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Othello: Characters, Racial Discrimination, Othello: Language, Jealousy,…

- - - - For instance, Desdemona often describes her devotion to Othello in front of other people, underscoring that, even though she does love him very deeply, she is to a certain extent playing the role of the virtuous wife. Iago then stokes Othello's jealousy in part by forcing Othello to realize that there is no way for a man to tell the difference between a truly virtuous wife and one who is just playing the role of virtuous wife while actually acting as a whore and being unfaithful.
      - Emilia, complicates the simple contract between the Madonna and the whore. Initially, she wants to please her husband—and does so by stealing Desdemona's handkerchief, knowing that he has long hankered after it. Yet she is not wholly loyal, and even tells Desdemona in 4.3 that she believes many women, including she herself, would cheat on their husbands under certain circumstances
- - - - being a cuckold strips a man of his humanity and reduces him to an animalistic state
        
        Othello is aware of this animal state he has fallen into and blames it on Desdemona
- - - - part of the reason why Iago is able to manipulate these characters so easily is because he has so effectively cultivated this image of himself as trustworthy.
  - - - The imbalance in knowledge between the audience and the characters in the play emphasizes the ignorance and thus the vulnerability of Iago’s victims, strengthening the play’s emotional impact.
    - - The comparison of Iago’s plotting to a spider spinning its web forms an extended metaphor throughout Othello that highlights the intricate and deliberate nature of Iago’s scheming.
    - - aids the idea of Iago being a "director" within the play
        
        His narration, however, is clearly biased, with Iago’s agenda against Othello made clear to the audience.
        
        The disparity between what Iago says in private to what he says in public—for example saying in private that he hates Othello, but in public that he loves him—unambiguously highlights Iago’s duplicity. Knowing this, Shakespeare indicates that Iago’s commentary on the events is unlikely to be trustworthy.
- - - - Othello's jealousy impedes his ability to distinguish between reality and appearance.