Examples Of Illusion Vs Reality In Othello

It is human nature to be drawn toward people that we can relate to. Because of this Shakespeare made his characters as relatable as possible to the audience members of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century and their views on life so he could generate more recognition for his plays. Throughout Shakespeare 's plays, Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he appeals to the audience by relating to their human nature. One of the major observations of human nature that Shakespeare likely made and incorporated into his plays is the human desire to be drawn toward the seemingly supernatural and unknown. In the first of the two plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello sets a stage consisting of two dimensions: a typical perception of late fifteenth century England and a supernatural fairy world that is capable of supervising the other. The ubiquity and punctuality of all of the fairy characters as well as the presence of their magical artifacts displays the extent of which there are supernatural aspects in play. Inversely in Othello, there is a large presence of manipulation while still suggesting some supernatural elements but not admitting the story to them. In both Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream Shakespeare suggests a connection between the conventional understanding of manipulation and the supernatural aspects of the play by displaying the parallel outcomes of each.

Shakespeare uses dramatic irony and soliloquies to depict the characterisation of Iago and the theme of appearance versus reality. Iago is able to maintain his facade of ‘unwavering’ loyalty towards Othello up until the last act of the play where Othello addresses Iago as “O brave Iago, honest and just”. However, the audience’s awaral of Iago’s malicious intentions is known so dramatic irony. This dramatic irony reinforces how the appearance of Iago is in no way related to his true nature and perception, communicated through Iago’s statement “I am not what I am.” This beguilement leads to the play’s main source of dramatic irony; as Othello will always refer to the villainous Iago as ‘honest’ Iago. Soliloquies provide great insight into a character’s inner thoughts and truths and Shakespeare effectively employs these to further explore appearance versus reality. Shakespeare uses these soliloquies to share Iago’s scheming nature with the audience; and then juxtaposes the notions with scenes where Iago is “throwing but shows of service” in the eyes of his ‘noble lord’ to emphasise Iago’s duplicitous nature and the theme of appearance versus reality. Shakespeare expresses his concern on the values of honesty, honour and trust through Iago who professes that he is “trimm’d in forms and visages of duty” only to further his own

In this play, Iago is Othello’s trusted ensign. However, Iago is not what he portrays himself to be to the characters in the play. In his soliloquies, he

Perception is how one interprets another and is a common theme throughout the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare. Othello’s perception of Iago is what leads to his tragic downfall. Iago is a manipulative psychopath that appears to be honest and trustworthy. Othello was victimized by Iago’s manipulative clutches and brainwashed into thinking Desdemona is unfaithful. Through lies and deceptions, Iago caused great calamities for the characters. In the play “Othello”, Shakespeare creates a tragic hero with the use of literary elements. Through the use of animal imagery, symbolism, and dramatic irony, the altering perception of characters in Othello contribute to the tragic downfall of Othello.

Iago’s complex characterisation reveals, primarily through dramatic irony, the notion of reputation to bring down others. His awareness of his status is portrayed in Act 3 Scene 3, "But he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed”. The metaphor of theft emphasizes the essential possession of status to Iago who schemes under the characters’ assumption that he is honest. This is an openly recognizable prejudice that is most influential to the plotline and is stressed through the ironic motif of “honest” Iago. This depicts him as the epitome of deception as he acquires power when cumulatively used with the importance of

Iago is widely credited, in the words of Agatha Christie, as “the greatest villain of all time”. He is a manipulative character who “weaves a web of deceit” by exploiting even the tiniest faults in others. By maintaining a facade of comedy and boyishness he uses his honesty and twisted truth to play others “like a virtuoso” and “drive... them to madness”. In the play Othello, Act 2 Scene 1 is perhaps the most enlightening scene with regards to the truly manipulative character of Iago. Containing several soliloquies and interactions between all of the main characters, his manipulation is well encapsulated both in this scene in the play and in the 1965 Stuart Burge film adaptation.

In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is undeniably the most sinister character, possibly the most sinister in all of his works. He is established as a trustworthy character, and coined with the epithet “Honest Iago.” Iago has crafted a believable facade by working beside Othello for years and forming a friendship with Michael Cassio. Iago has a secret resentment towards Othello, partly because he gave the position of lieutenant to Cassio. Jealousy of Cassio consumes Iago as well. Intent on vengeance, Iago creates a devious plan to plant suspicions in Othello’s mind. Iago is sly, and he thrives on playing people’s weaknesses. He manipulates people to go against each other without them realizing it. The extent of his iniquity is revealed as

Ever since we were young, we were told about make-believe things such as Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. When we found out they didn’t exist, we were probably devastated but it didn’t ruin our lives. It’s easy to believe untrue things and often times people say, “ignorance is bliss,” but believing something that isn’t true can do more damage than good. Shakespeare’s Othello is a prime example of how falling to the belief of illusions versus reality is ultimately harmful to people.

