How does Shakespeare use representations of speech and other dramatic techniques to explore the theme of trust in the following extract, and in other episode elsewhere in "Othello"?

Desdemona realises that something has come between herself and Othello, and questions: “why do you speak so startlingly and rash?” His tone is tinged with bitterness, and very biting at time. The use of the sibilance “speak so startlingly” makes Desdemona realise that Othello has changed and his behaviour towards her is different. Othello’s replies with a triad of interrogatives: “is’t lost? Is’t gone?” highlights the mistrust in the relationship, with the monosyllabic words “lost” and “gone” and utterance “ha!” shows he does not believe Desdemona. Both of them try and block each other breaking adjacency pairs by not answering each other’s questions. In contrast, in Act 4, Scene 1, adjacency pairs are used such as “was that mine?” to which Iago gives a short direct reply “yours, by hand” suggests that his plan is working and both of them are respectful towards each other, as they are obeying turn-taking and Grice’s maxim on quantity.

Othello's behaviour, and Desdemona's sudden distrust of it, foreshadows Othello's violent rage. In this passage, the audience see Desdemona’s first lie - “it is not lost”, then repeated “I say, it is not lost.” This portrays the unfaithful relationship between the married couple, and so Othello asks her to “fetch’t: let me see’t.”. The dynamic verb “fetch” is used twice implying that he does not trust Desdemona and believes that the handkerchief is with Cassio. The imperative “fetch me the handkerchief” shows his position and status over her.  On the other hand, Othello’s position is appeared a weaker in Act 4, Scene 1, though he does use an imperative: “get me some poison, Iago, this night”, specifically asking Iago. The imperative show the trust in the relationship, and his anger is shown through the harsh verb “get”.

Furthermore, in Act 4, Scene 1, Othello puts all his attention on Desdemona but has mixed opinions about her: “ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned tonight, for she shall not live.” The aggressive verbs “rot” and “perish” highlights that Iago has succeeded in getting Othello to focus on Desdemona alone and to rearticulate his desire for her ruin, despite his continued positive thoughts towards “a fine woman, a fair woman, a sweet woman”. This focus on revenge against Cassio but praise to Desdemona through the use of the adjectives “fine”, “fair” and “sweet” reverses Othello's desire for vengeance against both Cassio and Desdemona. Iago’s manipulation continues as he suggests that most women are adulteresses, manipulating Othello into believing this. He calls Desdemona a “whore” contrasting the praise Othello has for Desdemona and so by calling her a whore will make Othello “forget that”. The relationship between Othello and Iago at this point is very trusting as Othello trusts Iago and agrees to do what he says.  

Desdemona, knows that something is gravely wrong, though she can do nothing to help Othello, and assuage his anger, however she tries to shift the topic to Cassio: “pray you, let Cassio be received again” makes it more assuring to Othello that she is having an affair, which does not help Desdemona by shifting the topic from the handkerchief, as Othello shifts it back to the handkerchief. Othello’s “mind misgives” knowing through the use of the alliteration that something very terrible is in the immediate of happening. Likewise, Othello claims that Cassio had “a thousand, thousand times” committed the act of shame with Desdemona. The alliteration and the repetition reinforces his emotions crashing down.

Desdemona uses a soft imperative “come, come” for Othello to go see Cassio and regain his position back, and then is followed by “you’ll never meet a more sufficient man”. The adjective “sufficient” makes the situation worse for Desdemona, as she is praising him and so Othello is starting to believe what Iago has said is true. However, Othello is determined and wants to see “the handkerchief!” which is the only thing on his mind, and as it is lost, Desdemona cannot fetch the handkerchief and the trust in the relationship worse. The exclamatory sentence is used to show Othello’s anger is rising, and Desdemona is unable to control it. Similarly, in Act 4, Scene 1, exclamatory sentences are used to show Othello’s anger and fury towards both Desdemona and Iago: “yet the pity of it Iago! O, Iago, the pity of it, Iago!” The exclamatory repetition, followed by the proper noun “Iago”, and then an utterance recognizes his own inner tension, but still he is not ready to act.

His sentences start to deteriorate and does not speak much towards the end of the passage, only focusing on the handkerchief interrupting Desdemona: “shared dangers with you-” showing no care of what she is saying, again this implies the trust between in the relationship has started to weaken. The audience can now see that Iago’s plan is started to work, and is destroying the relationship: “I' faith, you are to blame” and Othello's quick exit. In this era of the 19th century, it was not expected a wife would say this to her husband and so Desdemona is blind to the way that her representing Cassio's cause, innocent as it may be, speaks the reason to why Othello is angry.

When Emilia tries to suggest for a second time that jealousy is the culprit “Is not this man jealous?”, Desdemona claims ignorance: “I nev'r saw this before. Sure, there's some wonder in this handkerchief: I am most unhappy in the loss of it.” Emilia sets the agenda setting of jealousy, and Desdemona blocks the question by answering she is “most unhappy”. The superlative “most”, followed by the adjective “unhappy” reinforces her innocence and does not know why Othello is different towards her.

The extract from Act 3, Scene 4 and Act 4, Scene 1 both portray the trust towards the relationships of each of the characters to the audience, and the speech and dramatic devices that Shakespeare uses helps him to get them across to the audience without the other characters picking up on what he is implying. Othello’s conveyance of his feelings to the audience creates dramatic irony, as we know that he would never act on his feelings, but Iago twists it and convinces Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, when we know that Desdemona is innocent and does not deserve this.