Othello Act IV Scene ii Reflection

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In Act IV Scene ii of Othello, the disillusioned man finally confronts his wife, Desdemona, about the sins she supposedly committed. Within the exchange of accusations and pleas of innocence, Shakespeare plays with a variety of metaphors to demonstrate the power of imagination, and the blinding effect of believing the figments created by it. More explicitly, set off by the poisonous nudge of Iago’s insinuation, Othello envisions a distorted image of the “real” Desdemona, seeing only what he believes in, rather than the truth that is in front of him.
Shakespeare uses ironic metaphors that express Desdemona’s supposed deceptive duality, to reveal the delusional effects that imagining and believing can have. When Desdemona insists on her fidelity, Othello demands that she swear it, because she, “Being like one of the heaven, the devils themselves Should fear to seize [her],” comparing Desdemona’s “deceptive” appearance to that of a whore disguised as an angel (IV.i.44-45). Here, because Othello is completely blinded by his imagination, he believes that he speaks to a whore in disguise...

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