Essay on Deception in Shakespeares Othello - 670 Words

Deception in Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello† One may readily perceive the theme of Shakespeare’s â€Å"Othello† as deception. Deception appears many times in Othello, but in almost every incident the degree of deception is different. Deception is to â€Å"deceive another, illusion, or fraud† (Webster’s New World Pocket Dictionary 69), which is seen as a wrongful act. However, deception may be used to protect someone from getting hurt therefore being used with good intentions. The very first act of deception is done by the character Desdemona. Desdemona hides her relationship with Othello from her father, knowing he will disapprove due to Othello’s race. Brabantio says, â€Å"O, she deceives me/Past thought!† (1.1.163-164). Desdemona’s reasoning for†¦show more content†¦She tells him a flat out lie, but again, with good intentions. Desdemona loves Othello and did not want him to get angry. She thought she had just misplaced the handkerchief, and that she would soon f ind it, but if she told Othello she had lost it, he would become furious. Not all acts of deception are done with intentions of protecting one you love. The character who always had bad intentions in his deception is Iago. Iago deceives many people in the play and can be compared to the devil. One incident in which Iago deceives someone is when he tricks Othello into thinking he is talking with Cassio about Desdemona, when he is actually talking about Bianca. Iago: â€Å"Ply Desdemona well and you are sure on’t. Now if this suit lay in Bianca’s power, how quickly should you speed!† Cassio: â€Å"Alas, poor caitiff! â€Å"Look, how he [Othello] laughs already!† (4.1.106- 109) Iago told Othello that he would discuss Desdemona with Cassio, and that he would talk about the affair. Iago does not do this, and instead he talks about Bianca with Cassio, and Cassio laughs at things Iago says. Othello sees Cassio laughing and just assumes he is laugh ing at Desdemona, which in return upsets him very much. Iago used several tactics to set up Othello for deception in this case. Though deceptionShow MoreRelated Deception in Shakespeares Othello Essay1503 Words   |  7 PagesDeception in Shakespeares Othello Deception, which by its definition is a bad thing and has only one level or degree, is truly not this way at all. Deception appears many times in Othello, but in almost every incident the degree of deception is different. There are only a few characters that use deception, and those characters all use different degrees of deception to get what they want in the play. 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