In Othello, maintaining a positive reputation is of great importance to many characters. Othello out of all of them is extremely obsessed with this since he has always had to work harder at being respected because of the color of his skin. When Desdemona’s faithfulness is called into question by Iago, Othello wants hard evidence of this accusation. In the end, all Othello really goes on are the altering perceptions of reality planted by Iago. These perceptions of situations, events, items, and people, lead Othello to break with reality. This shows how vulnerable reputation is to the perception of others.
In Act 3 Scene 3 of this play Iago is able to convince Othello of Desdemona’s unfaithful character through the way in which he carefully phrases his answers to Othello. Iago’s reputation is that of an honest man and many people, as well as Othello, believe him to be trustworthy. Since the perception of Iago is positive by a vast majority he has influence over forming the perception of others’ reputations since his word is taken with little or no argument. With Desdemona being yet another character whom many praise and trust it may seem hard to understand at first why Othello believes Iago over his own wife (Cavell, p. 129), since in the beginning of the play he praises her virtuous character. Since Othello was never aware of Desdemona’s supposed infidelity until Iago tells him of his suspicions Othello starts putting his trust in him. He was blind to it and lets Iago lead the way to enlightening him on the issue. He thinks of Iago as honest as he is known to be by many and believes that he “Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds” (3.3.259) and that he “knows all qualities, with a learnèd spirit, / Of human de...
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Throughout this play, the issue of keeping up appearances or reputation is evident. If Iago’s true intentions had been figured out earlier in the play then Desdemona would still be alive. The altering of perceptions was a key element to convincing Othello of his wife’s infidelity. Shakespeare’s flawed tragic hero was duped by a character who was outwardly honest but as the play reveals, perception is not a true indicator of a person’s actual self. The power of perception is evident in that a reputation can be enhanced or destroyed through perceiving others in certain situations. Othello’s obsession with maintaining his own reputation was his ultimate downfall since when he became blinded by keeping everything together he forgot to think with reason and instead thought with an irrational mind filled with jealousy.
Martin Luther was a former Priest/Monk and that saw some corruption in the Roman Catholic Church. Luther tried to bring his concerns to the Church in his writing of the “Ninety-five Theses on the Power of Indulgences.” When these question that Luther proposed to the Archbishop of Mainz went unsatisfactorily unanswered in 1517, Luther started defaming the Roman Church and pushed for the utter destruction of the Roman Church. What started out as an internal reform of Church’s discipline, turned into a war against the Roman Church for their total destruction. This was the intent of Luther’s sermon of 1521.
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
Language and imagination are among the most dangerous weapons Iago has at his disposal in Othello. Jealous and angered by Othello’s - his commanding officer - passing over him for a promotion, Iago develops a fierce, antagonistic perspective the aforementioned character; this sentiment quickly corrupts his volition, and he subsequently concocts a plot bent on destroying Othello. He renders this revenge scheme credible by concealing his true feelings behind a facade of loyalty and trustworthiness, and fabricating a fictitious story concerning the infidelity of Desdemona, Othello’s wife. Until the play concludes, Iago utilizes purposeful rhetoric to drive his agenda, and also a mastery of deception to mislead the minds of his targets.
Othello is tied to Iago by strings of doubt, jealousy, and anger towards this woman who emasculated him by supposedly sleeping with another man. Had Othello refused to immediately believe Iago’s accusations, not only verbally, but mentally and physically as well, he would have figured out that they were lies and it was actually “honest Iago” who was deceitful, not his wife. In this world we must be prepared to question everything and everyone because everybody has some selfishness in them and will be willing to go to great extremes to reach the top, even if it means objectifying others and using them to their advantage. When we blindly believe others, we give them a power over us that only we should have, therefore it is best to keep their “truth” in consideration, but remember never to fail to at least attempt to confirm that truth and create our own. When we do fail to attempt this is when we give up our individuality and become as equally inanimate as a tool that those who do choose to create truth will use and toss away.
Thesis: Othello was a noble and valiant man who believed in seeking out the proof before accusation. He had been beguiled by his confidant, Iago; he used Machiavellian tactics to persuade Othello into believing that his loving wife, Desdemona, made him a cuckold. Iago was successful; Othello believed all the lies he was fed. As a result, he became inarticulate, rash and barbaric; losing all sense of rationality.
