Concept 1 - Appearance vs. Reality

Question 1

Point Sentence

Answer 1

Shakespeare’s tragic play effectively gives expression to the representation of Machiavellian evil and monstrosity catalysed by revenge and hatred as Iago’s considerable amount of unwavering ambition, highly contrasts with his fallace honest appearance to other characters throughout the play. The binary opposites of good and evil, depicted through the use of the machiavellian evil and naïve individuals who are susceptible to manipulation, enables Shakespeare to warn the audiences about the complex human behaviours that are often unpredictable due to the pre-existing belief that external appearance reveals inner reality.

Question 2

During the conversation between Iago and Roderigo in Act 1 Scene 1, Iago utters “I am not what I am”

Answer 2

Through the use of paradox in this quote,
Shakespeare highlights the fact that Iago is not all that he appears to be, as he is often depicted as misleading other characters, such as Roderigo and Othello. Thus, Shakespeare reveals Iago’s machiavellian personality and considerable unwavering ambition, which he manages to conceal throughout the play while conveying to the audience the importance of having the ability to identify who can or cannot be trusted around them.

Question 3

Furthermore, during Iago’s soliloquy towards the end of Act 1, he proclaims his hatred towards Othello as he mocks the naïve human nature of Othello.
This is evident in, “The Moor is of a free and open nature”

Answer 3

The satirical tone demonstrated that Iago intends to use Othello to exploit his naïve belief in the reality of appearances, foreshadowing Othello’s foreseeable hamartia. Shakespeare depicts Iago to be manipulating Othello so that he would only see the appearance that Iago wants him to see, which is often highly contrasting to the reality of what is actually occurring around him.

Question 4

Additionally, in Act 2 Scene 3, Othello’s naïvety is evident through his dialogue, The dramatic irony in “Iago is most honest”

Answer 4

as Iago is depicted as being brutally dishonest whilst he hides his extreme jealousy and hatred towards Othello.
Despite Othello’s high military position as an army general in the service of the Duke of Venice, his naïve human nature highly contrasts with his heroic appearance. Thus, Shakespeare problematizes the notions and conception of good and evil which is often extremely difficult to tell apart.

Question 5

Linking Sentence

Answer 5

In Othello, Shakespeare plays with the idea of unreliable reality in numerous ways which extends the themes of appearance vs reality through the characterisation of Iago who portrays himself as being honest and trustworthy, despite the fact that he is the key figure who is pulling all the strings to make Othello believe in things that Iago wants him to see. To that end, Shakespeare persuades the audiences to reconsider the fact that what they see might not always be true.