Trust is a powerful emotion and can easily be manipulated. In Shakespeare's Tragedy Othello the Moor of Venice the character Iago uses trust as his sword. Othello is so easily duped by Iago because of his carefully built reputation of being honest. Iago studies each character and he knows each weakness. "What should I do? I confess it is my shame to be so fond; but it is not in my virtue to amend it". (847) This was words from Rodrigo to Iago letting Iago know his feelings toward Desmona and giving Iago a tool to use it against him.
Trusting people is a risk. Human beings are notoriosly forgetful, unreliable, and imperfect. Most of us come from backgrounds where betrayal and insensitivity among friends were common occurences. People are not always trustworthy, yet we must trust them. How do we do that, given the evidence of our past? First, we remind ourselves that we as human being are not perfect and secondly, we don't have to trust everyone but we have to trust someone. Each character trust Iago and each in their own way. Iago has stated his honesty many times during this era. "O, you are well tun'd now! But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, as honest as I am". (855)
The problem with Othello is he does not trust his wife but he places all of his trust in Iago. "Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter, making it light to Cassio. Casio I love thee; but never more be officer of mine". (863) He does not see the deception because of the many mask Iago wears. Iago is crafty, smart and witty and with these attributes comes a dangerous man with a dangerous game. Othello, on the other hand, is noble and honest but his jealousy and insecurities is the dominating factor that caused him to not trust his wife.
Othello's priorities are out of order. How can he trust and honor a man over his wife? When the two were married these were the very two things he promised to do for his wife . It appears he doesn't want his marriage saved because his taste of vengeance is all too obvious.
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
“ O, that’s an honest fellow “, “You advise me well.... goodnight. honest Iago “ - “....that’s an honest fellow “ “ I know thou’rt full of love and honesty ”. Iago has everyone fooled into believing that he is a noble, honest man. Without this public perception of being honest he could never get Othello to believe that Desdemona was cheating on him. Othello would have probably killed him if he didn’t have the public perception.
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).
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....
Jealousy is a neurotic flaw in the everyday lives of a human being. This tragic flaw can turn people from foes to enemies in a mater of seconds by either manipulation, or even just saying the right thing at the right time, that is able to break through someones emotional barricade. This unfortunate trait is always followed with anger no matter what the circumstance. For example, in the bible jealousy over comes Cain, Adam and Eve’s first born son, when him and his brother Able give offerings to Lord. “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor
This was brought on by a simple persuasion of Iago, the evil character in the play. Even though Iago used extreme manipulation to get Othello to be jealous, Iago did not really have to try very hard to get Othello in a jealous state of mind. Othello was blinded by his jealousy, which led him down a path of constant questioning of his wife and his friend Cassio. Throughout the play we see his dramatic flaw sink him deeper and deeper into a cloud of doubt which eventually leads him to kill not only his love of his life but also himself. At the beginning of the play, we see Othello as a strong character.
as an extra plan Iago is making Othello trust in him because only a good friend
Othello, through Iago’s manipulation and Desdemona’s compliments to Cassio, starts to mistrust his wife because he is convinced she is having an affair and becomes convinced to the point he can not believe his wife’s faithfulness. Iago’s disrespect and cruel views towards women enables him to manipulate Othello because he does not care about the fates of women and would rather not deal with them. Also, Iago hurting his wife both mentally and physically illustrates his mistrust towards his wife because he does not believe his wife is faithful and he hurts her, in efforts to prove his superiority. Lack of communication between spouses in relationships can bring many arguments because they are unwilling to admit their mistakes or admit something bothering them and once it all these emotions boil up inside it can lead to the argument becoming worse. These intense arguments can lead to spouses acting upon emotions, which they will later regret their actions during these fight, but in the moment they are too blinded by emotions realize their mistakes. Miscommunication can also lead to others being labeled based on other’s perspective of the person, which is bad because they might not act that way, but if the person does not confront them then they will always assume the other person’s view of a person is correct, instead of learning the truth by meeting the
building a trust, a trust in which all of Iago's victims believe to be an
The Tragedy of Othello William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, from the sixteenth century is an excellent example of Renaissance humanism. “A poet of unparalleled genius, Shakespeare emerged during the golden age of England under the rule of Elizabeth I.”(Fiero 3:98) He produced comedies, tragedies, romances and histories. According to Webster’s pocket dictionary, a tragedy is defined as a form of drama in which the protagonist comes to a disaster, as through a flaw in character, and in which the ending is usually marked by pity or sorrow. I would like to concentrate on the character Iago and the theme of deceit.
Iago is no “honest man” he is known to be lying, cheating man who just wants everyone to have their eye on him, he wants to be the star of the play. Iago “the Machiavellian” in my opinion manipulates everyone so that he can look like he is the innocent one and so that
The turning point of the play Othello resides in Act 3. This key point consists of Iago slyly tricking Othello into believing that his own wife Desdemona was betraying him. Up until this event Othello had continually been portrayed as a intelligent, strong, and confident man. While the former two still stand true, the latter has been proven false throughout the entirety of Act 3. One of the most significant reasons for Othello to so quickly trust Iago and his manipulative nature is his lack of confidence socially. While Othello is a strong military man with many tales of battles he’s fought in, he lacks the confidence he possessed in those scenarios when he is engaging with the other characters in the play.
Othello is one who believes in justice and fairness and will make no exception, even for the love of his life. Ultimately, he murders her because he is, “One that loved not wisely but too well.” (V, ii, 398) This, above all, gives the play its powerful end. Othello’s true flaw is not vile, destructive jealousy, but rather pure and prevailing love.
Othello being very easily manipulated led him to make choices that would later on kill his wife and even kill himself. Othello having poor judgment lead him to trust the wrong people and this tied to him making the wrong decisions. His jealousy and obsession with Desdemona was what lead him to kill her. If Othello did not possess these traits the drama would have ended completely different. Othello let himself believe everything Iago told him, if he chose to trust his wife the whole conflict would have been averted. His obsession with his wife was so strong that he could not help think about what she did with Cassio and the only way out was to kill her.
Iago knows very well that trust and deceit must go hand in hand in order for him to achieve his vengeance on Othello and Cassio. Hence, as he plans the downfalls of them, he is continually trying to obtain their undoubting trust. He slowly poisons people’s thoughts, creating ideas in their heads without implicating himself. Iago even says himself that the advice he gives is free and honest and thus, people rarely stop to consider the possibility that Iago is fooling them.