Deception in Shakespeare’s “Othello”
One may readily perceive the theme of Shakespeare’s “Othello” as deception. Deception appears many times in Othello, but in almost every incident the degree of deception is different. Deception is to “deceive another, illusion, or fraud” (Webster’s New World Pocket Dictionary 69), which is seen as a wrongful act. However, deception may be used to protect someone from getting hurt therefore being used with good intentions.
The very first act of deception is done by the character Desdemona. Desdemona hides her relationship with Othello from her father, knowing he will disapprove due to Othello’s race. Brabantio says, “O, she deceives me/Past thought!” (1.1.163-164). Desdemona’s reasoning for deceiving her father was to protect him. “Desdemona’s devotion to her husband is almost superhuman, as is her courage in marrying him over the objections of her father, the Venetian senator Brabantio.“ (Andrews 132). She knew her father would eventually find out the truth, but she felt that by hiding her relationship with Othello, she would be delaying the inevitable pain which her father was going to feel. Since Desdemona loved her father, her deception was done with only good hearted intentions.
Desdemona again deceives another, but this time it is her husband, Othello. Othello asks Desdemona for a handkerchief which he gave to her, for he had suspicions she was cheating on him. When asked about the whereabouts of the handkerchief, ...
	The first example of deception we see is with the characters of Beatrice and Benedick. These two characters provide the humor throughout Shakespeare's comedy; their repartees and soliloquies tend to leave the reader smiling and anxious for more dialogue between them. Beatrice and Benedick have had a relationship prior to their battles of wit to which she alludes to in Act 2: "Marry, once before he won it for me with false dice; / Therefore your grace may well say I have lost it’ (2.1.265-7). We see that at one time in the past they had a relationship that somewhere went wrong. The deception of Beatrice and Benedick comes courtesy of Don Pedro in Act 2. In this scene, Don Pedro, out of pure amusement, asks Leonato, the governor of Messina, and Claudio, a lord attending on Don Pedro, for help to bring these two together: "If we can do this, Cupid is no / longer an archer; his glory shall be ours…" (2.1.363-4). In Act 2.3, Claudio, Pedro, and Leonato, see Benedick in the garden and decide that that is the right moment for them to try and trick Be...
Incomplete An exploration of Shakespeare’s presentation of trickery and deception in his play ‘Much Ado about Nothing.’ In William Shakespeare’s play ‘Much Ado about Nothing’, there are many instances of trickery and deception, which seem to surround the whole of the play. These instances are as follows: Don Pedro wooing hero for Claudio, Don Pedro wooing hero for himself, Claudio pretending to be Benedick to find out information from Don John and Borachio, Don John and Borachio both know that Claudio is not Benedick but trick Claudio into thinking that they believe that Claudio is in fact Benedick, Benedick pretending to be somebody else whilst talking to Beatrice, Beatrice pretending to believe that she is in fact talking to Benedick, Beatrice having romantic feelings for Benedick, Benedick having romantic feelings for Beatrice, Beatrice not having romantic feelings for Benedick, Benedick not having romantic feelings for Beatrice, Hero is unfaithful with Borachio, Hero is dead, and Antonio having another daughter.
Honesty is one of the most important factors in Othello. And although there is very little honesty actually present in the play the term is most commonly applied to Iago, who also happens to be the most dishonest character in Othello. Due partly to the other characters naiveté, Iago is capable of manipulating, brainwashing, and molding the other characters to satisfy his need for revenge against Othello.
In the beginning Othello is seen as a calm collected man when put into an awkward situation, such as being ridiculed by his wife’s father in thinking that Othello has used some sort of magic to gain Desdemona 's infection. Othello’s calm collected ways start to deteriorate after he is convinced by Iago, a deceiving evil man that Desdemona has slept with Cassio. Othello’s self control no longer exist once he is fully convinced that it is in fact true that Desdemona has been unfaithful. His sense of what is real and what is not real is thrown out the window. Othello starts to become extremely jealous of his used to be beloved Cassio, and after considering giving back his spot as liternuanat he denies him that. He starts to become cold and distant towards his wife, and starts to call her out of her name. As Othello continues to lose control the people around him start to doubt his abilities of being able to protect Cyprus, and even his wife starts to doubt him, and agree with her father. No one knows who this man is anymore, he has started to act in an insanely matter. He can longer be his true self and take on the responsibilities of being general as he starts to crack. With Othello being faced with evil, him being calm is no longer an option for him because he can’t face the fact that the person he loves so dearly is cheating on him. Going back the they handkerchief, the symbol of his love for her. Othello seeing Cassio with Desdemona’s handkerchief sets him over the edge becoming truly convinced that his wife has betrayed him. Even when Desdemona and her maid Emila, Iago’s wife, has told him countless times that she has not been unfaithful, he is so far gone from reality that he does not believe either one of them. With the state of mind he’s in he cannot bear the thought of another man touching his wife. Othello and Iago plan to kill Cassio and Desdemona. After he
Pray you let Cassio be received again.” (Shakespeare III.IV 81-83) At this point in the story, Othello is demanding that Desdemona present his handkerchief, a gift which he gave to her. In Othello, the manipulation, and whole story, revolves around a select few individuals.
