Shakespeare makes this scene significant and dramatically effective through dramatic irony and by using two very different, charismatic figures.
In this extract, Othello has a dramatic change of character. No longer serene, he is cast into a state of madness and confusion. He is tormented by jealousy and disbelief. He feels betrayed. However, he is not yet convinced of his wife’s treachery. He looks at her and cannot believe that she might commit such a crime. As she enters, he says, ‘If she be false, then heaven mocks itself, I’ll not believe it.’ Later, provoked by Iago’s words, he proclaims, ‘I’ll tear her all to pieces.’ As Iago shows him ‘damning evidence’ of Desdemona’s adultery, Othello cannot help but believe him. Why would his trusted subordinate lie?
It is interesting to note that, although Othello demands ‘ocular proof’ that Desdemona is false, Iago does not provide it, merely telling him how he saw Cassio wiping his beard on her handkerchief.
Othello grows increasingly violent and aggressive. His well cultured European manner deteriorates rapidly. His speech is filled with abuse and curses. In many theatrical productions, Othello is seen to become much more of the Moor that he is stereotyped to be. He wears African style garments and is seen to become less Christian. Perhaps Shakespeare is insinuating that Othello has lost hope in Christianity, feels betrayed by the Europeans whose taunts he so long withstood, and feels the need to become exactly that which he was accused of being.
There is huge dramatic irony through out the scene. The audience sees Othello falling through the trap laid out for him, but can only watch. It is very frustrating. The more Iago deceives him, the more Othello lays his trust on him. He addresses him as ‘faithful Iago.’
The seen is ended by Iago’s words, ‘I am your own forever.’ This is deeply ironic, as he is no longer really inferior to Othello.
As Othello goes mad, the hierarchy reverses. Iago is the one holding all the strings, manipulating him like a puppet. Othello, blind to the deception, effectively lays himself at Iago’s feet and at his discretion.
Iago’s reaction is of great importance. The audience cannot see his true thoughts, but only the mask that he uses on the outside. One can guess that he would feel a certain degree of smugness at his success. However, he may too, like Othello, be experiencing inner turmoil. It is possible that he feels guilt and regret for his actions.
Although the scandal that Iago came up with is a complete lie, Othello ends up believing him. Iago uses his ability to talk to people in order to accomplish his plan of destroying Othello because he wasn’t granted the position of the Venice army. (Sorto 1) A manipulative person gives himself the full-rights to do as they please without taking the rights of others into consideration, and they go about doing so by presenting themselves in the purest image of a good moral person, while they hide the true evil inside waiting for the right moment to dominate their prey. “They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors as permissible....
To better understand Iago’s effect on these different characters, it is important to look in to his own character. Iago’s motives are not clear, however, it is true that he despises Othello, and that he is jealous of the fact that Michael Cassio had taken over the role of lieutenant; a role that Iago wanted very badly. It is in the beginning of the play that Iago confesses to follow Othello but not be loyal to him,
In Othello, Iago is Shakespeare’s most malicious character and serves as a vehicle to these two themes. Iago despises Othello; he has a strong will to destroy Othello’s life, yet the motive behind his plan goes unexplained. Iago is a great manipulator of the tongue and lies to everyone in order to advance his plan; however, every character in the play considers Iago an honest character, and Othello even associates Iago with light and eyesight. Othello continuously asks Iago to explain or make something clearer. Until the very end, Iago appears to be honest and helpful to the other characters, but underneath this seemingly harmless façade, Iago is a demon with the strongest will; he will stop at nothing until he ruins Othello’s life. Iago uses a positive appearance to enact his
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 ...
Also in this scene, we see how much Othello had trusted, loved, and believed in Desdemona. He says, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest" and "If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe't"(3.3.223, 275-6). But he does suspect her, and it seems these statements are only there to convince himself that she really is true.
Iago is the main antagonists against Othello, throughout the entire play. Iago is not realistically motivated. Even though Iago makes many of his decisions with careful thought, he does have a main flaw that will come back to haunt him in the end. Iago unlike other characters, doesn’t have true honorable morals. Because of this, he makes many situations which are manageable, and takes them further out of proportion he does this for his own pure enjoyment to create havoc for sport. Iago manipulates the characters who trust too easily, such are Roderigo and Othello. Iago uses them as an addition to his plans, which he manages so they will work in his favor in the end, or so he believes they will.
