reasons in manipulating someone whether they are good or bad. In Shakespeare’s Othello, the concept of taking advantage of someone through manipulation leads to unnecessary, horrible events.

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Iago’s honest reputation and his two-faced personality ensnares the protagonists into his plan. Initially he gets the character to think that he is generally honest and then builds that small reputation up to a bigger one so then he can spill out lies to trick them. He seems to be honest through his actions when he is in view of the character. When Iago informs certain characters that he knows have fallen into his trap, the characters will not doubt what he has to say.

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In William Shakespeare’s Othello the two main characters are Iago and Othello. The entire story centers around Iago 's plan to achieve revenge on Othello for not promoting him to lieutenant. Throughout the story Iago tries to convince Othello that his wife Desdemona has cheated on him with his lieutenant Cassio. Iago’s plan is successfully and easily executed. Othello is tricked into believing that desdemona has been unfaithful and in the end he kills her.

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According to Keyisjian “Iago convinces Othello he is full of” “love and honesty, qualities that Othello admires” (Shakespeare 3.3.116). This is to earn his trust and to undermine him. This was one of the strategies that Iago uses to deceit the characters in the play. He is also very sneaky when he does it.

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