Iago's Use Of Desdemona In Othello

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

In literary works, cruelty often functions as a crucial motivation or a major social or political factor. In the play Othello by Shakespeare cruelty functions as a crucial motivation, creating a theme of being careful with who can be trusted because, you never know if they’re telling the whole truth. Throughout the play, diction, dramatic irony, and characterization were used to further emphasis the theme.

To terminate Othello, Iago informs him of Desdemona’s extramarital relationship with Cassio. When Iago spoke of this, Othello’s emotions took over and his insecurity grew. If one lie is told, many more are gradually unveiled to support it. Iago provoked Othello to doubt Desdemona’s faithfulness and question her loyalty towards him. This led Othello to stifle Desdemona in the midst of anger.

Somehow Iago manages to manipulate Othello into thinking that Desdemona cheated on him. When he demands that she show him the handkerchief he had given her, and she does not, he is convinced that she is being unfaithful. This is when he decides that he must kill her. Later in the novel Othello suffocates Desdemona out of jealousy.

William Shakespeare, born in the mid sixteenth century, is a well-known poet and playwright from England. The topics of his plays range from history and comedy, all the way to tragedy, and focus on universal themes and relationships between characters to express these themes to the general public. Betrayal, incest, jealousy, and love are all common themes in his works. Although one of Shakespeare’s more popular tragic dramas, Othello, at first glance seems to mainly center around the characters Othello and Desdemona and their relationship, the play in reality focuses more so on the evil villain, Iago, and his insecurity which instills in him a hatred of Othello. Iago provides some dark humor to the audience, as he is self-possessed and intelligent, making it obvious when he is lying to another character and making himself seem honest and truthful. The play is one of jealousy, manipulation, and the cunning work of Iago, all combined to bring ruin to Othello. Although Shakespeare’s Othello is considered by some to be a commentary on race, Shakespeare is truly addressing the dangers of blind trust as well as the overwhelming power jealousy can have over even the most respectable mind; he addresses these themes by evolving the characters’ personalities and using dramatic irony to intensify and contrast the characters’ relationships with each other from the beginning to the end of this tragic drama.

The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.

Othello is an easy target in this drama, because Iago already knows that he is a very insecure person. With that stated, it will be easy for Iago to use Othello’s jealousy to trick him into thinking that Desdemona is an unfaithful wife. Iago will manipulate the way Othello sees things in order to convince him that what he sees is innocent acts between Desdemona and Casillo. Iago’s starts to plant the idea in Othello’s head of an affair after Othello sees Casillo rush leaving Desdemona in a manner that looked as though he is guilty (1223). Alone with Othello, Iago begins to make Othello feel threatened by Casillo and Desdemona’s apparent relationship by bringing up the fact that Casillo served as Desdemona’s and Othello’s go-between during the time of their courtship. The conversation ends with Iago asking Othello to watch carefully of Desdemona and Casillo, and Iago exits giving Othello time to question the accusation of Iago (1225-1228).

William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy revolving around jealousy and envy, which causes complications in Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. Iago’s plot of vengeance planning to undertake Othello affects the husband and wife, which lead to their downfall. After reading the play, Othello’s love for Desdemona is at question by the audience. Does he truly love her? Indeed, Othello does love Desdemona, and it is evident when he is ecstatic to be with her, cares for her tremendously and regrets his actions.

Starting off, Othello allows Iago to tamper with his mind and does nothing to stop it. Othello puts all of his trust in him, but Iago is just hiding behind a mask and only wishes to torment Othello. Othello is not aware of his surroundings and the people there, making him vulnerable. If he paid more attention to Desdemona and not Iago than he would not have thought to kill his loyal wife. Othello jumps to conclusions too quickly

, Iago uses Othello’s wife Desdemona to plant the seed of doubt into his mind, effectively making him doubt Desdemona’s loyalty towards her husband. As a result of Iago’s jealousy, his manipulation results in Othello distrusting his own wife despite no evidence of her committing adultery. This is shown in the soliloquy “O curse of marriage/ that we call these delicate creatures ours…Than keep a corner of the thing I love/ For others uses.”. Subsequently in the soliloquy, it is revealed and apparent to the audience that Othello has believed that Desdemona has been unfaithful towards him, evidence that jealousy has corrupted

’s chivalry towards Desdemona to later convince Othello of Desdemona’s infidelity. (Act II, Scene 1, Lines 955-965) As the play progresses, Iago plants seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind about Desdemona’s loyalty. His plan came together when Emilia gives him the handkerchief- the item that gives Othello the circumstantial proof he requested to prove Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. (Act III, Scene 3,

The most particularly confusing, aggravating, and difficult thing about Othello is how Othello himself can be so easily tricked into believing that Desdemona, his wife, cheated on him with Cassio, Othello’s squad leader. Little to no physical evidence was given to Othello to make him believe that Desdemona cheated, he simply took Iago’s word for it. As Wyndham Lewis from Shakespeare for Students wrote, “He seems possessed of no instinct by which he might scent his antagonist, and so be put on his guard” ( Othello is completely clueless that Iago is against him and not actually helping him out, and if Othello would have realized that sooner, or collected real, physical evidence on Iago’s comments of Desdemona cheating, he could have saved

Othello is not hurt because of a failing love, but because of how it makes him look and hurts his pride. This is when things get ugly. Othello puts more trust in Iago than in his own wife. This is due, in part, to Iago's manipulative skills, but mostly to Othello's lack of communication skills, especially with his wife. But Desdemona does not do anything to mediate the situation and lets the condition escalate, and her self-blaming attitude only perpetuates Othello's misgiven notion that she has been falsely accused . After Othello strikes her in front of the whole dinner party, and orders her around like a peasant,

In Shakespeare's Othello, Othello's pride prevents him from finding the truth, eventually leading to his demise. Initially, Othello and Desdemona are deeply in love, despite her father's disapproval of their marriage. However, when Othello promotes Cassio instead of Iago to Lieutenant, Iago has his revenge by convincing Othello that Desdemona cheats on him with Cassio, destroying the marriage between Othello and Desdemona. Othello grows to meet his downfall when his trusted friend Iago causes him to think that his wife Desdemona is unfaithful.

Othello is a play built on a foundation of lies and deceit, an interesting infrastructure considering the character Othello’s extreme fear of betrayal. Throughout the play the character Iago repeatedly manipulates Othello, who all too easily continues to fall for his lies. Iago is able to convince Othello that his wife, Desdemona, is in love with his friend Cassio through elaborate deception that ultimately ends in her death at the hands of her husband. A distinct paranoia is obvious when looking at the lengths Othello is so willing to go to in the name of revenge. Shakespeare’s Othello demonstrates the character Othello’s ability to sacrifice the life of the person most important to him when honor and jealousy overpower love.