Sheila

Trust is a theme that resonates throughout the book //Othello// by William Shakespeare. Two of the main characters Desdemona and Othello defied the expectations of the society they live in and got married. When two people get married a trust must exist between them. This kind of confidence did seem to exist between Othello and Desdemona. However Iago, who is Othello’s right hand, seems to have intervened in the relationship that Othello has with Desdemona and thus causing Othello to trust Iago instead of trusting his wife. A lack of trust between Othello and Desdemona, made Othello believe everything Iago told him. The lack of trust between Othello and Desdemona caused a tragedy that could have been prevented. The first thing we notice in the book is Othello’s trust for Iago. Othello, a general of the Venetian army wasn’t home that often; because of this he entrusted his wife Desdemona, in the care of Iago. We see this when Othello states “So please yourself my ancient./A man he is of honesty and trust ./To his conveyance I assign my wife,/With what else needful your good Grace shall think/to be sent after me.”(Shakespeare 49) The quote states that Othello sees Iago as an honest man and a man that can be trusted. Othello has so much trust for Iago that he is leaving him to look after Desdemona. He is confiding in Iago for the well being of Desdemona while he is gone. We get a glimpse of Desdemona’s character when her father confronts her demanding to know if she married Othello. This is because Othello is a Moor and Desdemona is a Venetian. Desdemona is very loyal and shows her loyalty to her new husband by stating “My life and education both do learn me/How to respect you. You are the lord of my duty. I am hitherto your daughter. But here’s my husband.” Here Desdemona is telling her father that she respects him but she must be faithful to her husband. This is the first time we see Desdemona in the play and comes to show her father that she will stand by her husband’s side. Desdemona appears to be a very gentle character and an obedient wife who is submissive to her husband. Brabantio doesn’t believe that her daughter would defy the rules of society but she shows him that she defied them. Desdemona is willing to take the consequences as long as she is at her husband’s side. Desdemona shows that she won’t leave her husband’s side, no matter what. Othello believes that Desdemona will remain faithful to him. He has no doubt that she will not put her eyes on another man because she has fallen in love with him. Othello states “My life upon her faith…..” Here he is saying that he is willing to lay down his life because he knows that Desdemona is so faithful that he bets his life on her faithfulness. At the same time he trusts Iago to take care of his wife. However it’s questionable as to why he leaves Iago in charge while he’s gone. It could be so that Iago can look after Desdemona and make sure she remains faithful. It might have to do with the time period. During this time period woman were seen as weak. Othello didn’t trust Desdemona he relied on Iago leaving him to watch after Desdemona in case she was unfaithful. Othello believed that if Desdemona was unfaithful Iago would not hesitate, and would inform him right away. Othello is a very kind and understanding person who believes that everyone is trustworthy. He doesn’t doubt anyone. Othello doesn’t believe that anyone would deceive him because he wouldn’t do that to anyone. His kindness and trust in others blinds him and doesn’t allow him to see what’s really going on. Iago knows this and he takes advantage of that to approach Othello and tell him that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him. Othello stops Iago when he brings up the subject and says “ ‘Tis not make me jealous/ to say that my wife is fair…”(131) Othello says here that his wife is fair and has all these good qualities, however, he does tell him that if he sees proof he will believe. This shows that Othello has no trust for Desdemona. Othello has a huge amount of trust for Iago and will believe anything he tells him so it is no surprise that he will believe Iago if he shows him proof of Desdemona’s infidelity although it might not be true. Othello suspects that Iago knows something and he wants Iago to tell him what it is. Othello says “By the world/I think my wife be honest and think she is not./I think that thou are just and think thou art not.” Othello is stating that Dedemona is honest and that Iago is a person who is fair in everything he does. In other words he is saying that Iago is a person who wouldn’t wrongly accuse someone and wise man when he brings his accusations. Othello believes that if Iago says something then it must be true and there’s no doubt about that. Desdemona believes that Othello trusts her. This is evident when she says “Who, he? I think the sun….” Desdemona thinks that Othello is not a jealous man. Desdemona has trust in Othello and believes he won’t feel jealous of any man. This shows that Desdemona believes that trust exists between Othello and her. She also believes that Othello’s jealousy is something that she will not have to deal with. Desdemona believes that Othello will never feel jealousy because he has enough trust in her that she will remain faithful to him always. She is sure that mistrust will never be a problem between them. Finally she views Othello as a good man and believes he would never think any wrong about her. Although Othello is married to Desdemona and trust should exist between them he trusts Iago. When Iago tells him and shows him proof of Desdemona’s infidelity he believes Iago. Othello doesn’t think for a second that Iago might be lying or may have twisted things around to ruin Othello’s marriage in order to get what he wants. Othello’s anger blinds him and he doesn’t even believe Desdemona who is his wife. He confronts Desdemona and tells her “Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin./For to deny..” Here Othello tells Desdemona to confess her sin because it didn’t matter because he was still going to kill her. Desdemona tells him that she didn’t do anything and that’s she’s telling the truth. But Othello won’t listen he is blinded by his anger because has confided in Iago. Iago has showed him the proof of her infidelity and Othello believes him. Trust didn’t exist between Othello and Desdemona therefore Othello chose Iago’s word over Desdemona’s. At the beginning it seemed as though trust did exist between Desdemona and Iago. However here it is obviously evident that there was no trust. Unfortunately Othello has trusted Iago over Desdemona. Therefore even though Desdemona is the one telling the truth Othello cannot see that. He only bases his anger and justifies his actions based on what Iago has told him. His judgment is not a good one. But because he sees Iago as honest he can’t find a reason to mistrust him. It might have to do with the fact that he has known Iago longer. In addition since they are newly married Othello and Desdemona may not have had time to develop the trust a married couple shares. Othello instead of being really sure of what he has seen and heard he just listens to what Iago has said. He doesn’t further investigate or discuss anything with Desdemona. Instead he drew a conclusion way too soon leading to the innocent murder of his beloved Desdemona. Because Othello trusted Iago and didn’t trust Desdemona he was deceived and cut short the life of the person he cared so much for.
 * __ TRUST IN OTHELLO __**