Misunderstandings and Miscommunication in Othello

Othello is a tragedy that proceeds from misunderstandings and miscommunication. Shakespeare’s plays are so often marked by a lack of straightforward communication. Othello is a powerful example of this, where the text’s tragedy essentially springs from acts of misunderstanding. Many of these errors are bound up within lago’s deception. Othello’s suffering results mostly from his poor judgment. He trusts the wrong people and mistrusts those who are most loyal to him (Desdemona and Cassio). Is Othello a sympathetic protagonist, or, in a sense, a villain? Was he too quick to jealousy, in which his rash decisions make him an irredeemable character or does he represent the bad decisions that all humans are capable of making?

Othello’s tragic fall from upper Nobility in Venice to murderer is caused by a mixture of his being a moor, as well as a result of his tragic flaw. His fall is caused by his poor judgment of character, his self-consciousness about being the moor, and his quick emotions. In Act 3, he sets aside his sensible, military side and falls prey to lago’s manipulation. One example of this bad judging of character is when Othello slaps Desdemona and refers to her as “Devil” when it is clear from all she does for Othello she is not a devil at all, but a sweet angel. lago on the other hand is referred to as “Honest lago” throughout the entire play, when he truly is a devil, which is defined as the chief evil spirit, this describes lago’s role throughout the play perfectly. This partially causes Othello’s downfall because he is so trusting of lago that he cannot even listen to his wife’s side of the story or Cassio’s side of the story before jumping to the false conclusion that the two had a little rendezvous in Cassio’s chambers. Othello fires Cassio immediately after lago says he believes that Cassio started it. Othello does not listen to any other sides of the story, only lago’s. This firing is a turning point in the play, because Desdemona who likes Cassio tries to get him his position back. This angers Othello, who has been told they are having an affair.

Another reason for Othello’s downfall is his self-consciousness because he is the moor. This shows when he is told about his wife’s alleged affair, and he states “haply, for I am black” and because of that he believes he is not soft enough for Desdemona. He also believes that she deserves someone better than him. This causes his downfall, because this self-consciousness leads Othello to madness, eventually leading to Desdemona’s murder. Another example of this is when Othello calls himself “the moor” he plays into lago’s trap and is overcome with a feeling that he does not belong in Venice, and that he does not deserve Desdemona. In his quest to obscure, lago alters the meaning of objects as well as people – principally, of course, Desdemona’s handkerchief.

Ironically, some of our first encounters with the handkerchief involve ideas of truth and pure intention. In Act 3, Scene 3, when Desdemona accidentally drops this precious ‘trifle’ and it is discovered by Emilia, Emilia makes a ‘note to self to have its pattern reproduced to ‘please’ her husband. Ironically, some of our first encounters with the handkerchief involve ideas of truth and pure intention. In Act 3, Scene 3, when Desdemona accidentally drops this precious ‘trifle’ and it is discovered by Emilia, Emilia makes a ‘note to self’ to have its pattern reproduced to ‘please’ her husband. This occurrence is later imitated when, having ‘found’ the abandoned ‘napkin’, Cassio has such a liking for it that he demands Bianca replicate it for him. Indeed, thinking more about this connection between the handkerchief and the theme of faithful duplication, this ‘token’ is an heirloom, handed down from Othello’s mother to her son. In giving Desdemona this delicate prize, Othello hopes it will mystically bind him with his wife in the same way that it did his mother and father. lago’s attitude towards the handkerchief couldn’t be more contrasting. His approach is to manipulate and change the ‘napkin’s’ meaning entirely.

Another harsh decision he makes quite quickly given the circumstances, is when he kills Desdemona. Othello decides based on one story, that he must kill her, in order to vaporize the pain of knowing she is cheating. Whence he is told by Emilia that Desdemona was in fact not cheating, and that lago had tricked him, Othello once again makes a quick and rash decision to kill himself due to the amount of grief he has just been given. The tragedy of Othello is a terrible misfortune that could have been stopped had Othello not made friends with the wrong people, if he had accepted the fact that he was a moor, not been self-conscious, and worried nothing about it as he was still a fantastic military leader, and a great nobleman, and due to the fact that he made rash quick decisions which could have been contemplated for a better outcome.

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