Comparing and Contrasting Envy and Deception in Shakespeares Much Ado About Nothing and Othello

Sean Okundaye

Comparing and Contrasting Envy and Deception in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Othello

The course of events in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and Othello are shaped by the deceit and envy of individuals whose desires is arguably to achieve a higher status in society, as well as to avenge the cause of their own dissatisfaction. Don John and Iago manipulate the minds of the people in Much Ado About Nothing and Othello respectively by using these characters’ insecurities as tools in a quest to ruin their lives. Both plays also involve some self-deception on the part of the characters though, being a comedy, Much Ado About Nothing sees the reconciliation of Claudio and Hero along with Benedick’s and Beatrice’s proclamation of love. This is in contrast to the bleak ending of the tragedy that is Othello, in which we witness the demise of Desdemona and Othello. This is perhaps why these to plays share some differences as well as similarities — whilst the motives of Iago and Don John are similar, a lot of the deception that occurs in Much Ado About Nothing is not for malicious purposes and thus this is where Othello and Much Ado About Nothing differs. Furthermore whilst Don John is clearly envious of his half-brother’s social authority, the extent to which Iago is envious of Othello and his relationship with Desdemona is ambiguous.

Given the fact that Don John is often referred to as “the Bastard”, it is clear that his relationship with his half-brother Don Pedro is one that is marked by an underlying resentment. Indeed Don John’s illegitimacy may well have led to his dark and sullen character for he is lower than his half-brother in the social hierarchy seen in Much Ado About Nothing. This has therefore created an envy of his half-brother that for reasons unknown manifests into a desire to destroy Hero’s and Claudio’s relationship. The enviousness of Don John can possibly be seen with Iago in Othello for he has a hatred of Othello that remains unexplained till the very end of the play. One argument that supports the theory that Iago is jealous of Othello is perhaps the fact that the “valiant” Othello has garnered such unearned respect. If we look at Act Two Scene One when Othello has been sent to Cyprus to battle the Turks, we learn from Cassio that the Turks have possibly drowned in a storm thus meaning that they were not defeated at the hands of the Venetians. This being the case, Othello is left with nothing to do but to ask “This fortification, gentlemen, shall we see’t?” in Act Three Scene Two. Therefore, Othello can no longer bring new tales of “the battles, sieges, fortunes/That I have passed” which he used to woo Desdemona as stated in Act One Scene Three and so he seems unable to justify the view of Othello as valiant and courageous. Indeed Iago plays on this when Othello has a fit in Act Four Scene One where he refers to his fit as “A passion most unsuiting such a man”. This seems to be Iago subtly mocking Othello status as a soldier and pointing out how unlike a soldier he really is. One could argue that Iago sees it this way because he is envious of Othello’s seemingly unearned position of power as he is already resentful of the fact that Cassio was promoted ahead of him as explained in Act One Scene One when he says, “Despise me if I do not: three great ones of the city/In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,/Off-capped to him; and by the faith of man/I know my price, I am worth no worse a place.” Whilst it is clear that he resents being overlooked, it is possible that Iago’s envy is as a result of the fact that he should be held in higher esteem than Othello, let alone Cassio. It is therefore only fitting that he conspires with Roderigo, someone who is himself jealous of Othello as he is married to Desdemona who is the object of Roderigo’s affection.

In order to appease himself, Iago instigates Cassio’s aggression in Act Two Scene Three by sending Roderigo to attack Cassio. This leads to Cassio striking him and thus he is removed from his position as Othello’s lieutenant. Iago replaces him and so he has achieved what was arguably his aim. Indeed this desire for status is similar to that of Don John who as well as wishing to ruin Claudio’s relationship with Hero, wishes to unseat him as Don Pedro’s favourite so that he would be able to avenge Don Pedro's crushing of his rebellion. Both Iago and Don John aim to gain favour from the same person who they wish to destroy. What makes Don John particularly malevolent is the fact that his jealousy is mainly derived from his dissatisfaction with his own life. He wishes to destroy the happiness of his perceived enemies and this could possibly be held akin to Iago’s wish to destroy Othello for reasons which remain somewhat ambiguous. It seems that Iago’s own malevolence is perhaps due to the fact that he is just inherently evil. However it could be due to the fact that he wishes to be in many ways Othello’s favourite and not only did Othello favour Cassio, he also loved Desdemona. It could be that he wishes to replace Desdemona as an object of love, not in a homosexual sense, but in a way that would help maintain a military camaraderie that would have been present when they fought side by side. That being said, he does seem to hold a belief that Othello is having an affair with his wife Emilia for he says towards the end of Act One Scene Three, “It is thought abroad that ’twixt my sheets / He has done my office.” However one must acknowledge the fact that he does hold a rather misogynistic view of women, in the way that he maltreats Emilia, and in Act Two Scene One, in the presence of both Emilia and Desdemona, he makes slanderous claims such as, “You rise to play and go to bed to work.”

