Texts which examine mankind's fallibilities often hold transcendental importance for readers. This statement applies to Shakespeare's tragedy 'Othello' which discusses human flaws such as the weakness of trust under influences of deception, the nature of pride to be replaced by irrational jealousy and how love is vulnerable to societal influences. Because of these messages, 'Othello' remains relevant to readers through time and age. .
Through Iago's foul play and deceptive conduct, Shakespeare demonstrates how duplicity fosters misplaced trust and subsequently abuses the innocent. Shakespeare reflects on the unsettling effects of the deception behind Elizabethan Era's Babington Plot, which aimed to bring Queen Mary to the throne by murdering Elizabeth I. Iago's paradoxical aside 'I am not what I am' immediately discloses his duplicitous nature yet the dramatic irony in Othello addressing him as 'Honest Iago' portrays how the antagonist's deception victimises Othello's naivety. Furthermore, the metaphor within Iago's soliloquy as he describes Desdemona as 'free elements' whose virtues he will turn into 'pitch' foreshadows how the innocence of the lovers will be undermined by Iago's manipulation whilst aligning with critic Helen Gardner's statement 'to Iago, the world and other people exist for him only to be used' (The Noble Moor, 1955). Through the way Brabantio's complete faith in Iago's bestial imagery 'old black ram is tupping your white ewe' allows him to accuse Othello of 'thou practiced on her with foul charmsdrugs or minerals', Shakespeare indicates how mendacity undermines Othello's innocent love. Meanwhile, the dramatic irony in Othello's request for Iago to 'prove my love a whore' emphasises how his loss of trust in Desdemona is accompanied by his increasing misplaced trust in Iago, who employs Othello's handkerchief as the 'ocular proof' of her infidelity.
