Theme Of Manipulation In Othello
To what extent is manipulation central to the play as a whole?
William Shakespeare’s eponymously titled play ‘Othello’, manifests greed, ambition, jealousy, revenge and most of all, manipulation. Iago’s skillful manipulation of protagonist, Othello, eventually leads Othello to self destruct. The once “noble and valiant moor” is transformed into the “blacker devil” as he kills his beloved Desdemona due to her supposed infidelity with lieutenant Cassio. This is an illusion that Iago had created by insinuating that “the fair and gentle Desdemona” had turned her husband Othello into a cuckold. This manipulation is central to the play because it leads to the death of many main characters such as Desdemona, Rodrigo and Emilia. It is also the …show more content…
He also has a proud nature which is evident very early on in the play as he states “my parts, my title and my perfect soul, shall manifest me rightly”, clearly suggesting that these are the most important aspects of his life. Once swayed by the evil, manipulative Iago, Othello loses all eloquence. His inability to seek ocular proof due to his trusting nature, quite quickly leads him to believe that Desdemona is a “filthy strumpet”. Iago knew that Othello’s pride would quickly turn into aggravated folly. The accusations of Desdemona’s supposed cuckolding causes Othello to transform his life into turmoil as he refuses to temper his pride and in turn, loses all self-confidence and composure. The successfulness of Iago’s manipulation could be due to Othello’s inflammable nature, which one may argue as being innate to some extent in all humans. Iago had never given Othello any reason to deem him untrustworthy before “ as honest as I am”, so Othello’s naivety is somewhat understandable. Hubris, considered to be the negative aspects of pride is Othello’s lapse in judgement, which results in his downfall. It is the reason that Iago’s manipulation can even take place; thus causing the theme of manipulation to be the core …show more content…
He also manipulates Rodrigo and Emilia. Iago persuades the foolish Rodrigo to give him money to fuel his destructive plan for vengeance “put money in thy purse”, in exchange he promises Rodrigo that he will win over the “beautiful Desdemona”. He then manipulates his own wife, Emilia, into taking Desdemona’s handkerchief, the handkerchief she received from Othello once they were married. Iago strategically uses the handkerchief to make it look like Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. The only person left to be affected by Iago’s evil and sadistic ways was Othello, who immediately buys into Iago’s “unvarnished tale”. Although he tells Iago “Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore; be sure of it, give me ocular proof”, Othello never receives any proof other than the illusionary “ocular proof” conjured up by Iago, the handkerchief. Which could have just as easily been accidentally left in Cassio’s bed chambers or had been misplaced. Othello had already decided that Desdemona was unfaithful. The task of manipulating Othello was made easier by the fact that he had started to clearly show signs that he was feeling inadequate, especially living in this white-dominated society. It seems as though a general in the Venetian army would be more aware of such facades like the one Iago uses to hide his cool malignity with, the side of him that the audience is able to see in his soliloquies, but this is not
William Shakespeare’s eponymously titled play ‘Othello’, manifests greed, ambition, jealousy, revenge and most of all, manipulation. Iago’s skillful manipulation of protagonist, Othello, eventually leads Othello to self destruct. The once “noble and valiant moor” is transformed into the “blacker devil” as he kills his beloved Desdemona due to her supposed infidelity with lieutenant Cassio. This is an illusion that Iago had created by insinuating that “the fair and gentle Desdemona” had turned her husband Othello into a cuckold. This manipulation is central to the play because it leads to the death of many main characters such as Desdemona, Rodrigo and Emilia. It is also the …show more content…
He also has a proud nature which is evident very early on in the play as he states “my parts, my title and my perfect soul, shall manifest me rightly”, clearly suggesting that these are the most important aspects of his life. Once swayed by the evil, manipulative Iago, Othello loses all eloquence. His inability to seek ocular proof due to his trusting nature, quite quickly leads him to believe that Desdemona is a “filthy strumpet”. Iago knew that Othello’s pride would quickly turn into aggravated folly. The accusations of Desdemona’s supposed cuckolding causes Othello to transform his life into turmoil as he refuses to temper his pride and in turn, loses all self-confidence and composure. The successfulness of Iago’s manipulation could be due to Othello’s inflammable nature, which one may argue as being innate to some extent in all humans. Iago had never given Othello any reason to deem him untrustworthy before “ as honest as I am”, so Othello’s naivety is somewhat understandable. Hubris, considered to be the negative aspects of pride is Othello’s lapse in judgement, which results in his downfall. It is the reason that Iago’s manipulation can even take place; thus causing the theme of manipulation to be the core …show more content…
He also manipulates Rodrigo and Emilia. Iago persuades the foolish Rodrigo to give him money to fuel his destructive plan for vengeance “put money in thy purse”, in exchange he promises Rodrigo that he will win over the “beautiful Desdemona”. He then manipulates his own wife, Emilia, into taking Desdemona’s handkerchief, the handkerchief she received from Othello once they were married. Iago strategically uses the handkerchief to make it look like Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. The only person left to be affected by Iago’s evil and sadistic ways was Othello, who immediately buys into Iago’s “unvarnished tale”. Although he tells Iago “Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore; be sure of it, give me ocular proof”, Othello never receives any proof other than the illusionary “ocular proof” conjured up by Iago, the handkerchief. Which could have just as easily been accidentally left in Cassio’s bed chambers or had been misplaced. Othello had already decided that Desdemona was unfaithful. The task of manipulating Othello was made easier by the fact that he had started to clearly show signs that he was feeling inadequate, especially living in this white-dominated society. It seems as though a general in the Venetian army would be more aware of such facades like the one Iago uses to hide his cool malignity with, the side of him that the audience is able to see in his soliloquies, but this is not