Othello's_Main_Message_Is_‘Don't_Trust_Outward_Appearances’._Discuss

Othello’s main message is ‘Don’t trust outward appearances’. Discuss In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, one of the most fundamental themes explored is appearance and reality. Throughout the play Shakespeare investigates the deceptive nature of outward appearances and their power to impede perception of the truth. In the play, outward appearances have the ability to mask the true nature of both evil and innocent characters as explored through the cunning and manipulative Iago who is able mask his intense hatred and jealousy for Othello and Cassio behind a loyal façade. Conversely, Othello’s ability to see the honest and adoring nature of Desdemona is impaired by the outward appearance that Iago constructs for her. It is through these themes of appearance and reality that Shakespeare expresses his message of the necessity to not trust outward appearances. In Othello the misanthropist Iago epitomises the play’s central theme of the necessity to not trust outward appearances. From the beginning of the play Iago presents a “most honest” and loyal façade to Othello, but in reality conspires against him in order to make him “egregiously an ass”. Whilst Iago expresses his intense malignity for Othello to Roderigo, proclaiming that he “hates him as I do hell pains”, to the general he portrays the image of a noble servant intent on serving the Moor. Through his honourable and loyal outward appearance, which is “indeed but a sign”, Iago is able to develop a false sense of trust with the general, which he manipulates and exploits in order to “serve [his] turn upon him”. Through his outward appearance, Iago is not only able to hide the intense malignity and jealousy that he has for both Othello and Cassio, but is also able to convince both the eponymous character and his lieutenant of his loyalty and honesty. Through this trust that Iago is able to falsely instil in both Othello and Cassio, he is able to convince Othello of his wife’s infidelity and frame Cassio as her lover. Solely using his seemingly honest façade, Iago is cunningly able to “abuse Othello’s ear”, exposing the general’s insecurities that Desdemona “is directly in love him (Cassio)” and that his loyal lieutenant has been unfaithful to him. Through Iago’s outward appearance he is able to appear a man “of honesty and trust”, but in truth he is making his “revenge against” Othello by maliciously constructing his downfall. It is Othello’s trust of Iago’s outward appearance as a loyal and honourable friend that results in his demise. Othello’s outward appearance as a savage is greatly overshadowed by his noble and honourable nature. Although Othello’s black skin dominates his outward appearance and therefore deems him an animal-like creature in Venetian society, in truth Othello is an eloquent man of honesty, nobility and integrity. In both the eyes of the overtly racist Brabantio and Iago, Othello is defined by his outward appearance as an “old black ram” and a “lascivious Moor”, but with prejudice and racism aside, Othello is of a “constant, loving, noble nature” to which even his Machiavellian enemy, Iago, admits. Othello’s true character greatly contradicts the misconceptions and prejudices that form his outward appearance which define him as merely a “lusty Moor” rather than a “noble” and “valiant” leader. Although his outward appearance depicts a brutal “Barbary horse”, Othello “is far more fair than black”, and largely contradictory to his outward appearance. Despite Desdemona’s and Cassio’s true nature, Othello trusts the false images that Iago paints of them, which, tragically results in their demise. In Othello’s blind trust of Iago’s outward appearance as a friend, he readily believes the appearance of Cassio and Desdemona as disloyal despite his deep knowledge that both are “honest, chaste and true”. Whilst at the beginning of the play Othello is able to confidently proclaim to Brabantio that he would risk his “life upon her faith”, through his trust in Desdemona’s constructed outward appearance, he is enraged into proclaiming that he “will chop her into messes”, expressing his vengeful desire towards Desdemona for having cuckolded him. Despite his deeper knowledge of his wife and lieutenant’s true nature, he chooses to believe the outward appearances that Iago has constructed. Despite Emilia’s and Desdemona’s assurance that she is innocent of the “ignorant sin” she has committed, Othello trusts her outward appearances, vindictively labeling his wife a “lewd minx”, professing that “heaven truly knows that thou (Desdemona) art false as hell”. Similarly, despite Cassio’s genuine loyalty and concern for his general, Othello chooses to trust the outward appearance of Cassio as a seducing ‘lady’s man’. Through Othello’s trust in Desdemona’s and Cassio’s outward appearances, Desdemona is impetuously killed and Cassio dishonoured. Whilst appearance and reality is a central theme in Othello, it is jealousies power to impede perception that eventuates in Othello’s demise. In the play jealousy contributes largely through its ability to destroy relationships and hinder clarity in perception. Iago’s jealousy of both the eponymous character and his lieutenant plays a fundamental role in motivating his malicious hatred. Iago’s sexual jealousy of both Cassio and Othello, propelled largely by his own sexual inadequacies, instils an intense malignity within the “notorious villain” that impels him to exploit the trust and relationships that he develops with characters. Driven by his deep jealousy of the Moor, Iago dupes Othello into an envious rage, in which he is convinced that Cassio and Desdemona have been unfaithful to him. In his deep jealousy, Othello is unable to distinguish the true nature of both his wife and loyal lieutenant from the fabrications that Iago feeds him. In the play it is through the jealousy that engulfs the tragic hero, robbing him of his ability to see reason, which eventuates in his demise. In Othello one of the most important messages is the necessity to not trust outward appearances. The play explores the ability of outward appearances to deceptively hinder perception of reality. The play, however, also largely depicts the powerful capacity of jealousy, and its ability to rob people of their competence to distinguish between innocent and evil.