Iago asserts that sense and reason cooperate as if they were on a balance, and that if sense were not governed by reason “our natures would conduct us to the most preposterous conclusions”(1.3.324–25), so, by this view, when one focuses on sense more than reason, their lusts will cause them to do terrible things. Iago does not see any drawbacks from uncontrolled reason, and he does not believe that love is more than “a lust of the blood and a permission of the will” (1.3.329), but in the play the opposite seems to be true. Reason does not tempers sense, but instead sense must set the foundation for reasonable conclusions, or they will lose unity with reality, so reason causes Othello to come to “preposterous conclusions” by relying only on rational thoughts to found his suspicion about Desdemona. Neither reason nor sense are invalid, but one must rely on both to get the most sure truth he or she can, and reason must not take priority to what the senses can clearly perceive, so by separating Othello’s reasonable mind from his senses, Iago can control him with false logic.
Iago robs Othello of his reason by passing fabricated logic as truth, and Iago’s language seems based in fact and proof, but it is disconnected from reality, so it only sounds true compared to itself. John D Cox points to the move from Venice to Cyprus as the turning point in the play and says that the difference is that Cyprus, as an island, is not joined to the main land like Venice and that in this place Iago can have control over Othello (79). By moving to an isolated setting, the characters are symbolically isolated from truth, but in Venice both sense and reason can rely on each other to create a sound picture of reality. In Venice, the Duke uses both...
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...ir happening with his own eyes, so he can neither prove nor disprove it, but he needs information to make a decision. He must rely on reason to fill in the missing information, but his reason cannot lead to the truth because he is ignoring his senses and relying only on Iago’s information and alleged logic. Othello’s senses create an isolated sphere of reasoning that seems secure, but has no grounding in reality, and by ignoring the information his senses give him, it is actually his reason that leads him to the “preposterous conclusions” that Iago believes are caused by over reliance on sense.
Works Cited
Cox, John, D. Seeming Knowledge: Shakespeare and Skeptical Faith. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2007.
Shakespeare, William. Othello in The Norton Shakespeare: Essential Plays and Sonnets. Ed. Greenblatt, et al. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009. 1179–1251.
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.
Iago when talking to Othello, would exaggerate the many of the scenes in order to convince him of the affair between Desdemona. "In sleep I heard him say, Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our love; and then, sir, would he grip and wring my hand, cry, O sweet creature! then kiss me hard" (Act III, Scene III, Lines 419-422). He fuels up Othello 's emotional side which produces anger and jealousy through this disparaging details from Iago 's mouth. Iago is bright when eliminating the invisible hurdle before Othello 's willpower and is able to manipulate him easily through taping into his absurd reasoning. Othello 's reasoning is being played by Iago to make Othello believe that Cassio has something with Desdemona which in tales to further rouse emotions. Through Iago 's exaggeration he even gets Othello to believe him in a way that Othello is convinced and repeats back what he heard from Iago to Desdemona. Othello exaggerates Desdemona 's disloyalty out of all proportion as human possibility, comparing her sexual intercourse to the breeding of summer flies or foul toads. This gigantic scene seems to hand doubt on the platter, Othello seems to have stretched Desdemona’s transgression to make her the worst wife humanly possible. Perhaps any unfaithfulness is as painful to him, and his exaggerations only communicate the
Iago’s artful manipulation of Othello’s mind is done in such a way that Othello no longer realizes what he is doing. Angered by the “proof” Iago gives him, Othello does what he believes was honorable in his situation. When he wishes to kill his wife, it is not because he wants it to end that way, but rather because he feels it is the only way to clear the sins the she has committed. Before he kills her Othello says, “Justice to break her sword! One more, one more!/ Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee,/ And love thee after.” (114).
Shakespeare, William. "Othello". The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. 2100-2172.
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 ...
Othello placed complete trust and faith in Iago, recognizing this Iago manipulated the Moor who was, “of a free and open nature that thinks men honest and but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by th’nose as asses are” Othello is tricked and manipulated by “honest Iago” the very comrade that he trusts the most. Othello was made frail and was “perplexed in the extreme”, he lost his ability to make clear judgments and decisions. Bradley asserted that Iago was able to manipulate Othello because he had little experience in the “corrupt profit of civilized life”. Leo Kirchbaum agrees with Bradley and denounced Othello as a “romantic idealist who considers human nature superior to what it actually is”. Iago subtly plays on Othello’s inexperience with human nature and the trust that he puts on him. When Iago delicately questions Casio’s integrity “I think that he is honest”, the logical response would be for Othello to ignore the implications and investigate the accusations. Instead Othello willingly accepts to circumstantial, falsified and non-conclusive evidence put before him by
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009. Print
Shakespeare, William. "Othello". The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. Ed. Philip M. Parker. [San Diego, Calif.]: ICON Classics, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Interestingly, as Othello is preparing to kill Desdemona, he still believes that he is using reason to make his decisions. He says, “It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul./ Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,/ It is the cause” (V.ii.1-3). While he does not speak his reason, he is confident that he has one good enough for which to kill. This continues into an emotional set of lines about how much he is dreading preforming the necessary deed. It is not until the last set of Othello’s lines that he admits to being a fool overcome with
1. Othello, we have seen, was trustful, and thorough in his trust. He put entire confidence in the honesty of Iago, who had not only been his companion in arms, but, as he believed, had just proved his faithfulness in the matter of the marriage. This confidence was misplaced, and we happen to know it; but it was no sign of stupidity in Othello. For his opinion of Iago was the opinion of practically everyone who knew him: and that opinion was that Iago was before all things "honest", his very faults being those of excess in honesty. This being so, even if Othello had not been trustful and simple, it would have been quite unnatural in him to be unmoved by the warnings of so honest a friend, warnings offered with extreme reluctance and manifestly from a friend's sense of duty. [Endnote 3] Any husband would have been troubled by them.
"Othello." Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 649-87. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. .
Barthelemy, Anthony G. "Introduction" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 1-19)
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