Iago's revenge and untruthful lies

• AO3 in DECEIT - morality and social norms

  • During Elizabethan, religious changes occurred, therefore social norms were different
  • Morality plays were being replaced by the time Shakespeare began writing, however he still follows the layout
  • They experience the good and badness of life, set out in one particular indivdiual
  • Othello can be seen as nihilistic as it doesn't follow the good moral message at the end, as he commits 2 sins at the end
• A05 - DECEIT


  Martin Rosenberg: "Othello's tragic flaw is that he is human"

  • Since Othello is considered a 'racial outsider', he is under constant surveillance to uphold his image and reputation
  • This suggests that he has an absolutist mindset, and only acts on his feelings of things
• AO1 - IAGO

  • Iago's main incentive to hurt and torture Othello is his jealousy at thinking he has been sleeping with his wife Emilia - although this was not true
• AO2 - IAGO

  • Othello: "I will chop her into messes, Cuckhold me"? (Act 4 Scene 1)
  • There is a mixture of egotism and savagery
  • Significant that Lodovico, the eptiome of Venice's nobles, bears witness to Othello's barbaric treatment to Desdemona, and how a civilised society would view this treatment
  • Iago has isolated and distanced him from his wife, and also his commanders in the military
• AO2 - IAGO

  Iago: "Were I the Moor...peculiar end" (Act 1 Scene 1)

  • Highlights the duplicity of his character, making him a conscious evil villain
  • By creating a humble facade, he quite sinisterly knows that his manipulation can be successful, without the questioning of Othello
  • He also carefully places himself out of trouble: Not present when Cassio fights; Not visible to Othello when he speaks to Brabantio
• A02 - IAGO 


  Emilia: "You told a lie...a wicked lie" (Act 5 Scene 2)

  • Emilia's view on the subjectivity of the Handkerchief, a sign of love between Othello and Desdemona
  • She is horrified to believe that she has been deceived by her own husband
• A05 - IAGO's RELATIONSHIP WITH EMILIA

  Honigmann: "She must know Iago better than anybody else"

  • Emilia contradicts this interpretation, as she too had been deceived by her husband
  • Act 5 Scene II: "you told a lie...a wicked lie"