Appearance Vs. Reality: is t a truth 'r a falsehood?

 I slammed the book shut — how did Iago not die despite embodying a crude, villainous persona all throughout and driving everyone around him into a manipulative frenzy? I was frustrated to say the least. 

Othello: a famous play composed by the one and only, Shakespeare. Shakespeare crafted a story about a Moor manipulated by the evil ties of Iago and thrown into a spiraling series of events leading to the tragic deaths of Desdemona (his wife), Emilia (her servant), and unfortunately for him, himself. Shoulda looked for more evidence, Othello. And maybe, trust your wife.


Iago getting ready to barbarically ruin Othello's life 😈


This play observes the discrete and careful orchestration of characters’ downfall crafted through Iago’s abhorrent scheme of lies, highlighting a motif of deception and manipulation arising throughout various instances of the play. Iago’s deliberate ploys were a part of the dramatic irony the audience was exposed to, making it all the more authentic to see the course of action that followed, given this foreshadowing. The motif of manipulation was furthered through the idea of appearance versus reality, which kept coming up through Othello and Iago's interactions. It explains the unleashed power that imagination holds — how it can shape something out of quite literally nothing. Once our villain plants the seed of doubt into Othello’s mind, it unravels an entirely new path to which anything can be exploited to one's favor. Thus, altering what we construe as reality.


There were many instances of appearance versus reality, the first being Iago himself. An iniquitous character — he depicts himself as a faithful servant to Othello, ready to please his every need and carefully constructing his words to appear as a saint-like figure, innocent of any crime. However, in reality, he is written to be a deadly antagonist puppeteering the chaos before him. The storyline goes on to paint another instance of appearance vs. reality — being when Iago was trying to convince Othello of Desdemona’s alleged infidelity with Cassio. When he spoke with him, he was only given ocular proof — he could only see Iago and Cassio talking but not hear. This gave complete will to Othello’s imagination to take over and construct whatever he wanted to believe — how it appeared to him. However, the reality was far from it, as Cassio was simply remarking on Bianca, giving off the impression he was “triumphing” over Desdemona. This human nature of imagination acts as the main vehicle for the theme of appearance versus reality, as it gives Othello something else to latch onto and claim as true based entirely on his mind’s construction. It was simply what appeared to him as the truth, not what actually occurred. Not only does this go back to the consistent motif of blindness as a perceptible flaw in a tragic hero, seen frequently in Oedipus, but also emphasizes Othello’s susceptibility to fall victim to the ruse of manipulation.


Why is this entire play about a piece of cloth? 😑

Another instance that showed the influence of appearance vs. reality was during the handkerchief fiasco. All because of one silly little cloth. To Othello, it appears that Cassio has taken a priceless gift given to Desdemona as a way to boast himself up. Whereas in reality, Iago’s sneaky little hands had placed the handkerchief in Cassio’s room. All the while, Othello’s imagination becomes the key driving factor to facilitating the destruction that soon follows.


So what did I learn? Well, don’t always believe everything you see — **ahem Othello**. Reality can very quickly stray away into a false image that is manipulated to portray as so. Additionally, imagination plays a huge role in steering the course of manipulation; that is, whatever you want to believe can become true if you believe hard enough. Last thing, Iago is seriously so annoying, but you have to admit, one of the smartest villains written. Sorry, had to say it.

- passionate iago hater,

prisha

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