Deception In Othello

Essay examining the role of deception in the play, as seen through the action of the main characters: Othello, Iago, and Desdemona.
Othello is, at heart, a play about deception, and the emotional turmoil and mental anguish it can cause. Although Iago aptly demonstrates all that is evil through his malevolent manipulation of others, he is not the only practitioner of deception in the play. Othello himself can also be regarded as a study in deception, albeit of a much more subtle variety than that of the gleefully fiendish Iago; for Othello engages in self-deception – less obvious, but eventually just as destructive. Indeed, the only character above reproach is the guileless Desdemona; enmeshed in a web of steel through the deception of others,
He is a black man among white men, and a soldier among civilians. To the Venetians, he is simply ' the Moor' (I,iii,47), a description that neatly encapsulates his state as a foreigner. The term is indelibly associated with negative racial connotations – Iago describes Othello as ' an old black ram' (I,i,88) and ' the devil' (I,i,91), while Rodrigo calls him ' gross' and 'lascivious' (I,i,126). Othello, while unaware of the slanders of Iago, is only too aware of his precious position in the Venetian power structure. Hence, he creates for himself a new identity, a new sense of self that transcends the one-dimensionality of 'the Moor'. He cannot change his origins – although as he lets Iago know (I,ii,19-24) he is descended from 'men of royal siege' - but he can fill his persona with something uniquely Othello, to lose the negative connotations of 'the Moor' and create for himself a unique identity. He attempts this in his wooing of Desdemona – his new identity is the ' story of (his) life' (I,iii,129) , and it is so intensely moving and personal that Desdemona is entranced. Ironically, there is a sense that Othello feels threatened by Desdemona's enthusiasm: she would 'listen with a greedy ear' to devour (his)discourse'(I,iii,150) , and Othello feels compelled to concoct even more fantastical tales: 'of the cannibals that each other eat, /the Anthropophagi, and men whose heads/ do grow beneath their shoulders' (I,iii,143-145).
Othello demands from Iago 'ocular proof' (III,iii,366) of his wife's infidelity, but his vision, corrupted by the 'green-ey'd monster' (III,iii,170), is satisfied by mere 'imputation and strong circumstance'(III,iii,412). Iago's trickery in convincing Othello that his conversation with Cassio (followed by the fortuitous arrival of Bianca) in IV, i, 97-157 concerns the seduction of Desdemona, illustrates the extent to which Othello's senses have been deluded and corrupted. Othello eavesdrops over the conversation between Iago and Cassio, but interprets the words to suit the state of his diseased mind: 'Do you triumph, Roman? Do you triumph?' (IV,i,118). He cannot see or hear for himself, and must rely on the false information 'fed' to him. And this occurs shortly after his body has been reduced to the fit (IV,i,43) in which all his senses are confused and jangled. Indeed, his greatest fear has been physically realised: 'perdition catch my soul/But I do love thee, and when I love thee not/Chaos is come again.' (III,iii,91-93) When Emilia vouches steadfastly for her mistress' chastity, the poison in Othello's ears dismisses her evidence as the ignorance of a ' simple bawd' (IV,ii,20). The ultimate deception takes place in the soft, slow death scene of Desdemona. Othello is instinctively drawn towards Desdemona's beauty, but in a perverse self-delusion, comes to see himself as a