The Theme Of Mistrust and Betrayal In Othello

This is NOT a poem,its an essay I wrote in the June exams that I happened to think wasn't THAT bad...given the constriction of the dreaded wordcount.

MISTRUST AND BETRAYAL
Betrayal and mistrust �" two feelings that all humans are prone to. We betray those who mistrust us and mistrust those who betray us,throughout life,one way or another. As true as this is,Shakespeare took this notion to the extremes with Othello.

The theme is evident throughout the play which shows how the play is centred on the themes,so much so,that even the protagonist and antagonist can be respectively viewed as incarnations of these two words respectively : lets look at Othello as Mistrust and Iago as the representation of betrayal.

From the very beginning,Iago is showed as someone who people tend to mistrust. Roderigo trusts Iago as to tell him about his affections for Desdemona �" which Iago duly uses against him. Roderigo trusts Iago with the duty of helping him win over Desdemona (and he even puts money on it),little does he know that the trusty Iago is bound to betray him later on. The great irony about the the events perceived to be proceeding the play,is that Iago the Betrayer himself feels betrayed.

He gives off the pretence that Othello (his boss) had previously liaised with his wife,Emilia. Aside from that,he feels most betrayed by the fact that the Moor promoted Cassio (a younger,more studious but less experienced ensign) above him. He feels betrayed so greatly that he goes on a manic spree of betrayal and lies in an attempt to destroy Othello.

A piece of Dramatic Irony is that in his first soliloquy,he clearly says “I am not what I am” which sets the tone for the rest of his role �" but every other character does not know this and they only see the side of him he wants them to see,with no one ever really finding out how two-faced he is until the very end...

As he goes out on his quest to bring Othello down,he befriends him so he can implement his plan. Othello trusts him greatly (and so does everybody else for that matter) not knowing at any given time that Othello has it out for him. Othello himself seems rather gullable because of his trusting nature,never once questioning Iago enough to throw him off-course.

Iago is trusted enough to transport Desdemona to Cyprus �" and when they get there (given that the battle is won by default) they celebrate. The conniving Iago then convinces Cassio, to drink, and is thereafter provoked by Roderigo into a brawl. Othello demotes Cassio and Iago tells Cassio to speak to Desdemona (for her to plead his case to Othello for him). It seems rather caring of Iago,but for him,this is just another piece falling into place.

When this happens,Iago starts playing on Othello's insecurities. Soon enough, Othello starts doubting his trust for Desdemona in favour of Iago's. Iago then has ocular proof when he acquires a very special handkerchief. He makes it seem as like Desdeona gave up the token of Othello's love,to Cassio, and by the end of the Handkerchief Scene,Othello has seen enough. Without ever questioning his lover about it,he believes in her infidelity with Cassio. A major contributor to this can perhaps be at the end of the Trial Scene when Brabantio tells him that Desdemona betrayed her own father,so she can surely betray him too...

His uncontrollable feelings drive him to smother his own wife to which he explains to Emilia is as a result of her breaking his trust. When authorities enter the fray,t hey uncover the truth about Iago's evil plan but by now,they're also pursuing him for the murder of Roderigo �" who trust was repaid with a knife straight to the heart. There are seemingly great errors of judgement by everyone Iago stabs in the back when it comes to the trust they afforded him.

In the end,his plan works but he is caught out and forced to bear the pain of the wound inflicted by Othello,who trusted him until it was too late. The tragedy itself shows that it is ill-advised to afford someone blind trust like Roderigo, Cassio, Emilia, Desdemona and, most importantly, Othello found out. The blind love Othello showed Desdemona would also seem unhealthy as it obscures the vision of reason. All in all,he ended up betraying his love all in the name of trust for his betrayer.

It is, therefore, safe to conclude that in Othello (and life in general) it's either one is betraying one whose fallacy is trusting OR one is getting betrayed through our fallacy of trust.

Author's Note

This is just how Eye see it,or rather saw it. I wrote that in under an hour in June so don't be too brutal.

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