Iago's Use Of Honesty In Othello

Another piece of evidence from Othello states,” You are happy now, but I'll ruin your happiness, no matter how honest you may think I am” (II.i.220). This evidence is relevant considering that this hints at what Iago is capable of doing. For example, when he says” no matter how honest you may think I am”. This leads readers to the plot when Othello does believe Iago is honest because of what he told him about Desdemona. Furthermore, this portrays Iago’s character trait as; since he is doing all this because Cassio got lieutenant while he did not; this would lead him to inflict harm upon Othello.

While of course, the reader is aware that Iago is anything but honest, Othello sees no reason to doubt Iago’s word as a fellow officer and compatriot, and as such often urges Iago to

Untruths and misdirection’s are normal in the public eye, and numerous people veil their actual goals with a lacquer. In Shakespeare 's play Othello, the character Iago is the same as those tricky people. Behind his façade as a dependable ensign and companion, Iago is a multilayered, tricky and manipulative scalawag, coming up with disarray and bringing about setbacks toother characters for requital. Iago utilizes his deft and shrewd key demonstrations of control to undermine each character’s shortcomings. He misuses Roderigo’s love for Desdemona, Cassio under the appearance of companionship, and toys with Othello’s mind by playing on his self-question.

William Shakespeare’s “Othello” was a great example to showcase sacrifices made by characters to accomplish revenge or obtain power. Shakespeare told the story of Othello, a tragic hero, who was manipulated by Iago, which motivated him to kill his own wife. From this story, Shakespeare’s main goal was to portray characters making sacrifices for their ambitions. From this play, Shakespeare puts forth the idea of sacrifice through pointing out the importance of reputation and how sacrifices must be made to silence the truth.

Unfortunately, he trusted the wrong person due to his growing lack of self-esteem. Iago, a hypocrite who hid his evil thoughts by appearing as a man of extreme honesty, saw that he could erode Othello’s self-esteem because of who he was, a moor living in European society. He realized he could manipulate Othello for his own evil ends. He slyly used pathos to gain his trust, saying, “My Lord, you know I love you” (III.iii.118) to convince him of his honesty and reliability. Then he suggested the unpredictable nature of Desdemona by saying, “Ay, there’s the point: as, to be bold with you, not to affect many proposed matches of her own clime, complexion, and degree, whereto we see in all things nature tends - Foh!”

Shakespeare’s Othello chronicles the downfall of a noble Moor, Othello, who is deceived by a man he considers his friend, Iago. Throughout the course of the play, Iago toys with Othello and eventually leads him to murder and lose his love, his new wife Desdemona. Iago exploits the unquestioned trust Othello places in him to achieve evil ends. As such, trust is a central theme in the story.

First deception being between Desdemona, Othello, and her father with the elopement. Next, The lack of communication between the two characters signifies the type of relationship Othello and Desdemona had. Despite the fact that each were loyal to each other, it proves to show how unhealthy their relationship truly was, and reflects how it was in the beginning as well when they eloped and how much it was a bad idea. Iago, however, remained sovereign over their relationship, allowing the loves to fall right into his trap. However, Iago is not the only one that is to take all the blame.

“Othello” written by William Shakespeare revolves around this protagonist who is depicted as strong and powerful. To everyone he is known as Othello or the Moor. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrays numerous counts of jealousy and manipulation around many of the characters. It is mainly illustrated through Iago, the antagonist of the play, who manipulates other to their downfall. Iago who is known for always being true and honest towards others has easily earned the trust of everyone around him, thus giving himself an advantage on his schemes.

To Othello, Iago is more reputable now causing Iago is, at this point, reputable, meaning Othello will to believe anything that Iago says even if it is a lie. Iago’s psychopathic manipulations of Cassio then ultimately cause his downfall once Othello discovers that Iago has been dishonest, his punishment of torture and imprisonment at the end of the play is his downfall. Iago’s Throughout the play, since Iago is trustworthy to Othello, Iago plants seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind. In Act Five, scene two, Othello shows the audience how he believes that Iago is “most honest” (Shakespeare 1302).

Throughout the play Othello’s blind trust in Iago led him to a perplexed state in which he was vulnerable to flaws that he did not usually struggle with. In a perplexed state Othello “becomes jealous and eventually a murderer” (Kliger 222). Without Othello’s blind trust in Iago Othello would never have become perplexed and would not have led to flaws that resulted in the murder of Desdemona. Othello recognized his growing problem as he said “There is no more but this: Away at once with love or jealousy” and yet Othello was still unable to shake his jealousy as Iago kept feeding him lies (Shakespeare III.iii.222-223). Othello became so jealous that he began to think he would be “happy if the general camp, pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body, so [he] had nothing known” (Shakespeare III.iii.397-400).

Othello’s confidence for a loyal man to maintain honesty and morals are contradicted through Iago’s actions: “in a man that’s just / They are close dilations, working from the heart, / That passion cannot rule” (3.3.123). Iago, due to the understatement to his name, is not perceivable as hateful. Othello’s willingness to sense Iago’s distress, and to believe his accusations, is because of the lack of awareness Othello has for his vengeance. Iago is of such little power and relevance within societal ranking that if he were to have intentions to sabotage anyone, which he does, are not considered, thus making him easily trustworthy to those of greater dominance. Society’s view of an individual determines how others consider and surmise their persona, though these conclusions may be false.

More than half of the time that honest is used in the play, Othello; it is used as “honest Iago”. This is ironic because honest is seen in the play as loyal, trustworthy, a man of his word, etc and Iago is anything but all of those characteristics. There is not character in the play that does not think that Iago is an honest man. When you look at the name of the play, Othello, you can see that the name implies that Othello is an outsider in the

Iago embodies dishonesty using lies and deceit to entangle everyone in his trap. In Act 1, Roderigo questions Iago’s faithfulness to Othello. Iago answers by saying, “Whip me such honest knaves,” meaning he only pretends to be faithful and loyal to Othello, fooling him into trusting Iago (1.1.49). As the play progresses, people describe Iago as honest; however, Iago decieves everyone into believing his word. Othello frequently describes Iago as “A man he is of honesty and trust” (1.3.284) as well as “most honest” (2.3.6).

Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Othello embodies a pivotal point in the play, as it is a transition act that grounds the foundation of Iago’s development as an antagonist and the play’s development as a tragedy. In fact, Othello is written by William Shakespeare in the early 17th century. In Act 3 Scene 3, Iago begins his insinuations of an affair between Cassio and Desdemona, which petition Othello to consider the likelihood of Desdemona’s infidelity and Cassio’s disloyalty. In this particular scene, Shakespeare makes meticulous use of linguistic and dramatic techniques to characterise Iago as an scheming, deceptive and hypocritical antagonist.

Iago’s honest reputation and his two-faced personality ensnares the protagonists into his plan. Initially he gets the character to think that he is generally honest and then builds that small reputation up to a bigger one so then he can spill out lies to trick them. He seems to be honest through his actions when he is in view of the character. When Iago informs certain characters that he knows have fallen into his trap, the characters will not doubt what he has to say.