The Irony Of Honesty In Shakespeare's Othello

In the play, Othello, the author, William Shakespeare, had the major characters referring to Iago as, “honest Iago.” They referred to him as such in relation to his supposed nobility to Othello and others. In reality though, Iago had been plotting against Othello and his loved ones ever since Michael Cassio was promoted to lieutenant instead of himself. With everyone believing he was honest he was able to go through with his evil plot to destroy Othello as well as his reputation without anyone suspecting his intentions. By creating this irony Shakespeare is able to emphasize a theme against trusting the wrong people.

In the play, Othello, Shakespeare represents power with honesty, so with everyone, especially Othello, trusting and believing that Iago is really honest, noble, respectable and truthful it helps Iago follow through with his plan against Othello and the ones Othello loves. First it started with Iago telling Othello that he saw Cassio with Desdemona in Othello’s chamber. Although it is not a lie because Cassio went to Desdemona for help Iago

Lastly Iago tricks Cassio into talking about Bianca and makes it seem as if Cassio was referring to Desdemona while Othello was hiding. Iago then

This theme is shown when Othello trusts his ancient, Iago, instead of his wife, Desdemona, when Iago tells Othello that Desdemona had an affair with Michael Cassio. Due to Iago’s “honesty” Othello trusted his ancient instead of his wife, although both Desdemona and Iago’s wife, Emilia, guaranteed that Desdemona has never had an affair with any man. Trusting the wrong person lead to Othello making his biggest mistake, taking the life of his innocent wife, and after he realized that he trusted the wrong person Othello knew he was at wrong, felt bad and took his own life