ipl-logo

Othello Deception Essay

844 Words4 Pages

As Johan Wilhelm von Goethe, a German writer, once noted, deception is not always done to one by others but rather something that one accomplishes themself, "We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves." In the play, Othello's self-deception is a significant theme in Othello. The antagonist Iago is able to manipulate and deceive Othello into believing that his wife, Desdemona is unfaithful. Othello, already prone to jealousy and insecurity, falls victim to Iago's lies and becomes convinced of Desdemona's infidelity. Ultimately leads to Othello's tragic decision to kill his wife and himself. The play serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of believing in and acting on deceptive beliefs and the importance of trusting in one's judgment and the truth. One of the main perpetrators of deception in Othello is the character of Iago, and it truly demonstrates why one should trust one's inner beliefs. To start, Iago is jealous of Cassio's …show more content…

Cassio loves Desdemona and believes he can win her over with charm and articulateness. He says, "The fair devil! My lord, for aught I know" (Act 2, Scene 1). Cassio's belief in his charm and Desdemona's supposed affection for him leads him to underestimate Iago's scheming and ultimately contributes to the events of the play that do not favour him. The character of Roderigo is also deceived by Iago, believing that he will be able to win Desdemona's love with Iago's help. Roderigo says, "I will sell all my land" (Act 1, Scene 3) in order to buy gifts for Desdemona and win her affection. However, Iago has no intention of helping Roderigo and instead uses him for his gain. Even Emilia, Iago's wife, is deceived by her husband and unknowingly helps bring about Desdemona's death by providing the handkerchief that shows her supposed infidelity. Hence this demonstrates the destructive power of self-deception and the importance of being aware of one's biases and

Show More
Related
1078 Words | 5 Pages

Iago plants the idea in Othello’s head that his wife is cheating on him with his friend. He believes the lies that Iago crafts to turn him against Desdemona. Instead of asking her directly, Othello keeps in touch with Iago and continuously feeds into jealousy that is “begot upon itself, born on itself” (Shakespeare 3.4.165). He does not have concrete proof of the claim, but he is obsessed with the idea of it being true. He cannot stop thinking about the adultery, and is so consumed by his wrath that he tarnished his reputation and relationship with others.

Read More
555 Words | 3 Pages

In Othello the play, Othello has many flaws that don't help him in this play and as a matter of fact, work very well against him. Iago his friend notices these flaws and uses them against Othello to get what he wants without him knowing what is happening. How gullible he is, his jealousy and his insecurity all got used against him like nothing, he finds out the person he is closest to has been lying to him the whole time and using all three of these things against him. Othello being so gullible didn’t help anything in the story, he tried to act like he didnt believe it but in his head he was scared and believed it.

Read More
1532 Words | 7 Pages

He has climbed his way to the top and has secured himself wealth, power, and a beautiful wife. All of these factors contribute to Iago’s jealousy. Iago determines to ruin Othello by planting seeds of doubt and jealousy. He begins by telling Othello that Cassio has slept with Desdemona. Because of Cassio’s flirtatious character, Othello is easily deceived and believes Iago.

Read More
586 Words | 3 Pages

Iago’s use of manipulation throughout the story contributes to Othello feeling Jealous and having trust issues around everyone at the end of the story. William Shakespeare gives us several examples of Othello feeling a lack of trust one

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

He sells his land, gives away his jewels, and ends up attempting to kill Cassio just to steal Desdemona away from Othello. Roderigo becomes blinded by the envious monster, making him irrational and uncontrollable. Contrastingly, Iago reveals a different take on the monster characterization of jealousy and envy. He is cunning, taking his jealousy and envious feelings as motivations to destroy Othello and Cassio’s lives.

Read More
824 Words | 4 Pages

-Sigmund Freud Othello and Iago’s relationship revolves around preconception and deception.   Othello does not question Iago’s motive when questioning Desdemona’s faithfulness.   In the play Othello, Shakespeare is able to demonstrate perception and betrayal, by using literary elements like irony, imagery, and metaphor.

Read More
1097 Words | 5 Pages

In the first act of the play, after Roderigo finds out that Othello married Desdemona, he carries out a dialogue with Iago about Iago’s discontentment with Othello, Roderigo comments, “What a full fortune does the thick-lips owe,/ If he can carry it thus!” With this, Roderigo shows his feelings of jealousy for Othello, basically stating that luck was on Othello’s side in getting Desdemona, but it will probably not last very long. In addition to this, Roderigo gives Brabantio large sums of money to Iago in order to try to get Desdemona from Othello. In addition to Roderigo’s jealousy, Iago’s jealousy of Cassio cascades to the point where he begins to manipulate Othello to want to kill Cassio, which ends up leading to the death of Desdemona. In the beginning, Iago details how he was passed up for a promotion by Othello.

Read More
1477 Words | 6 Pages

He ends up uses all the money Rodrigo gave him, for himself. Not only that, but Iago ends up killing Roderigo, he says, “if Roderigo lives, he’ll expect me to give back all the gold and jewels I swindled him out of as gifts to Desdemona, that must not happen.” Iago stabs Roderigo, and puts all the charges on him. Emilia is Iago’s wife as well as Desdemona’s maid, he lacks attention and sympathy towards her. It is very obvious that he does not care about her.

Read More
493 Words | 2 Pages

Iago betrays Othello, his supposed friend and commander, by manipulating him into believing that his wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful. Iago does this by planting seeds of doubt in Othello's mind, fabricating evidence, and leading him to believe that Cassio, another of his trusted associates, is involved in the affair. Iago's ultimate goal is to destroy Othello, and he uses betrayal as a means to achieve this end.

Read More
769 Words | 4 Pages

Shakespeare also uses the illusion that Iago loves Cassio very much and would do anything it took to cure him from evil (2.3.150-151) to once again convince the other characters that Iago would never betray a friend he cares dearly about. The audience clearly can see that Iago clearly does not like Cassio and that Iago is being fake to the rest of the

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

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).

Read More
766 Words | 4 Pages

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 -

Read More
868 Words | 4 Pages

When we look at the name of the play, Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice), we can make the assumption that Othello is an outsider in the book. Before we start to read the play we already know that Othello will be an outsider and when we read the play we can understand why. We also fin in the play, Othello, which Iago refers to Cassio as an “honest fool”, but in that phrase honest have a different meaning. Honest in the play is used so many times that is ironic. Iago is seen as honest and we know that Iago is everything but honest.

Read More
944 Words | 4 Pages

Iago also manipulates Othello with jealousy. When Othello is gone at war, Iago tells him that Cassio and Desdemona were getting too close. At first Othello does not believe him, but by Iago saying “nothing,my lord; or if- I know not what” Othello starts to question if it is true (III. III. 39). Iago constantly uses his “innocence” to make Othello jealous and start to assume that it is true. These actions eventually lead to a tragic event.

Read More
773 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Othello Deception Essay

Open Document