Honesty And Jealousy In William Shakespeare's Othello
The text Othello was a play written by Shakespeare. The main themes in this text were; appearance vs reality, honesty as a weapon and jealousy. These themes were strongly portrayed by the interaction of the main characters Iago and Othello.
Iago was the one behind all the chaos that occurs in the text, yet nobody realised that he was to blame until it was too late. Iago plays the role of “the perfect villain” by using honesty as a weapon against Othello by gaining his trust. Once this was achieved Iago made him, vulnerable and discovered that deceiving him was not a very challenging task. Honesty is always associated with positive ideas but Iago used it for evil purposes. This begins when Othello asks him for his opinion on Cassio’s honesty. “I do beseech you, / Though I perchance am vicious in my guess— / As I confess, it is my …show more content…
“I am not what I am.” (1.1.59-67) – Iago. To the characters, he seemed like a genuinely nice person that was always looking out for them when really, he was plotting his revenge against Othello. As Iago develops his plot against Othello, he manipulates the characters. Iago makes them see the appearance that he wants them to see, rather than what is really happening. He does this very cunningly. For example, in scene 3, act 3, He has Othello watch Desdemona have an innocent conversation with Cassio but sows a seed of jealousy in his mind and convinces him that she and Cassio are up to something sinister without directly stating it. “Iago: Ha! I like not that. / Othello: What dost thou say? / Iago: Nothing, my lord; or if—I know not what. / Othello: Was not that Cassio parted from my wife? / Iago: Cassio, my lord! No, sure, I cannot think it, That he would steal away so guilty like, Seeing you coming. / Othello: I do believe 'twas he.” (3.3.37-44). From here onwards, Othello’s thoughts are extremely warped and doesn’t see how they really are because of Iago’s
Iago was the one behind all the chaos that occurs in the text, yet nobody realised that he was to blame until it was too late. Iago plays the role of “the perfect villain” by using honesty as a weapon against Othello by gaining his trust. Once this was achieved Iago made him, vulnerable and discovered that deceiving him was not a very challenging task. Honesty is always associated with positive ideas but Iago used it for evil purposes. This begins when Othello asks him for his opinion on Cassio’s honesty. “I do beseech you, / Though I perchance am vicious in my guess— / As I confess, it is my …show more content…
“I am not what I am.” (1.1.59-67) – Iago. To the characters, he seemed like a genuinely nice person that was always looking out for them when really, he was plotting his revenge against Othello. As Iago develops his plot against Othello, he manipulates the characters. Iago makes them see the appearance that he wants them to see, rather than what is really happening. He does this very cunningly. For example, in scene 3, act 3, He has Othello watch Desdemona have an innocent conversation with Cassio but sows a seed of jealousy in his mind and convinces him that she and Cassio are up to something sinister without directly stating it. “Iago: Ha! I like not that. / Othello: What dost thou say? / Iago: Nothing, my lord; or if—I know not what. / Othello: Was not that Cassio parted from my wife? / Iago: Cassio, my lord! No, sure, I cannot think it, That he would steal away so guilty like, Seeing you coming. / Othello: I do believe 'twas he.” (3.3.37-44). From here onwards, Othello’s thoughts are extremely warped and doesn’t see how they really are because of Iago’s