In the play Othello, by Shakespeare, one of Shakespeare’s main themes is “honesty.” We see very little instances in the play where pure honesty is played out. In Steve Cassal’s essay, he examines “honesty” in the play, and how this virtue is expressed in the characters. The play conceals true honesty until it ultimately is revealed after tragic events occur. Through the play, Shakespeare uncovers that true honesty is rare because nobody is purely honest until tragedy strikes.
Iago, the most villainous of the characters, is seen as disguising his honesty with wicked acts. Ironically, Iago is described by many of the characters as, “honest Iago,” even though that is a completely false characterization. Iago is excellent at disguising his honesty by using phrases like “As honest as I am” or “As I am an honest man.” Throughout the play, “honest Iago” is seen lying to almost every character, but one of the main acts he is guilty for was when he let Othello into thinking that his wife was cheating on him with Cassio. While trying to convince Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful and that Cassio is disloyal, Iago tells Othello, “I speak not yet of proof. Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; Wear your eye thus, not jealous nor secure” (3.3.196-198). In this quote, Iago is essentially implying that Othello should watch over his wife while with Cassio, but he should not watch out of jealousy. Obviously, Iago’s selfishness causes him to fabricate these lies in order to get his ways, which clearly proves how rare honesty is.
Iago continues masking his pure identity, until his genuine self is revealed once tragedy strikes. Iago pretends to be Cassio’s best friend but really ends up using him to prove to Othello that Desdemona is ...
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...aithful and authentic self to Othello, Emilia steps in to clarify how chaste and pure Desdemona actually was. After Desdemona’s murder, Emilia says, “Moor, she was chaste. She loved thee, cruel Moor” (5.2.250). It is after this tragic incident where Othello finally receives the opportunity to learn of Desdemona’s pure honest character from Emilia. As proven, it’s impossible to notice honesty recurring frequently throughout the play, and genuine honesty ends up being released only after tragedy occurs.
In conclusion, Shakespeare reveals that true honesty is rare because nobody is purely honest until tragedy strikes. Honesty is uncommon because Iago disguises his true self, and Emilia, along with Desdemona, who are the most truthful characters, fabricate lies. Conclusively, these characters’ genuine and pure identities are exposed only after Desdemona’s tragic death.
Othello is such a gullible character with so much trust in the wrong people. He trusts Iago before he trusts his own wife, Desdemona; he let Iago get into his mind. Iago arises any doubt Othello has for anyone he ever trusted making them all seem untrustworthy. More then anything Iago uses pathos to appeal to emotion. “ But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve For daws to peck at. I am not what I am” (Othello, Shakespeare, Act I Scene I Line 65-66). Iago talks about being open and honest; although this is not true it makes the other characters feel secure. Othello is a strong character, but Iago is his downfall. Blinded by jealousy and questions Othello will no longer trust Desdemona nor Cassio, because of this he will meet his
Act iii, scene iii, lines 108-131 of William Shakespeare’s “Othello” unquestionably shows Iago’s trickery and deceptiveness which is masked through his reputation for honesty, reliability and direct speaking. This section not only shows Iago’s slow but powerful act of deception, but also shows the jealousy and insecurities slowly depriving Othello’s inner peace and balance.
honest man to deceive Othello and other characters in the play. The perception of the public
Iago wanted Othello’s position and used others to shame Othello and gain stature. Iago dressed himself up a trustworthy man and worked his way into Othello’s trust with tricks and lies. He wore a very convincing mask; often temporarily defending the person he was trying to ruin to further his honest visage. He says to Othello, “Men should be what they seem…” (3.3.127) through these methods, Iago convinces Othello that Cassio, an officer, was having an affair with Othello’s beautiful wife Desdemona. As a vicious result, Othello is driven mad with anger and sadness and throttles Desdemona in their bed. The death and want left by Iago’s deception is vast hurting everyone involved most frequently on a mortal level. When the truth finally comes out, Othello, in his grief and remorse, ends up stabbing himself with a dagger. In the end, many die due to Iago’s deception, through villainy or despair, and none gain what they truly want because of it. This just goes to show that the mask of deception that a man wears can cause an unbelievable amount of harm, bodily and worse,
In the play Othello, the “aha” moment, the epiphany, and when the truth is revealed is when Othello discovers that all ideas that Iago put into his head about Cassio sleeping with Desdemona, the handkerchief, her being a whore were all just a lie and Iago, his so called “best friend” lied to him. . This scene takes place in Act five scene two, Emilia quotes “By heaven I do not, gentlemen. O mud’rous coxcomb! What should such a fool. Do with so good a wife.” This is the truth moment in which it affects Othello. Tension is released because of this since Othello now comes to the realization that he was lied to and we see how he is affected by the truth in this act when he quotes “ Are there no stones in heaven but what serves for the thunder?
