William Shakespeare
Act III marks the betrayal of Othello's trust by Desdemona. Though the evidence he gathered is circumstantial, Othello is beginning to see what Iago is illustrating for him. What's impressive is that Iago is still maintaining his status of wise friend while feeding Othello all these potentially horrible truths about Desdemona. He does this by reminding Othello that none of these rumors are one hundred percent accurate. He includes, in nearly every conversation, that "I speak not yet of proof. Look to your wife. Observe her well with Cassio" (Shakespeare 1410). This way, Othello is in control of whatever his mind imagines his wife doing, it is not because Iago manipulated him in any way, noooooo (he said sarcastically). I find Othello's relationship with Desdemona to have gone through a dramatic shift, and it is somewhat ironic. In Act I, the couple was in love and Othello defended the honor of himself and his new wife. Now the love is deteriorating away, and he suspects that she has forsaken all respect for him, this being weeks after their marriage. If Othello has gotten this paranoid, this quickly, it foreshadows how villainous this supposed protagonist will become.
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