Othello is a story of trust, and tragedy. A story of love, and loss. Who caused the aforementioned tragedy, and loss? Why, ‘honest’ Iago, of course. Iago is begrudgingly an ensign in the Venetian military, Under the command of The moor, Othello. Iago loathes the moor, for he chose Michael Cassio, a far younger, and less experienced man to be his lieutenant. Iago vows revenge on Othello, and swears to ruin his life. Now, Iago’s need for power is what drives him to do the awful things he does to Othello, Cassio, and all the others around him.
In Othello, Iago uses his fine reputation as an “honest man” and Othello’s insecurities to manipulate him and carry out his master plan of destroying Cassio, Othello, and Desdemona. Iago’s insight towards the other characters’ weaknesses enables him to let them know exactly what they want to hear, which helps him gain their trust. He plays upon the insecurities of others to maneuver them into carrying out the actions he needs done in order to fulfill his own desires. In looking at Othello, we will consider the Othello’s blind acceptance of “the truth” as it is presented to him and find that when we blindly take another’s “truth” and accept it as our own, we merely become tools utilized by the person who gave us that supposed truth and give up the power of being ourselves—we fail to assert a self.
All humans wear a mask of some kind; whether it is a false representation varies from person to person. This reality is revealed in poetic fashion in the piece “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar; the short story “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the play Othello by William Shakespeare. While all in different genre’s, they all contain the similarity of deception and creating a mask for the rest of the world to see in order to hide their true self. In the story “Young Goodman Brown”, Goodman Brown experiences everyone around him wearing the mask of Christianity and holiness, and he therefore loses his own faith. In the Shakespearian play Othello, the antagonist, Iago, deceives the Othello by maintaining a mask of honesty
In The Tragedy of Othello, William Shakespeare tells the tale of the “noble Moor” whose honor and innocence bring about his downfall. Shakespeare writes of the power of jealousy, and the art of masterful deception and trickery. The story primarily takes place in Cyprus, during a war between the people of Venice and the invading Turks. In this play Shakespeare shows the feelings of Othello’s embittered right-hand man of, Iago, who feels he is passed over for a promotion and swears his revenge. He proceeds to manipulate his friends, enemies, and family into doing his bidding without any of them ever realizing his ultimate goal. He makes Othello believe that his new wife, the innocent Desdemona, is committing adultery with his newly promoted officer Michael Cassio. After this seed of jealousy has been planted, Othello’s mind takes its course in determining the true outcome, with a little more nudging from Iago. The course of action he proceeds to follow is one that not only ends his own life, but also the life of his wife and others. In Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Othello, Othello is a man who is still truly honorable, despite the course of action he takes to resolve his perceived problem.
The play “Othello” by William Shakespeare was written in 1604 during the Elizabeth era. Othello is one of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s dramas. He enjoyed unheralded success in the combat zone, which gave him the reputation as one of Venice’s most competent generals. Even though he has great success in the battlefield, he has a dramatic flaw that causes a downfall in his life. The dramatic flaw that causes his downfall is jealousy. 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.
Othello asks Desdemona for the handkerchief. The handkerchief had been given to Othello’s mother by an Egyptian charmer. Desdemona is unable to present the handkerchief to Othello Othello continues to demand the handkerchief while Desdemona continues to plead for Cassio’s return to service. “Fetch me the handkerchief! — my mind misgives” (Othello/Otl. 3, 4, 85) Filled with anger and doubt, Othello exits the...
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
Misperception is the most common way of getting tricked. People have the ability to morph themselves into a trust-worthy person by hiding their true selves, and the outcome is a whole new personality. They could easily change their attitude and behavior to make themselves be perceived as reliable, yet their intentions are not to comfort people similarly to Iago in Othello. Othello was written in 1604 by William Shakespeare which portrays how extreme a misunderstanding can get. Roderigo, one of the characters, is heartbroken over not being able to woo Desdemona. Despite Roderigo’s attempts at winning Desdemona over, she ends up eloping with a Moor named Othello. Othello is a well-respected Moor in Venice, as he is the general of the Venetian
honest man to deceive Othello and other characters in the play. The perception of the public
The passage below is found in the opening act of one of Shakespeare's most illusive plays of control and manipulation. The word "deception" is defined as "the act of misleading" or "to trick, cheat, lie, and mislead". From this definition, it is obvious that deception is normally perceived to be evil and results in the harm of others mentally and physically. It leads to broken hearts, untold truths, or even unpunished murder. However, in Shakespeare's The Tempest, deception is used as a virtuous art to manipulate an unjust situation and rectify it.