This is a preview of the whole essay

Don John and Iago are both incredibly able when it comes to manipulating people by exploiting their insecurities. If we look at Don John’s deception of Claudio, he not only turns him against Hero but he also attempts to make him distrust Don Pedro. In Act Two Scene One Don John tells Claudio that, “Signor, you are very near my brother in his love, he is enamoured on Hero, I pray you dissuade him from her,” Don John blatantly lies to Claudio, telling him that Don Pedro swore he would marry her, thus poisoning Claudio’s mind. However, when one reads the play it becomes somewhat unclear what Don Pedro's motives truly are. Indeed one begins to suspect that perhaps he is similar to his brother in the sense that, whilst being no where near as blatant, there may be an ulterior motive in his actions. For example, when Claudio professes his love for Hero, Don Pedro takes it upon himself to tell woo Hero for him. Whilst this seems to be merely in good nature, Claudio seemed to allow him to do so because of Don Pedro’s authority over him. Given the hierarchy that is evident in the play, it is possible that Don Pedro’s reason for taking this task upon himself is simply because he feels it is his duty to put his weight behind Claudio’s task. However, at the end of the play when Claudio and Hero are reconciled, Don Pedro does seem to be somewhat melancholy which is clear when Benedick points out “Prince, thou art sad, get thee a wife, get thee a wife, there is no staff more reverend than one tipped with horn.” He is instructing Don Pedro to find a wife so that he can be complete but it is possible that Don Pedro is sad because the woman he wants belongs to Claudio. So it seems that he shares the same envious trait that his half-brother, Don John has. Looking back at the banquet scene in Act Two Scene One, one can’t help but feel that the reason why Don Pedro is being so eloquent is not just because of his high social status but also because he is in effect trying to subtly woo Hero. Therefore when Don John lies to Claudio that Don Pedro has declared his love for Hero , not only has Claudio’s mind been poisoned, there is a chance that an underlying suspicion has been reaffirmed. Don John has spotted a weakness in the fact that Claudio answers to Don Pedro and so can not muster the courage to question Don Pedro’s motive. Don John’s deception seems to be succeeding as not only is Claudio suspicious of Don Pedro, he is also doubting the merit of a relationship with Hero.

Don John’s exploitation of Claudio’s insecurities is similar to the way in which Iago has deceived Othello. Iago is fully aware of Othello’s growing sense of isolation due to his race and age and so he plants ideas into his head, leading to Othello being almost blinded, in a metaphorical sense. Iago’s main weapon is Cassio who, he points out, served almost as a messenger during Othello’s courtship of Desdemona as stated when he says in Act Three Scene Three, “Did Michael Cassio, / When you wooed my lady, know of your love?” This is very much like Don Pedro’s involvement in Claudio’s bid to woo Hero only this time, Cassio answers to Othello and not the reverse. Indeed what makes Iago’s deception even more effective is his use of language to subtly plant ideas into Othello’s mind. For example, when Iago says “But for a satisfaction of my thought; /No further harm.” This is highly ironic because he is insinuating that he doesn’t want to go any further in voicing of his so-called suspicion yet by even suggesting such a thing, he has deepened Othello’s suspicions further. Whilst he hasn’t blatantly accused Cassio and Desdemona of infidelity, much unlike Don John’s blunt proclamations, he has already done enough damage to allow Othello’s mind to race. Indeed Iago continues to be disingenuous thus fuelling Othello’s suspicions, and we start to see the extent to which Othello is being deceived when he says, “And for I know thou’rt full of love and honesty.” Furthermore, lines in this scene are often split between Iago and Othello. These lines mostly begin with Iago and are finished by Othello and this represents the fact that at this stage, Iago only needs to insinuate to Othello that there is some infidelity occurring, who will then complete the line by jumping to conclusion or by interrogating Iago further. Iago continues his act of honesty by even urging Othello to avoid being jealous saying, “O beware, my lord, of jealousy/It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/The meat it feeds on.” Even though Iago hasn’t explicitly stated that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, he is only serving to encourage Othello’s transformation into this green-eyed monster.