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the antagonist and villain who causes all the trouble and disorder. Othello is the protagonist, and is the main person Iago’s destruction and revenge is aimed towards. Othello is naïve and gives everybody his trust even though he may not know them or they haven’t earned his trust yet. He often refers to Iago has “Honest” Iago, which is a direct showing of irony because Iago is not honest at all (Shakespeare, I, iii. 289). Iago is so angry that Othello didn’t give him the promotion that was given to Cassio that he plans to seek revenge against Othello. He seeks his revenge against Othello by manipulating and lying to all of the people around him including his closest friend Roderigo, Cassio, Othello’s wife Desdemona and even his own wife Emilia. In the end, Iago’s lies and manipulation led to the deaths of Roderigo, Emilia, Othello and Desdemona. This isn’t the first time many of these individual characteristics have shown up in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
The scene initiates where Othello is interrogating Emilia on Desdemona’s presumed infidelity. Earlier in Act 3, the themes of anger and confusion are introduced by Iago, where Othello begins to question Desdemona of her alleged disloyal actions. Othello, whom was previously was enraged by Iago's deceptive language regarding Cassio and Desdemona’s ‘imagined’ affair, carried through his anger and unleashed it in a fit of a barrage of accusations such as "heaven doth truly thou art false as hell." (Act 4, Scene 2, Line 39), towards Desdemona and calling her ‘a subtle whore’ and ‘strumpet’, which implies the disbelief that Othello has for Desdemona. However, Othello is oblivious to the truth, therefore leaving desdemona stunned and confused as she hesitantly questions Othello of his demeanor, stated "to whom my lord, with whom, how am I false?" (Act 4, Scene 2, lines 40). Ot...
Is he a heartless man who’s only happiness is to bring sorrow upon others? No, Iago has a just reason for what he does, even though he causes the deaths of Cassio, Emilia, and Desdemona in his search for revenge; Iago is not a heartless fiend, just a man wronged. Fred West addresses the fact of Iago misrepresentation, “It is not sufficient to simply drape Iago in allegorical trappings and proclaim him Mister Evil or a Machiavel or a Vice. Such a limited view of Iago is an injustice to the complexity of his character, since Shakespeare’s studies in personality are acclaimed by psychologists for their accuracy and profundity” (27). West seems to be reminding us that just seeing Iago as the representation of evil within the play of “Othello” is the wrong way to paint him.
This really starts the tragedy with the audience now knowing that evil Iago's plan has worked and the play. will have a tragic ending, this builds up the tension as well, because. the characters in the play still refer to Iago as "honest" when the audience can see plainly he is not. Shakespeare uses certain ironies in the play, where he seems to be. saying something to a person, but in fact saying something.
...or Desdemona and attest to her innocence” (Gruber 100). It is, “Desdemona’s disobedient insistence on her innocence [that] maddened the priestly Othello and hastened her death” (Calderwood 363). Ironically, Othello finds out the truth only after he has smothered the life out of Desdemona and silenced her permanently and many others have suffered unjust deaths as well. Once Othello learns the truth, he can no longer live with the guilt of having killed his innocent wife. He is definitely not the man that he wanted to be. He feels as if the only way to escape the coming judgment is to take his own life.
Lying by omission is incorporated into the theme of appearance versus reality. Othello often falls prey to Iago’s twisted words. Iago plants a seed of doubt in Othello’s mind about Desdemona when the men see her talking to Cassio. Cassio leaves in a hurry and Iago tells Othello that Cassio “would steal away so guilty-like/ Seeing you coming” (3.3.39-40). He is telling Othello that Cassio would only be leaving so quickly if he and Desdemona were involved in something clandestine. Iago is planting seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind. He is making it seem that Cassio is acting suspicious, but in reality, Cassio is leaving quickly because he is “ill at ease” (3.3.30). around Othello given his current situation after the drinking incident in Act II. Another example of Iago twisting Othello’s reality is when Othello says he will only believe that Desdemona is unfaithful to him when he sees “ocular proof” (3.3.360) with his own eyes. When Iago manages to procure the handkerchief and place it in Cassio’s possession, Othello effortlessly takes it as proof and therefore is completely convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity. To Othello, it appears that Desdemona is cheating, because Cassio has her handkerchief, but in reality, Iago had planted it in Cassio’s chambers for him to find. Iago is liar; who makes other character believe what he wants them to believe through twisting his words
Othello is a man who comes from a hard life. In the time period the play is set in, racism is common and Othello is a target for it due to his dark skin. He fought in many battles and was put into slavery for a time. Now he is a high ranking General in the army. Othello, for all that he has been through, is also kind, caring, and trusting of those close to him. He cares and trusts his comrades and is loving and kind to his wife, Desdemona. Othello is also r...
Iago has been excellent at saying the what is needed to get to people, he misleads them to get a reaction he wants out of them. He is clever with his words to avoid confrontation that can easily happen. “Othello 's confusion is the human experience of language. In other words, language itself, not the outside world, determines meaning” (Christofides 2). Iago uses his words against Othello to get him to do Iago’s doings. Iago has an eloquence with
On closer examination, throughout the play we see Iago manipulating all the characters in turn; this shows that he is an expert master manipulator for everyone to be deceived by him. When reading this play we don’t expect Othello to be as easily manipulated by Iago as he was.