Answer to Question #259837 in English for Mr.Sadu ( Ankit )

Question

What according to you, are the reason that Othello believes a Lego's accusations and insinuations about the Desdemona? Elaborate

With references to the text in 1500 word's

Answer 1

First off, I believe that Iago right off the bat knows exactly what each character needs for that character to fall for his lies and believe him. Iago studies these characters inside and out so he knows their strengths and weaknesses and uses their weaknesses to his advantage so that his evil plans always work out. So with that being said, Iago targets Othello to get him to believe his lies about Desdemona. The reason for this is not totally clear but there are two options I observed. One reason could be because of Othello promoting Cassio instead of Iago or the second reason could be because Iago thinks that Othello slept with his wife.

I think his plan sadly succeeds which isn’t surprising because Iago is known to tell lies and be an evil manipulator throughout the play. In the beginning of Othello’s and Iago’s conversation on page 2139, Othello says to Iago while taking him by the throat “Villian, be sure thou prove my love a whore. Be sure of it. Give me the ocular proof, Or, by the worth of mine eternal soul, Thou hadst been better have been born a dog Than answer my waked wrath!” Othello is serious and violent when he says to Iago you better not be messing with me or else the consequences will be horrific for you. But as they get more into their conversation there is a shocking turn where Iago says on the top of page 2140, “O wretched fool, That lov’st to make thine honesty a vice! O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world, To be direct and honest is not safe. I thank

That lov’st to make thine honesty a vice! O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world, To be direct and honest is not safe. I thank you for this profit, and from hence I’ll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence”. This really takes a toll on Othello and means a lot to him because Iago claims to be an honest and good friend to him. Othello is known to be a character that expresses a lot of honesty especially in his previous speech in the play so for Iago to be honest with Othello shows that Iago is being serious and truly cares about him. As their conversation goes on, Othello demands that Iago finds proof or else everything he has said is garbage and means nothing. At the bottom of page 2140, Iago says “Pricked to ’t by foolish honesty and love, I will go on” and once again Iago shares his likeness for Othello and how honest Iago is being. Iago goes on to say that he heard Cassio talking in his sleep, saying to Desdemona that they need to be careful and hide their love. Cassio also curses fate for giving Desdemona to the Moor. Cassio refers to Othello as the Moor, which is super insulting! After Iago says that, I feel like Othello starts to give in more and more and believe what Iago is saying. I feel like Iago seems to be doing the total opposite of what he is trying to achieve, he even says to Othello “Nay, yet be wise, yet we see nothing done She may be honest yet”. This may be one of his tactics to help him look like he isn’t trying so hard to convince Othello that what he’s saying is true.

Little does Othello know that Iago continues to build up his lies by saying that Cassio has Desdemona’s handkerchief that Othello gave to her creating more belief in Iago’s evidence. The fact that Iago completes the rest of what Othello is saying signifies that Othello has fallen for Iago’s plan and they are both on the same page and thinking the same thing. After that part Othello seems to be extremely pissed and ready to kill Cassio not only one time but forty thousand times!

I also want to point out that Othello makes a huge switch from being defensive on page 2139 to then giving into what Iago is saying on pages 2140, 2141 and 2142. After Iago says that he is a true friend and that all he’s trying to do is be honest and tell the truth to Othello about his wife and also adds in evidence to support his story, Othello has no other choice but to believe Iago. He has so much anger towards Cassio, there is no turning back for Othello. The conversation continues to go on and Othello gets deeper and deeper into believing Iago’s lies and it gets ugly. The amount of time Iago spends to make Othello fall for his plan shows how bad he wanted his plan to work and how the more time he spent talking to Othello filling his mind with lies and answering all his thoughts gives Iago more of a chance at Othello believing him. Iago even acts as if he is trying to calm Othello down because of all the hate he has towards Cassio after Iago shares the evidence with him in the middle of page 2141.

Iago is one smart and evil character in this play that fools Othello, which I thought was kind of surprising because I thought of Othello as being a smart and strong leader for the army that doesn’t fall for anyone’s lies. Iago is an evil manipulator that uses his loving words and conveys his love for Othello as a powerful technique to sway Othello in believing everything.

All in all, Iago has caused a lot of damage towards Othello, Desdemona and Cassio. I believe that at the end of this scene he did a successful job in making Othello fall for his plan.