Honesty In Othello

William Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice is a play of great manipulation and jealousy. Iago is the antagonist character of the play Othello. Iago becomes irate and filled with jealousy when Othello names Michael Cassio as his lieutenant, because Iago believed he should have been the one promoted not Michael Cassio. By manipulating everyone around him, Iago portrays himself as an honest noble man whom can be trusted. Iago being known for the honest man he earns everyone’s trust and therefore learns their weakness for his ultimate plan of destruction. Iago’s greatest skill is disguising his manipulative schemes of destroying and betraying the ones around him with what he leads people to believe as honesty. Iago uses their

In the beginning of the play, Shakespeare illustrates Othello as a benevolent military noble who shares an intellectual love with his young wife, Desdemona, that is of utmost purity and innocence. At once the evil character of Iago is introduced and uncovers the hero's tragic flaw; ultimately that of naiveté. Although Othello is usually a very even-tempered man, as can be seen when he refuses to let Iago persuade him to get angry at Roderigo, (I, ii, 6), an exteriour opposing force characterized by Iago, perpetuates the tragedy of the play by provoking the interiour opposing force, or the hamartia of the protagonist. Near the beginning of the play, Shakespeare's clever demonstration of dramatic irony allows the reader to realize Othello's tragic flaw in the fact that he hands his full trust over to a man who is "Janus-faced" and dishonest. "...my ancient; a man he is of honesty and trust. To this conveyance I assign my wife". The irony from this line lies in Othello's misconception of his ensign, Iago, who is already plotting against him for his own means. After witnessing Iago's conspiracy with Roderigo at the ruination of Othello in the previous act, the reader immediately sees Iago's villainess, however in innocence, Othello is blinded to it and by it. From this we see, as in many tragedies, the tragic hero's flaw is not actually a defect in itself, but rather an excess of a virtue. In the case of Othello, this perilous virtue

     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.

Othello starts the play as a respected and honorable general that has won the respect of the Duke, Brabantio, and Desdemona. However, Iago exposes his personal flaws of jealousy and being too trusting, which lead to murder and his own death. Iago has always been well respected and trustworthy throughout his life, nonetheless he uses his sneaky ability to conduct his plan and not be seen. To carry out his plan Iago must manipulate key characters, among them are Othello, Cassio and Roderigo. Othello showcases the characteristics of a tragedy because it displays the fall of the major character and does not end with a happy

In Shakespeare’s play Othello, tragedy unfolds on the account of one man’s actions, Iago. He is a twenty eight year old military veteran from Venice. His personality consists of being obsessive, manipulative, relentless, and bold. From the beginning he expressed his hatred towards the Moor, or North African named Othello. Othello is a highly respected general and is also married to the pure Desdemona. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona is destroyed due to Iago’s actions and lies. His actions consist of getting Michael Cassio discharged as lieutenant and convincing the Moor that his wife is cheating on him. The motives Iago has for despising Othello are he passed him over for a promotion to be his lieutenant, instead he chose

Othello, by William Shakespeare, tells the story of a black war general from Venice named Othello, and his beloved wife Desdemona. Othello promotes Cassio, a friend to Othello and a soldier in his army, to the secondary position in the army when a war with the Turks looms over Venice. When Iago, a highly respected soldier in Othello’s army, learns of Cassio’s promotion, he grows resentful of Cassio, believing that he should have been moved in the ranks. In his jealousy, Iago attempts to make Cassio seem unfit for his position, wanting to have Cassio stripped of his title and the position of leadership go to Iago. Using similes and imagery, Iago manipulates Othello against Desdemona and Cassio in order to reach his goal.

this value instilled in us, most of us begin lying from a young age. Whether it be lying about who ate the last cookie, or who broke the vase, lying is inevitable. Once we are a bit older, we become more inclined to lie when we face certain situations. One might lie to protect themselves, another’s feelings or in extreme scenarios; to commit a crime. All of this points to the inescapable truth; lying is a part of human nature. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago spins a web of lies in order to carry out revenge against Othello, who promoted Cassio over him. He does this by planting a series of lies amongst characters in the play that lead Othello to kill his wife, Desdemona, and ultimately, himself. Iago’s motives derive from that of a thirst for revenge, jealousy and hatred.

Othello is caught in between two different relationships that give him two different opinions about his life. Iago and Desdemona provide Othello with two different stories in regard to his relationship with Desdemona. Therefore, Othello becomes confused as who to believe, so he shapes his beliefs against the theme of truth and lies. In other words, Iago uses what he sees to push Othello to believe what he says is true opposed to Desdemona. As a result, Iago causes Othello to ultimately questions Desdemona’s fidelity. For that reason, the relationships in Othello revolve around questions without answers because Othello only questions Desdemona but does not question anyone else. Iago has Othello initially brainwashed to believe what he witnesses, but it is deemed ‘false’. Thus, the theme of truth and lies shape the Othello’s relationships with others when he questions Iago about Desdemona.