    The Shakespearean tragedy Othello contains various irregularities of time and occurrence which cause the audience to scratch their head in wonder and doubt. Let us analyze some of these shortcomings in this essay.

In “Othello,” William Shakespeare creates a devious character, Iago. He is a very educated young man, who lacks ethics enabling his character to deceive those around him, disguising his true colors. With audience perception, and opposing character perceptions, Iago portrays a brilliant, manipulative villain who is concealed with false sympathy, integrity and empathy.

First, an aspect of Iago that cuts across the play is his impeccable reputation, which is clearly a classical use of irony. He is constantly referred to as “Honest Iago” by nearly all the characters in the play, and this even includes Othello himself. This is a clear demonstration that in the eyes of everyone else, including his wife Emma, he is a diligent and honorable man. Deep down, however, he is a totally monstrous figure. The monster in him is demonstrated by the fact that he befriends other characters like Roderigo, who is a Venetian nobleman. Iago identifies Roderigo’s greatest desire, which is to marry Desdemona and uses it to plot revenge against his boss Othello, with the promise of delivering this greatest desire. (II.i.222). Iago ensures that he has covered all his tracks, such that other characters cannot identify his evil nature, instead what they see is the masking nobility skin that he has on in most aspects of the play.

Illusion versus reality is an easily recognised theme in the play Othello, written by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare effectively combines illusion with reality in the play, Othello. The illusion easily distorts the reality of the characters and their thoughts and actions. These illusions are evident in the main characters of Iago, Michael Cassio and Othello. This review will discuss the illusion versus reality that is seen in the play. Illusion being judgements of an individual from what is seen from the outside, and reality being the truth and what is on the inside. This review will also discuss the various ways in which the theme of reality versus illusion are evident and how the value of the play Othello, is tied to its concern with

In William Shakespeare’s, “The Tragedy of Othello”, Iago the antagonist of the play is one of Shakespeare’s most multifaceted villains. Through deception Iago makes his fellow characters believes he is a true and honest man. All the while he is manipulating and deceiving every single one of them. Iago is not the typical villain one would now see in cinema. He has much more depth and complexity, and can be believed to be unethical; this is what gives his character such ability to control others.

Iago is seen by most of the characters as an honest and trustworthy man who is always willing to listen and give advice. Cassio, one of the characters who is fooled by the illusionary personality Iago has created, says "I never knew/ a Florentine more kind and honest" (III.i.38-39). The audience however knows that this is not the case, since at the beginning he says “I am not what I am” (I.i.62), meaning that he has created an illusion of himself to fool others into believing he is trustworthy. Iago states “I follow him to serve my turn upon him” (I.i.39), meaning that he only pretends to be loyal to Othello, acting as a good servant so that when the opportunity arises, Othello will not suspect him of sabotaging his marriage. Throughout the entire play, he pretends to be Othello’s friend, feigning reluctance in voicing his suspicions about an affair between Desdemona and Cassio. He gains Othello’s trust by being a good friend who is honest enough to tell him such horrible news. Iago creates the illusion of the affair by filling Othello’s mind

“lago is a compelling and sophisticated villain (Bachelorandmaster, n.d., n.p.).” When it comes to the discussion of Shakespeare’s malicious characters, Iago seems to be one of a kind. At the beginning of the play, Iago is described as a character who is a good liar with a silver tongued eloquence. However, he turns out be a more villain in the end, putting other characters in peril without any justifiable reason. In Act 1 Scene 1 (Shakespeare, 1997), Iago shows discontentment toward Othello for placing him as lieutenant instead of promotion. This part clearly shows why Iago is upset and feels hatred. However, as the story goes on, there is a change in Iago’s characterization. According to Hazlitt (1817), the character of Iago is unnatural due to the fact that every word or action he takes is very vicious, but lacks reasonable motives to do so. This indicates that the illustration of Iago in the play changes, as his behaviors seem to become more incomprehensible in lack of convincing motivation for such cruel and malicious conspiracy. This essay first identifies the overall character development of Iago, discussing how the image of Iago has changed throughout the story. It will then go on to explore two different perspectives regarding the nature of Iago: whether there is compassion to him or he is a pure evil.