Shakespeare's Presentation of deceit in the Opening of Othello Anonymous College

Within the opening act of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’, deception is a central theme that is also prevalent throughout the play and the result of the tragic ending, which, in the view of Kastan is the ‘genre of uncompensated suffering’ that is either due to ‘human error or capricious fate’. Shakespeare’s characterization of Iago, an archetypal Machiavellian villain and the predominant catalyst for the series of events that leads to this ‘fall from prosperity to wretchedness’ is Shakespeare’s method of depicting the consequences that arise from human interference, thus ending in misery which Kastan deems necessary in a Shakespearean tragedy.

Shakespeare initially presents deception through Iago, the antagonists identity, that is introduced within the Act 1 Scene 1 of the play. The name ‘Iago’ carries the meaning of of ‘he who usurps’ in Spanish, something that would have lead to the audiences suspicions when originally performed due to the name going against ‘The Great Chain of Being’, a concept that was widespread within 17th Century England holding the belief of a strict hierarchy of life and not interfering with God’s idea of where one should be. The view of Iago counteracting common belief systems that the Jacobean audience held...