Manipulation In Othello

Throughout Shakespeare’s entire career as a playwright, some would agree that never has there been a more painfully frustrating story than that of Othello. A jealous man is manipulated by an even more jealous man, etcetera, many people end up dead, and leave the audience (who knew the painfully obvious truth all along) in utter frustration and disbelief. The roles seem cookie cutter: Iago a villain, Desdemona, Emilia and Cassio victims, and Roderigo somewhere in between. But among them, there is Othello, the Moor of Venice who turned against the only people in his life whose loyalty lied unquestionably with him. There is obvious part to blame in Iago, who masterminded the entire catastrophe, but shouldn’t Othello have realized that his loving wife, who went against her own father to marry him, wouldn’t cheat on him? Or that his first hand lieutenant, of whom’s devotion was still true even after being demoted, wouldn’t have disrespected him in such a way? While lacking the malice or intent of a murderer/villain, Othello nonetheless allows himself to be

He has no regret for what he has just done, and no respect to his innocent wife Desdemona, whose obedience and naivety led to her untimely downfall as well. Othello is a victim in the sense that he was puppeted by Iago, but also a villain in the sense that he is controlled the strings all along. He goes along with Iago’s judgement instead of his own, refuses to shed light on the situation by simply asking the two involved if they were actually involved, and even as his wife pleaded that he recognise she was innocent of any infidelity, he was already in too deep in his own jealousy to stop himself from himself. It is important that we remember both sides of Othello, and that we learn to distinguish this transformation of him as a character, for the thing that makes one a victim can also be one’s own tragic