Othello’s main downfall is the fact that, he often deceives himself and has allowed himself to be almost entirely consumed by Iago’s manipulations. Othello urges Iago to “Give me the ocular proof” and develops an obsession with this as he seeks to confirm his beliefs about Desdemona’s infidelity. Therefore, when Iago lies that he has seen Cassio wipe his brow with the handkerchief that Othello had given to Desdemona, he is further convinced that she is having an affair. This handkerchief plays a key role in Othello’s downfall and Desdemona’s death as this was the first gift that he gave to her and is a symbol of his love for her. However, a only a short time before it was figuratively dangled by Iago before Othello, Desdemona had applied the handkerchief to Othello’s head due to his headache and only dropped it when he left. Emilia then picked it up and handed it to Iago, who now has vital evidence to present. Othello was in the presence of Desdemona when she dropped it and so he should be aware of his. However, because he is so convinced that she is cheating on him, he believes Iago when he says that Cassio has it. Indeed he now believes the handkerchief to be proof of Desdemona’s unfaithfulness and tells her later on in Act Three, Scene Three that, “I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me/Lend me thy handkerchief.” Having misplaced the handkerchief, Desdemona is unable to produce the handkerchief that Othello gave her and so this confirms his suspicions.

This type of self-deception contrasts with the one seen in Much Ado About Nothing as it does not lead to the downfall of the characters. Beatrice and Benedick are examples of this self-deception in the sense that they both love each other, but hide behind this fact through a war of wits. Indeed Beatrice claims to be against the idea of getting married as she says, “What should I do with him- dress him in my apparel and make him my waiting gentlewoman? He that hath a beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no beard is less than a man; and he that is more than a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a man, I am not for him.” However, behind this hyperbole is perhaps a vulnerability that we can assume is linked to the fact that it has been hinted that Benedick at one point led her on. However, Benedick hides behind inflated rhetoric, as can be seen in Act One Scene One when he says, “The savage bull may, but if ever the sensible Benedick bear it, pluck off the bull’s horns and set them in my forehead, and let me be vilely painted, and in such great letters as they write ‘Here is good horse to hire’ let them signify under my sign ‘Here you may see Benedick, the married man.’” His referral to the “sensible Benedick” is his way of saying that he is too rational to marry. The image of the bull brings up the idea of a man, no matter how strong and dominant, will be unintelligent for falling for a woman who, Benedick believes, will end up making a fool of him and cheat on him. However, when Don Pedro and Claudio lie that Beatrice has declared her love for Benedick, knowing full well that he can hear, he is overjoyed but still says that, “I will be horribly in love with her.” He still has to gain the upper hand against Beatrice by being more in love with her than she is with him. Likewise I Act Three Scene One, Hero and her waiting women deceive Beatrice into believing that Benedick has spoken about his love for her by pretending to be having a private conversation, aware of the fact that Beatrice is listening. The irony of this scene is that in the previous scene, having heard of Beatrice’s love for him Benedick gives in to his infatuation but Beatrice does not see this as they spend their time trying to outdo each other in their wittiness and intelligence. Nevertheless, Beatrice reveals her vulnerable side and starts to give in to the ideas of love and marriage when she says, “And Benedick, love on, I will require thee/Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand.”

Claudio’s public shaming of Hero, in Act Four Scene One, shows the extent to which Don John has been able to deceive both him and Don Pedro. He claims to have seen Hero with a “vile” man, not knowing that that was actually Margaret dressed as Hero, who had actually slept with Borachio, Don John’s accomplice. Claudio doesn’t give Hero the chance to defend herself and is so blinded by his rage that he says, “She knows the heat of a luxurious bed/Her blush is guiltiness, not modesty.” He has taken an insignificant detail and blown it out of proportion and his language is somewhat explicit. This is very similar to Othello’s loss of self-control in Othello. The friar has to engage in deception himself by telling Hero to hide away and for Leonato to convince everyone that Hero has died, after having himself said, “Hence from here, let her die.” This deception actually helps in two ways: it allows the anger directed at Hero to dissipate and leads to Benedick and Beatrice declaring their love for each other openly. However one must not forget that in this scene we have seen how important honour is in this play and Claudio has tarnished Hero’s name by saying that her honour, or in other words her virginity has been taken away. This is identical to the way in which Othello believes that Desdemona has herself lost her honour by sleeping with Cassio whilst being married to Othello. This shows that Don John and Iago have been able to use society’s ideologies to their advantage when deceiving Claudio and Othello respectively. However, in the end we reach two very different conclusions.

