It is Othello’s insecurity about his race and his age – “Haply, for I am black… / Or for I am declined / Into the vale of years” – that brings about a violent and unfounded jealousy in him concerning Desdemona. It is by having these vices brought to the surface by Iago that Othello falls. From the very beginning of the play the audience is presented with an insecure and proud man for which characteristics Iago instinctively hates him, though he is unable to put his feelings into words. ” It is wrong however to view Othello as a victim. ” Iago, again with great skill, frames Cassio and Desdemona with extraordinary incidental evidence, from the deceptive conversation with Cassio that Othello is made to overhear to the planting of the handkerchief on Cassio.After such mastery on the part of Iago, it is quite understandable that Othello should be convinced of his wife’s guilt, despite her protestations of innocence – after all, what rational cause does Iago have to “hate the Moor”? Besides, Desdemona’s protestations are self-defeating because of her clumsy use of language – “what ignorant sin have I committed! “, she exclaims, unaware that ‘committed’ carries adulterous connotations: he sees in her replies a caustic sarcasm and relish, that reinforce his conviction of her guilt.However, she could not possibly have committed adultery within the timing of the play.īy the end of the play Iago’s cunning has transformed a noble man into a pitiless, emotional wreck, of whom Desdemona can truly say: “My lord is not my lord. Nor, for all of this, does Othello accuse his wife out of hand: “I’ll see before I doubt, when I doubt, prove. Iago is very clever in his manipulation of Othello, introducing doubt into his mind in a way that is so compelling that even the audience marvels at his cunning.His hesitancy, his make-believe friendship, his invisibly measured temptation of Othello into his trap, his perfect sense of timing, his brilliant exploitation of the inherent insecurities in an aged, emotional outsider, would be convincing to all but the least trustful of persons. What Othello does lack is a certain worldliness to control this naivety, a result of his being a soldier rather than a noble. ” Far from being a vice, such lack of caution is an indication of a good nature and noble character.
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He is a sharp judge of human nature: it is thanks to his delicate manipulation of Othello’s and Cassio’s characters that he is able to carry out such a implausible plan.Iago also highlights the weakness in Othello’s character which he will exploit to drive his master to ruin: “The Moor is of a free and open nature That thinks men honest that but seem to be so. It is unlikely that his judgement of Othello’s character here could be inaccurate. ” Iago perceives that Othello and Desdemona would live happily together if not for his undoing. Iago, too, says in a soliloquy, one of those times in the play when he clearly reveals his true self and his honest opinions to the audience:”The Moor… is of a constant, loving, noble nature, And I dare think he’ll prove to Desdemona A most dear husband.
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Towards the end of the play, the Venetian envoy, Lodovico, can hardly believe that a man with a reputation such as Othello has can strike his wife: “Is this the noble Moor who our full senate Call all in all sufficient? This the nature Whom passion could not shake? whose solid virtue The shot of accident nor dart of chance Could neither graze nor pierce?. He is perceived by all in Venice as a man of great wisdom and sound judgement, and is entrusted by the Duke with the important mission against the Turks. The Moor, perhaps, should be seen as a multifaceted being, who himself cannot decide who he is or what he stands for.There is a convincing case for saying that Othello is noble, and little more than the tragic victim of a devilish Iago.
While it is difficult to argue that Othello is noble in Acts IV-V, it is also hard to say that he has brought the dreadful ending upon himself, because clearly Iago must take much of the credit for Othello’s change. Othello is a puzzling character, who in the first half of the play is alleged as a noble, wise leader, and whose style of dealing with Brabantio’s insults is an example for all men, yet who becomes in the second half a ruthless murderer.
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