Implicitly targeting Othello’s doubts about marrying Desdemona and insecurities about her actions with infidelity, Iago eventually impacts Othello enough that the General himself confides in Iago about his own wife. Earlier in the play, ‘honest Iago’ needs to first gain Othello’s confidence and he does so by expressing his loyalty to Cassio, “I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth/ Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio”, while Othello is present in a conflict (2.3. 203-204). Then, later in the play Iago baits Othello by suggesting that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. Immediately, Othello wants more information; however, Iago nervously responds with, “…vicious in my guess-/ As I confess…” and tries to calm Othello by saying, “My noble lord-” (3.3 46-47, 93). When voicing his devotion to Cassio, Iago immediately begins to play on his false reputation as ‘honest Iago’. He enables Othello, and his fellow characters, to think highly of him and to respect that even when his partner, Cassio, has not been following orders, Iago would even endure physical pain and have his “tongue cut from [his] mouth” and proves his locality (2.3. 203). This leads to when Iago responds to Othello’s queries, about
Throughout the novel, up until his insanity, Othello is described as a temperate man whose honor does not allow him to believe assumptions unless he has been shown proof. Firstly, when the men of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, confront Othello’s men, Othello calmly says, “Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them.” (10). Othello is confronted on the matter of his elopement with Desdemona with force and with words. Not only is he very cool about his dealings with violence, but also when he is asked to tell the story of how he had Desdemona fall in love with him he states the truth, and he doesn’t leave out any details of how he accomplished it. He openly admits that had any other man told his story, that man also would have won her heart. Only a truly honorable man can admit that it was a story, and not his personality that truly won the woman’s heart. Othello’s honor is shown by his trust in the people he knows and loves. When Iago tells Othello that he believes Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, Othello does not believe Iago initially.
Characters in the play fail to comprehend Iago’s true nature until it is too late. Those interacting with Iago fall into the belief that Iago is loyal to his superiors, when Iago is actually focused on bringing them (Cassio and Othello) down. Iago constructs a false impression of his loyalty to Othello through ...
Iago is one of the most complex characters in William Shakespeare’s Othello. To most of the characters, he is “Honest Iago” (Shakespeare, 5.2.73). however, the audience knows that Iago is the furthest thing from honest. Iago is a devil bent on destroying the lives of everyone around him. At the beginning of the play, the audience learns that Iago is determined to ruin Othello’s marriage to Desdemona. He has appointed a new lieutenant, Michael Cassio. This angers Iago because he feels that he has much more military experience and should be the lieutenant. Iago has also heard rumours that both Othello and Cassio have slept with his wife Emilia. He concocts a malicious plan to ruin the lives of all who have wronged him, and consequently establishing
William Shakespeare’s tragic drama Othello presents to the audience a picture of many different shades of morality and immorality. It is the purpose of this essay to elaborate in detail on this thesis.
William Shakespeare attained literary immortality through his exposition of the many qualities of human nature in his works. One such work, The Merchant of Venice, revolves around the very human trait of deception. Fakes and frauds have been persistent throughout history, even to this day. Evidence of deception is all around us, whether it is in the products we purchase or the sales clerks' false smile as one debates the purchase of the illusory merchandise. We are engulfed by phonies, pretenders, and cheaters. Although most often associated with a heart of malice, imposture varies in its motives as much as it's practitioners, demonstrated in The Merchant of Venice by the obdurate characters of Shylock and Portia.
Iago uses the word "honest" in act three of Othello in three primary ways. The first way he uses it is to mean honourable, about Cassio. He uses this meaning of the word to force Othello to doubt Cassio's honesty, and question his hounorablility. The second way is to mean faithful, both about Desdemona and Cassio. Iago uses it in the context that the two may be "truthful," again to make Othello doubt. The third way is Iago's most effective use, which is to use honest in the context to mean truthful, as in, he has told Othello the truth. However, Shakespeare has created tremendous dramatic irony, for we know that Iago is being anything except truthful. The three uses of the word honest are used largely in the subtext of the act, they are used by Iago to force Othello to question his wife's integrity, and honesty. Shakespeare uses the word by Iago to plant tremendous doubt in Othello's mind. The word is also used by Iago in the action line. His objective is constantly to make Othello think things without actually being told them, and Iago's parroting of the word and constant useage do this quite nicely.
Without a doubt, one of the main themes that runs throughout William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Othello, is that of honesty. In the play, the most interesting character is Iago, who is commonly called and known as "Honest Iago." However, this could not be farther from the truth. Through some carefully thought-out words and actions, Iago is able to manipulate others to do things in a way that benefits and moves him closer to his own goals. He is smart and an expert at judging the characters of others. Because of this, Iago pushes everyone to their tragic end.
Iago is a clever calculating villain. I found it ironic that in Othello, Iago was known as an honest person, when in reality he was anything but honest. Through my research, I was able to find out that Shakespearean’s definition of honest, and the definition of honest that we use today, are not the same thing. Today’s definition of honest implies that someone is truthful. In Shakespearean’s time however, it carried a completely different definition. An honest person was someone who gave the appearance to the public as being a gentleman. While Iago was a gentleman in public, in private he was not. Instead he was out for revenge, and manipulated so many characters in the play.
The word “honesty” has been mentioned in Othello many times, each representing a different meaning of the word, the first use of the word is to describe chastity, the question of whether a women is honest or if she is loose. Iago uses his personal dishonesty to convince Othello that his wife is sexually dishonest, at the same time pretending to be looking out for his best interest, as...