In his play “Othello” Shakespeare shows how dangerous it might be to blindly believe a person. Othello truly believes Iago and never hesitates about the villain’s honesty. In fact the theme of honesty may be considered as one of the central themes in the play that moves the plot. Thus, the fact that throughout the play Othello totally believed the main villain and lier creates suspense and irony in the story.
It is worth considering that the word honesty is used about fifty times in the play. Moreover, this word is mostly used in connection to the character of Iago. However, from the very beginning of the play the readers understand that Iago is a hypocrite character who cares only about himself. He manipulates all the other characters from the play. He even lies to his wife Emilia in order to achieve what he wants. However, in a talk with Rodrigo, Iago admits that he only pretends to be loyal to Othello. At this rate, he exclaims, “whip me such honest knaves” (1.1. 50). Indeed, the phrase ‘honest knaves’ is already an irony. According to Jorgenson, “the irony goes one fold deeper. Iago is a knave, posing as Honesty, a hunter of knaves” (Jogerson 566). Iago is a perfect knave. He hates Othello and clearly is jealous of the position the man occupies in the society. In Iago’s opinion, Othello has everything: a good job, a high position in the society and a beautiful wife. Iago pretends to be honest and loyal to Othello so that it would be easier for him to manipulate Othello and to destroy his life. He creates a perfect plan by making Othello believe that his wife Desdemona cheats on him. He understands that jealousy is Othello’s heel of Achilles and uses it in order to destroy the man’s life. He perfectly pretends to be honest and may be described as a perfect liar.
It is clear that the relationship between Othello and Iago serves as the main conflict of the story. Thus, Othello believes that Iago is an honest man. For instance, when introducing Iago to the Duke, Othello claims: “so please your grace, my ancient; / a man he is of honest and trust: / to his conveyance I assign my wife” (1.3. 637-9). Abernethy believes that such “compliment is the first announcement of Othello’s blind faith in Iago, and should serve as the keynote of his credulity, an interesting moral and psychological hint” (Abernethy 338). Moreover, this compliment serves as evidence that Othello absolutely trusts Iago. He trusts him so much that he allows the villain to take care of his wife while he is away. He believes all Iago’s words without any hesitation. Ironically, but Othello doesn't see Iago's true nature. Iago, in his turn, only pretends to be honest. In reality, he has a plan how to let Othello down. In fact, Iago wants to have the same life as Othello has. Such a contradiction definitely makes the play tenser and moves the whole plot. The more Othello believes in Iago's honesty the more problems he has in his life.
It should be also noted that not only Othello, but also other characters of the play come under influence of Iago. For instance while talking about Iago, Cassio claims that “I never knew / A Florentine more kind and honest” (3.1. 1594-5). Desdemona also believes that Iago is an honest man. Thus, in a talk with Emilia about Iago, she comments, “O, that's an honest fellow” (3.3. 1630). It is remarkable that all the characters of the play describe Iago as an honest man. It is possible that Shakespeare does it on purpose in order to show the readers that Iago manipulates all people. Iago understands the people's weak points and knows how to use them in order to make advantage of it. All in all, it is clear that Iago is an honest knave.
Works cited
Abernethy, Julian Willis. “Honest Iago”. The Sewanee Review 30.3 (1922): 336–344. Web 13 Apr. 2016
Jorgensen, Paul A. “Honesty in Othello”. Studies in Philology 47.4 (1950): 557–567. Web 13 Apr. 2016
Shakespeare, William. “The Tragedy of Othello, Moor of Venice”. OpenSourceShakespeare. Web. 13 Apr. 2016
