Essay on Deception in Shakespeare's Othello

“The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way”. In the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare, a soldier named Iago is titled “Honest Iago”. His general (Moor) , Othello, is married to Desdemona but Iago heard rumors of Othello having an affair with his wife. Iago plots a scheme and uses his title in a malicious way. The Moor trusts Iago very much, believing everything he says and falls into Iago’s plans effortlessly.

Deception is defined as “the act of tricking someone by telling them something that is not true”. In the play, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, deception is always present and things are not always what they appear to be. In this great work of literature, the three witches; the Thane of Cawdor; and Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are the very embodiments of trickery and show us the true effects deception can have on man.

The characterization of Othello contributes to theme in many different ways. Othello is someone who everyone seemed to trust. “This only is the witchcraft I have used. Here comes the lady. Let her witness it.” (pg.41). This quote analyzes how Othello is honest, he is proving that if others were asked about a certain event, they would

In the beginning of the play Othello exhibits behaviors leading one to believe that he

Deception is the act of deceiving; it takes the shape of an underlying theme in each of the texts. It is a common occurrence in literature such as Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ and ‘On Chesil beach’ but in almost every incident, the degree of deception is different. Deception is performed by all characters to different extents and purposes, depending on the context of the situation. Othello displays deception between colleagues, whereby Iago uses deceit to cause carnage in the lives of his associates. Tennessee Williams illustrates deception within a family in his play A Streetcar Named Desire, as the main protagonist Blanche, lies to her own family about her sinful past. Finally, Deception is conveyed in Ian McEwan’s

As much as humans want to believe and trust others, hesitation occurs due (to) a certain act called deception. All humans have the ability to be deceptive, although some more than others, there are too many who become a victim as a consequence of metaphorical blindness. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, blindness to the truth results from the antagonist’s acts of deception derived from desire and jealousy which ultimately leads to the death of several innocents. Iago uses his desire for the lieutenant designation to create his acts of revenge which consequences in a very severe manner in Venice and Cyprus. As a machiavellian villain, he

Iago quickly started feeding Othello lies about Cassio and Desdemona being together when Iago did not get the position of Lieutenant. Othello starts calling Desdemona a whore and questioning if she is just with him (IV, ii, 94-99). Othello never asked Desdemona or talked to her about the allegations he just assumed what Iago said must be true. Othello starts getting mad without even knowing the truth.Othello didn’t once bring up where her handkerchief was, he only listened the the lies Iago told him up until the night he planned to kill her. He finally said to Desdemona “the handkerchief which I lored, and gave thee, thou gave to Cassio” (V, ii, 58-59). He had already made up his mind that Cassio and Desdemona needed to be killed. If he would have had reason and asked Desdemona about the allegations before tensions rose, she might not have been killed from Othello's anger. Desdemona was very in love with Othello but he was overly jealous and full of anger to even think reasonably to ask Desdemona about

Othello’s love for Desdemona was so deep he could not bear the thought of another being with her; “If she be false, O! Then heaven mocks itself. I’ll not believe’t.” Iago uses the characters of Cassio and the obsessive Roderigo as his weapons in his cunning plan. Iago drives the idea into Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful, inciting him into a state of jealousy. “Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.” Othello growing insecurities about his wife’s faithfulness only adds to his psychological suffering which in turn acts as a catalyst towards the suffering of other characters involved in the play.Iago tells these lies with the intention of driving Othello insane as well as establish his dominance and influence the situations of those characters close to Othello. Evidence of this comes in one of Iago’s soliloquies from act two, scene one; “That Cassio loves her, I do well Believe’t: That she loves him, ‘tis apt and of great credit.” This section shows that he is trying to convince himself that his own manipulative lies are true and is trying to reassure his motives by justifying his own actions. By convincing Othello

Deception, deceit and lies are clearly shown throughout the play but the deceivers do not always have negative motivations. The first case of deceit in the play, in Act 1 Scene 1, is not carried out with a malevolent intention: “I will assume thy part in disguise … and the conclusion is, she shall be thine.” - Don Pedro. Don Pedro agrees to deceive Hero into thinking that he is Claudio so as to woo her, so that the real Claudio can marry her. This shows that deception can be used for a good cause.