All Iago had to do was hint at Desdemona being unfaithful and Othello’s becomes very bothered it and eventually starts believing it. The author of an essay does an analysis on Iago and says “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.“ (Shakespeare’s Othello – Honest Iago). So Iago would hint at something going between Desdemona and Cassio so that Othello would become bothered and ask him what he means by that, it was like a game that Iago was playing, he would drop a little hint and then expect Othello to pick up on it and start questioning it and become more even suspicious. Brabantio tells Othello “Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see. She has deceived her father, and may thee” (I.ii.286-287), So In this scene Brabantio warns Othello that Desdemona has already fooled him and she might fool him too, so be careful, and it turns out, Othello believed in him after all and that’s part of the reason of why he thinks that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. It leads him to start questioning Desdemona in a very suspicious way. At one point he even hits her in front of a nobleman and that was very shocking to the nobleman because he believed him to be a very calm and collected gentleman but obviously he was a changed man. The nobleman even expresses his shock by saying that “My lord, this would not be believed in Venice, though I should swear I saw’t. ‘Tis very much make her amends; she weeps” (IV .i.217-219). This negative thinking and insecurity was one of the main reasons to Othello’s change in a negative way. A lot of this was Iago’s doing but it was also Othello’s fault to fall for Iago’s
He knew that people thought of him this way and decided to use this to his advantage. When Iago is informing the reader of his plan against Othello, he reveals that he is going to use his reputation in order to manipulate Othello. “He holds me well. The better shall my purpose work on him” (1.3.433-434). Iago knows that Othello trusts him and that he will listen to him no matter how in love Othello and Desdemona are. Without Iago’s reputation, Othello would quickly dismiss Iago’s story and the play would not have been a tragedy. Iago’s reputation is needed for Othello to believe him but Othello needed to care about his reputation for him to be so passionate about preserving
Only a truly honorable man can admit that it was a story, and not his personality that truly won the woman’s heart. Othello’s honor is shown by his trust in the people he knows and loves. When Iago tells Othello that he believes Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, Othello does not believe Iago initially. He tells Iago that he will not believe him unless evidence is found and shown to him. This evidence does come to him.
Appearances can be deceiving as often what appears to be real is in truth an illusion. This notion is presented in Othello as it explores how appearances and societal perceptions are often fraudulent in comparison to true. This is evident when the antagonist, Iago employs dramatic irony stating that, “Men should be what they seem”. Here, Iago is hypocritical as he is perceived to be honest by the Venetians. However, this social façade is only masking his duplicitous nature. Iago’s character is further revealed through the use of metaphor, “The Moor has already changed with my poison”. In this instance Iago is attempting to conjure up the insecurities of Othello, such as Desdemona’s fidelity and devotion to
“ 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.
The play ?Othello? is an epiphany of the ultimate battle between appearance versus reality in the respect that Iago is the complete opposite from what he appears to be. Everyone involved with him separately thinks that he is doing them favors, when actually he is a backstabbing, conniving person who is the essence of evil and is often referred to as half-man, half-devil. Contrary to Iago, Othello is often referred to as a God-like figure, innocent in every way: trusting and naïve. Unfortunately for Othello, this serves as his eventual downfall helping Iago play Othello like a harp, which results in Desdemona?s death. Iago?s two-sided face and the other characters? readiness to believe him before thinking twice is the driving force of the play and its plot.
Othello's reputation also plays a big role in this play and the outcome of it. He has the reputation of a no nonsense military general. This status in fact partly causes Desdemona's death. He becomes so distraught when he hears from Iago that Cassio and Desdemona and cheating on him he becomes angry and wants to kill her. "I will chop her into messes! Cuckold me?" He is surprised and astonished that she would go behind his back and do this. His reputation doesn't allow him to confront her with the situation and talk things over. He is also angry that his reputation would be tarnished when found out that he is a cuckold. He proves that his reputations means a lot to him when he says, "For nought I did in hate, but all in honour." Othello believed that reputation was everything, because of his status as a general and the fact that those under him and above him respected him. Othello's reputation played a big role in the outcome of the play and in part caused Desdemona's death and his own.
Othello changed his perception very significantly throughout the play. In the beginning of the play Othello loved Desdemona, but as the play went on Othello hated Desdemona so much he wanted to kill her. Desdemona perceives herself as the most loyal wife anyone could have. Othello perceives the total opposite when he sees Desdemona. When Iago first told him that Desdemona is cheating on him. Othello looked at Iago like he was irrational but after Iago convinced him of Desdemona cheating he perceived everyone as his enemy because Iago had great reputation. Every time Othello looked at Cassio or Desdemona he would always think about the negative between them. Depending on how persuasive someone is they can impact how an individual perceives
Iago used reputation to his advantage in order to fulfill his plan to get revenge on Othello and Cassio. He uses each characters reputation to bring out their weaknesses, which he uses to his advantage. This includes his own. Over and over, Othello calls Iago, “Honest Iago.” Because his reputation is known for being honest, he tells Othello lie after lie because he knows Othello will believe him. This in turn helps him fulfill his plan because Othello falls right into his trap. Othello believes Iago when he says that Desdemona is cheating on him. He believes when Iago tells him how Cassio had a dream about Desdemona, and he believes Iago when he says that Desdemona gave Cassio the handkerchief. Another example of Iago using reputation to his advantage is with Desdemona. She is known for being sweet and innocent, and he exploits that with Cassio and Othello. When Cassio is desperate to get his job as lieutenant back, Iago simply tells him to get help from Desdemona because, “Our generals wife is now the general” (II.III.314-315). What this is saying is that because Desdemona and Othello are now married, she can control him, because it is his job to please her as she wishes. When Cassi...
Final Essay on Othello The art of trickery and manipulation have been a subject in literature for centuries. Shakespeare displayed such qualities in the story, Othello, as Othello is deceived by who he believes to be his best friend, Iago. Iago has an unreasonable hatred toward Othello, likely formed from a jealousy of his success. From this hatred, he devises a plan to destroy Iago’s marriage with seeds of jealousy.