By Act Four Scene Two, Othello has become so consumed by deceit and jealousy that when Emilia tells him that Desdemona has never cheated on him, he point black refuses to believe it, saying “Yes, you have seen Cassio and she together.” He has pursued her to gain further evidence against Desdemona but what he has heard has not fitted his assumptions. This shows that with Iago’s manipulation, he has already made up his mind about Desdemona. This is a fatal flaw as he is so convinced that Iago is honest and so wouldn’t lie to him that when Emilia contradicts these believes, he refuses to listen. Indeed if we look at Othello’s language when Desdemona enters the scene, we see him using her words against her. She says that heaven knows she is honest yet he uses this against her, “Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell.” His language becomes more erratic and has deteriorated significantly when compared to that of the eloquent soldier of whom we were introduced in Act One Scene Three. Othello has convinced himself that Desdemona is unfaithful and decides that she and Cassio must die. Indeed, in Act Five Scene Two, when he is in Desdemona’s chamber, tries to convince himself that he is doing the right thing in killing Desdemona. His opening has him saying, “It is the cause, it is the cause my soul/Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars/It is the cause.” This repetition of “it is the cause” shows that Othello is deluding himself that killing Desdemona is a just cause and reflects on the fact that Othello has gradually become more insane. In his soliloquy he makes allusions to justice and heaven and yet it is clear that he still loves her and is in many ways conflicted in his feelings, especially when he says “O balmy breath that dost almost persuade/Justice to break her sword!” The sword symbolises the ability for Justice to punish sinners and what Othello is saying is that Desdemona beauty and sweetness is almost enough to make him not kill her. However, he still gives in to his delusions and even sees himself as her saviour. This is clear when he says to Desdemona, “I will not kill thy unpreparèd spirit/No – heaven forfend – I would not kill thy soul!” He has believes buy allowing her to beg for forgiveness, he is being her saviour. Nevertheless Desdemona meets a grisly end when she is suffocated by Othello and so he has committed a crime that Iago has been trying to get him to commit. When Othello finally learns of Iago’s deception and Desdemona’s innocence, he is overwhelmed with grief. He eventually kills himself and Lodovico confronts Iago, telling him, “Look on the tragic loading of this bed. / This is thy work. The object poisons sight. / Let it be hid” This sums up the result of Iago’s duplicity in the sense that he deceived Othello into believing that Desdemona was unfaithful when Othello never actually had any real “ocular proof”. The play has in a sense relied heavily on Othello being, metaphorically speaking, blinded by Iago.

This bloody conclusion is in contrast to the more positive conclusion of Much Ado About Nothing in which having been summoned to what is in effect a second wedding party, a repentant Claudio is summoned under the pretence that he is to marry another of Leonato’s nieces. He had previously acknowledged the fact that he had been deceived in an epithet to Hero’s supposed tomb so when it is revealed that Hero is indeed alive, he begs for forgiveness. One must wonder why Hero willingly marries Claudio when he has allowed himself to be deceived to a point where he has no qualms in disgracing her in public. Furthermore, Benedick and Beatrice still insist on deceiving themselves when they both say loudly declare that they do not love each other. However, Claudio, Hero and indeed the audience know that this isn’t the truth and they finally profess their love for each other for others to hear. In the end, unlike Iago, Don Pedro has failed as he is now more alienated from the others than he was at the beginning of the play and the truth has been exposed.

The reason why these plays reach such a different conclusion stems from the language used by the villains, as well as the insecurities of those who are duped. Iago has used his skills of double entendre in order to deceive Othello, as well as exploit his insecurities. Furthermore, Othello is isolated from everyone else in the play and this proves to be dangerous as he has nobody to rely on for clarification of what is the truth and what is a lie. This is unlike Claudio who had friends who were convinced of Hero’s innocence and are therefore able to set about proving it. What is clear however, that the motives of Iago and Don John consist purely of an innate envy of those in a position that is seemingly higher than their own.