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Othello Appearance Vs Reality Essay

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Othello Appearance Vs Reality Essay
Othello - Appearance vs. Reality

Uploaded by firealive (20) on Oct 30, 2004

William Shakespeare focuses a lot of his play, Othello, on the theme of appearance versus reality. Othello, along with other characters in the play, depend on only their eyes and with that they jump to major conclusions. There are many instances in the book where there is hidden confusion, meaning the character believes on only what his or her eyes tell him, hence, Looks can be very deceiving.

One of the first instances where the theme appearance versus reality appears, is when Othello sees Cassio walking away very quickly after conversing with Desdemona, Othello’s wife. The basis around which he is suspicious comes from Iago, a very jealous man. Iago has
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(llll,i,150)

In reality, Iago places Cassio in a position to talk about how great Bianca is so great. Othello sees this from afar and says in shock, “Crying, ‘O dear Cassio,’ as it were, his gesture imports it.” (lll,i,155) Othello now believes everything and has evidence of his eyes, which for him is all the evidence he needs. Now, since Othello trusts Iago, he believes everything Iago says to him and trusts his opinions, even though they are in reality, lies. Iago supports everything Othello has been lead to believe. This marks the begging of the period of Othello’s craziness.

One of the last instances where the theme appearance versus reality appears is when Lodovico, the Duke’s messenger, comes into the book. Lodovico comes to deliver a message for Othello to return to Venice for Othello has done this job of defeating the Turks. Othello reads, “ ‘This fail you not to do, as you will.’” (llll,i,250) As Othello is reading the letter, Desdemona tells Lodovico about what has been going on since they reached Cyprus. Desdemona say, “Cousin, there’s fall’n between him and my lord. An unkind breach, but you shall make all well.” (llll,i,255) Othello hears what she is saying because he is standing right there. So, obviously Desdemona did not intend for this to be a secret. He the threatens Desdemona by asking, “Are you wise?” (lll,i,257) He does not approve of Desdemona telling Lodovico these thing. Othello, now in a huge outrage, slaps Desdemona and storms out. Lodovico

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