To manipulate, is to deceive, whether it is by words, or setting, to achieve your objective. Deception is when somebody will conceal, change, or manipulate the truth in an attempt to mislead anyone. Throughout the play Hamlet, there are many examples of deception, as they are all trying to conceal, change, or distort the truth from one another, or themselves. “Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides.”(Scott, Marmion) Many characters in Hamlet fall into this category: Hamlet, King Claudius and Polonius all distort the truth from different people throughout the play.

Deception, at first glance, appears as a word usually in a negative tone, but in times the act of deception is used to benefit the characters’ lives. Nevertheless, Shakespeare allowed for deception to be played with when the characters never expected it. In of Much Ado About Nothing, deception is used in the way to help others. As an example, in Act 2 Scene 1 a ball took place where all the men and women were to dress in guises. Don Pedro, the prince, agreed to help Claudio woo Hero over so Claudio could no longer say he is a bachelor. This is an act of deception used in the positive effect. In Act 1 Sc. 1 Don Pedro tells to Claudio, “If thou dost love fair Hero, cherish it, And I will break with her and with her father, and Thou shall have her.” Don Pedro encouraged Claudio to cherish

In Othello by William Shakespeare, the villainous Iago devises a plot with the hopes that Othello and his wife, Desdemona, will be separated so that he can take Othello’s position as head of the Venetian Military. Iago’s scheme consists of him convincing Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his lieutenant, Cassio. Iago has told no one else about his ploy so while everyone else’s actions remain true, he manipulates their every move for his benefit. While their actions may not lead to results that they expected, exploring the reasoning behind everyone’s actions, can give insight to their values since the actions were based on what they believed was the best thing to do. To the characters of Othello, honor is more important than

For all the dangers and encounters he has been involved in, Othello is still naive when it comes to the corruptness of other people. Othello has a trusting nature in which he gives it all. He put all his trust in Iago during times of war and during his marriage to Desdemona. Everyone considered Iago to be honest, and it would be simply unspeakable for Othello to believe any differently. For example, Othello had told Duke: "So please your grace, my ancient; a man he is of honesty and trust. To his conveyance I assign my wife, with what else needful your good grace shall think, To be sent after me" (I, iii, lines 306-310). Even if Othello were not as trusting or corrupt, he still would not realize Iago was lying.

Iago quickly tried to come up with false evidence to apparently, to prove to Othello that this is indeed, reality, “I know not that; but suck a handkerchief – I am sure it was your wife’s – See Cassio wipe his beard with.”(3.3.496). Iago was supposedly ‘thickening his proofs’, and he insisted that Cassio has Desdemona’s handkerchief. Notice how Iago is exaggerating false allegations, only to make Othello think that Desdemona is unfaithful. It becomes fairly manageable for Iago to sell his tale to Othello, as he takes advantage of Othello’s trust, and reports what he ‘apparently witnessed’. After Iago successfully manipulates Othello, to consider his wife as a false-hearted woman, he doesn’t even think to reflect upon his sinful deeds, revealing his cold-hearted soul to the audience. By now, the viewers can only look down upon Iago with disgust, as he is also breaking a loving relationship between an honest man and his innocent wife. Why would Iago want to harm Desdemona when he clearly hates the Moor, and only the Moor? What was Iago’s purpose in slandering a beautiful, innocent woman? Well, Iago’s villainous schemes continue to leave the audience in disbelief. Then, Iago also vividly describes to Othello, about how Cassio is yearning for Desdemona, “There are a kind of men so loose of soul that in their sleeps will mutter their affairs. One of this kind is Cassio. In sleep I heard

It has been said through history that ‘people are not always who they may seem to be’ and that ‘looks can be extremely deceiving’. William Shakespeare’s play ‘Othello’ presents the theme of appearance verses reality and deception through some of his characters, Iago, Michael Cassio and Desdemona. This theme is especially relevant to the character of Iago because he is seen to be “Honest” by almost all characters in the play, which he is anything but so. This theme can also be seen in Desdemona.