Othello is full of betrayals and broken bonds from almost all of the relationships that Shakespeare’s characters form in the play. Loyalty and honesty, or the lack thereof, are both essential parts of the friendships and meaningful bonds in the play. Society perceives loyalty as the faithfulness in those in relationships and those that have created a certain bond, and honesty as sincere without deceit or untruthfulness. This paper focuses on Othello, arguing that the traditional ideas of loyalty, with an emphasis on honesty, in relationships should be rethought through the many characters interactions and motives. By examining how traditional definitions of loyalty and honesty in

In the opening scene, while Iago is expressing his dislike, or rather hatred, for the general Othello for his having chosen Michael Cassio for the lieutenancy, he contrives a plan to partially avenge himself (“I follow him to serve my turn upon him”), with Roderigo’s assistance, by alerting Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, to the fact of his daughter’s elopement with Othello. Roderigo shares Iago’s prejudiced attitude toward Othello: “What a full fortune does the thicklips owe / If he can carry't thus!”

The play Othello, written by William Shakespeare is a play that takes place on the streets of Venice. Othello is a highly esteemed general in the service of Venice. Iago is Othello's ambitious friend. Othello promotes the Michael Cassio to the position of personal lieutenant and Iago is deadly jealous. Iago begins an evil and malicious campaign against the hero. Othello elopes with Desdemona but Iago starts to plot against them. Othello becomes jealous and suspicious of Desdemona. He confides in Iago that he plans to poison Desdemona. Plots and murders ensue, Iago wants Roderigo to kill Cassio, of course he agrees to it because he thinks that he and Desdemona will have a chance. The theme of loyalty

Deception is the appearance against the reality of a person, it is defined as deceit, mystification, and double-dealing. Deceitfulness has a major role in the play Othello, by William Shakespeare. It is a theme that occurs throughout the play with many of the characters. There are various characters in Othello, that commit this act, characters such as Iago, Emilia, and Desdemona. Iago is the main antagonist in the story that continues to show an appearance of something he is not throughout the play. Iago shows us this by pretending to be loyal and honest to everyone, while in reality he is dishonest and treacherous. He does this act with many characters, especially Othello. Iago pretends to be loyal and honest to Othello, and tells him

Iago’s must destructive manipulation of characters is Othello. His insecurities about being ‘a moor’ are what Iago uses to bend him to his will and bring him to evil. In his discourse to the duke, Othello’s love seems elevated and pure. It is filled with biblical references and religious diction such as ‘pilgrimage’ and ‘prayer’, which is a clear representation of the strengths and sanctity of their love. This strong connection of an unbreakable love is unrecognizable by the end of the play as Othello is so deeply poisoned by Iago’s immorality. He becomes convinced that ‘Desdemona must die, else she’ll betray more men’. Iago takes advantage of Othello’s alienation and detachment from Venice to create further doubt mentioning that for the women of Venice, ‘their best conscience is not to leave undone, but keep unknown. Iago recognizes Othello’s insecurities and draws them out of him. Desdemona’s very choosing of him doesn’t connote how good he is, however that there is something flawed or wrong with her. Knowing that these insecurities linger in Othello’s mind, Iago begins dropping subtle hints such as, ‘I like not that’, that he knows will cement into Othello’s head. Iago immediately repents expressing [he] cannot think it that he would steal away so guilty like’, yet Iago masterfully creates doubt in Othello’s mind. As this doubt

Othello is a black general in the Venetian army that secretly married Desdemona the daughter of Senator Brabantio. Soon Othello hired the jealous Iago, who was bent on revenge because he thought Othello had an affair with his wife and he promoted lieutenant Cassio over him. Iago had an evil plan to make Othello think his wife had been cheating on him with Cassio. First Iago planned a street fight, which was wrongfully blamed on Cassio and he was dismissed as planned. Desdemona defended Cassio’s case against Othello which created suspicion that his wife did cheat. Next Iago told his wife to steal the handkerchief that Othello gave to Desdemona. Iago’s wife Emilia got the handkerchief and gave it to Iago not knowing his intentions.Then Iago said

"The Tragedy of Othello Written by William Shakespeare" highlights a variety of ways in which males and females reacted to intense situations." The emotions of the characters changed from the start of Act 1, the end of Act 1, and continued as the story of Othello progressed. In Act 1, the main protagonist named Othello started off conveying the emotion of happiness because he and his wife Desdemona were newlyweds. Othello was the general of the army of Venice. Iago, who was a soldier desired the rank of lieutenant, but Othello skipped over him and chose Cassio as the lieutenant even though Cassio had no experience in war but was exceptionally knowledgeable. Iago feels envious towards Cassio gaining the rank he wanted, Iago decided to work with Roderigo, a man who loves Desdemona, to pressure Brabantio, Desdemonas’ father, into thinking Othello used a “magic charm” to build up Desdemonas’ love for him. ("The Tragedy of Othello Written by Shakespeare” Book) In addition to Iago’s actions, Brabantio conveying anger approached Othello by accusing him instead of talking to him calmly. Brabantio told Desdemona of the rumor and asked: “who do you choose?” Meaning, she had to pick either her husband or her father. Desdemona projecting love towards her husband chose Othello. In conclusion to Desdemona's actions, it appeals to the reader that the female character represents