Othello clearly has deep fears about being thought ‘old’, ‘black’ and lacking conversation as revealed to the audience in his soliloquy. Lead by his tutor, ‘honest Iago’, Othello comes to think of his obvious racial difference as a ‘problem’ and that Desdemona might only be feeling lust for him, as her actions in marrying him was ‘nature erring from itself …’. Since Othello believes that Desdemona doesn’t accept him as an equal and merely thinks of him as an object to satisfy her ‘appetite’, she loses credibility with him and Iago is further empowered.
Othello’s merely views women as being of two types: either to be held on a pedestal or the common whore. When Iago plants the seeds of doubt of her fidelity, Othello quickly removes her from the pedestal and relegates her to the common whore, ‘I had been happy if the general camp / Pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body. ‘ As soon as she becomes a ‘cunning whore of Venice’ in Othello’s mind, she no longer holds Othello’s trust or love.
Iago is a master manipulator. He is able to choose language to suit his audience. To Roderigo he uses persuasive but quite coarse prose; to Desdemona he uses rather ribald poetry; when uttering his soliloquy he uses much more refined poetry, as he also does when engaging Othello in speech but he reverts to coarser pros when talking with Cassio. Thus, by appearing to be one of them, he is able to gain their trust and later manipulate them. He appears to Othello to be loyal to his friends, such as Cassio but honest , ‘thy [Iago] honesty and love doth mince this matter’ and also when he makes an accusation against Othello’s true love, ‘This fellow’s exceedingly honest.’ Never once does Othello seem to question him as he believes that Iago is straightforward and ‘honest’, something which he repeats till the very end of the play.
Desdemona’s own trusting and innocent nature plays a part in Othello losing trust in her. She believes that her moor ‘is true of mind and made of no such baseness / As jealous creatures are’. As such when she sees a jealous side of Othello, who is clearly obsessed with the handkerchief, she panics and tries to deceive him. The fact that she has already deceived her father in marrying him and that she now tries to deceive him leads Othello to lose trust in her. Later on, when news arrives from Venice, her choice of words is very poor compared to the state Othello is in, ‘for the love I bear to Cassio’ and ‘I am glad on’t [Cassio being appointed governor]. This gives more credibility to Iago while making her seem dishonest. Despite the fact that she loves him dearly, she doesn’t understand Othello as well as Iago does and so she is not able to gain Othello’s trust.
Othello is a great military leader but he is not aware of his own emotions and weaknesses. He declares ‘I’m not a jealous man’ but as the plays develops, it reveals his more sinister side. Othello is also highly emotional. Iago uses that to first gain Othello’s trust and to be appointed in Cassio’s place by engineering a scene when Othello and Desdemona are consummating their marriage thereby throwing Othello into a rage and then delivering a carefully nuanced report, to which Othello reads between the lines and punishes Cassio. Now that Iago has gained Othello’s trust, he then inflames Othello again against Desdemona. As Othello is very emotional, naturally it takes very little to inflame him and make him lose his trust in Desdemona.
Othello depends on facts and on the assumption that ‘men should be what they seem’. Although this philosophy might work on the battlefield when friends and enemies are clearly known, they do not work in the civilized world where it is not quite black and white. When infidelity is first brought up by Iago, Othello says ‘I’ll see before I doubt, when I doubt, prove’. However Iago is able to twist the facts by letting Othello hear only snippets of the conversation between himself and Cassio, and claiming to have heard Cassio speak in his sleep and the only physical evidence, planting a handkerchief on Cassio. This makes Iago seem more honest by seemingly creating the impression that the suspicion that Desdemona was being deceitful would have occurred naturally to Othello based on the facts. Desdemona does not have anything to counter the argument, merely her belief in her innocence and her trust in Othello. This of course leads to Othello preferring to trust Iago rather than Desdemona.
Othello’s overwhelming pride is also another factor. The fear of being the ‘the fixed figure of scorn’ has assumed a much greater importance in his life than he had ever anticipated. The fear that men might label him a cuckold completely unhinges him. The need to have the regard of other males, he discovers, is paramount it takes precedence over his relationship and trust with his wife. He has taken for granted that his place in Venice is secure and his wife under his control. Now his whole self-concept of being a successful, powerful and dominant male is at stake. Othello is impelled to act to save the situation and he believes that Iago is the only one who is acting in his best interests. Therefore, he trusts Iago more than his wife.
Another contributing factor is Othello’s lack of judgement. Othello has spent most parts of life fighting in faraway lands so he is inexperienced with social interaction. Thus he makes bad judgement about major characters. He continues to trust Iago even when Iago claims, ‘honesty is a fool; And loses what it works for,’ Othello does not get suspicious. When Emilia claims that Desdemona could not have been unfaithful and ‘lay down my soul at stake’ for Desdemona’s honesty, Othello merely dismisses her as a ‘simple bawd.’ This lack of judgement leads him to trust the wrong person, Iago.
The fact that Othello is an ‘honest fool’ purports the greatest tragedy. Othello’s ‘soul is so enfettered’ in love for Desdemona that he oft repeated ‘I will deny thee nothing’ – but ultimately, he denies her life. His ordered universe revolves around his love for Desdemona. He honestly loves her ‘too well’ and states that ‘chaos’ will reign ‘when I love thee not’. Othello possesses a pure, unconditional, love for Desdemona. The true tragedy of Othello is not the senseless carnage but that Othello must distrust his innocent, unadulterated, love.
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