Deceit And Manipulation In Othello

In Shakespeare’s Othello, the audience can only sit back and helplessly watch as Othello falls victim to not only Iago, but to Venetian society itself. Throughout the tragedy, many readers are left scratching their heads in confusion as they wonder how Iago can practically trick a whole city into believing his ruse. From one blunder to the next, our titular protagonist Othello finds himself trapped in Iago’s web of lies which ultimately leads to his greatest crime, the killing of his very own wife. Consequently, Iago’s masterful use of deceit and manipulation is made apparent during the work, which begs the question, how exactly was Iago able to dupe a whole society with such baseless lies? To answer this question, we must look towards Venice’s inherent construals and so I will argue that the tragedy is made possible by Othello 's racial identity, which thus explains how Iago is able to trick the citizens of Venice so easily by capitalizing on Othello 's status as an eternal outsider. Venice’s opinion on Othello is quite blatant and manifests physically when looking at the character of Desdemona’s father, Brabantio. As someone who holds an important role in Venetian society, Brabantio is the epitome of the Venetian mindset wherein Othello’s character is judged not by his actions, but his race. When initially hearing his daughter had been stolen away by the Moor, Brabantio flies into outrage, declaring Othello must be captured for corrupting Desdemona and be subdued