Othello

Othello, The fall of the Moor

I had rather be a toad

And live upon the vapor of a dungeon

Then keep a corner in the thing I love

For others' uses (3.3.271-274)

The quote comes from William Shakespeare's Othello. The story depicts the rise and fall of Othello, the general of the Venician army. The plot in Othello is constructed by the intricate lies Iago, who was not selected by Othello as the lieutenant of the Venician army under him, tell Othello about his wife Desdemona. Desdemona is the daughter of Brabantio and the wife of Othello, she is also very beautiful. Othello's downfall begins when he sees Iago as an honest man and believes his words depicting Cassio as a suitor to Desdemona. Iago puts Othello into a jealous rage by first getting his attention to question Desdemona's loyalty, then luring him onto the lie and finally, making him accept that Desdemona is cheating on him.

To begin the deception of Othello Iago tries to make it seem that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. It gains Othello's attention by saying "Ha! I like not that."(3.3.35). When Iago says this Othello then questions his intentions. Iago then explains he is questioning the faith of Desdemona because he saw her and Cassio together. During a talk discussion between Iago and Othello, Iago begins to question almost everything that Othello says to make it seem like he is withholding information. When Iago answers by saying "Honest, my lord"(3.3.105) Othello feels this is to protect Cassio by not giving out any information but in reality he is trying to think of a lie. Yet this plan is working better then creating a lie.

When Othello questions Iago about his wife Desdemona's loyalty Iago responds with accusations of Desdemona and Cassio meeting alone. Iago tells Othello that he needs to "Observe her well with Cassio. / With your eye just, not jealous or secure."(3.3.198-99). After telling Othello this, Othello becomes more drawn into Iago's lies. Othello believes he can tell if a man is honest. He trusts Iago when Iago is telling him the lies. Othello sees Iago as a man of "... exceeding honesty" (3.3.259). This causes Othello to believe the all the lies Othello is telling him which will lead to the death of many innocent characters.

When Iago gets Othello to believe the lies about the affair Othello takes a hard turn around from the loving husband to a man who is driven by the thoughts of harming his wife. Othello first begins to change when he second