Disorder in Othello Essay

I believe the play Othello is a tragedy due to disorder. Disorder is specifically shown between the friendships of this play, in particular Iago and Othellos. The lies and deception in this play show the weaknesses in the characters and their wrong judgement towards one another. Iago is seen as a trusted, well liked man to everyone but the audience. We see the web of lies he spun and how he manipulated everyone he knew. It takes a strong willed (some might call it evil) character, to carry out such a calculated plan. This false identity allows Iago to influence the chaos and disorder in this play. It is debatable to whether he was responsible for Othellos death or simply exposing him with his tragic flaws.

Iago is first revealed as a sinister character when he tricks Rodrigo. He makes this vulnerable character believe he has a chance with Desdemona, regardless of his low status in society. The audience are wondering what motives he has for being so disruptive, or even just trying to gather an understanding of his actions. This incident almost foreshadows the rest of the story, as we see what Iago is capable of. Iago then seems to give a self-analysis on his views and beliefs Virtue? A fig, tis in ourselves that we are thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which, our wills are gardeners He expresses that he does not care what society expects of him and he will do as he wishes. This sick mentality would see him through the whole play. The phrase Our bodies are our gardens, to the which, our wills are gardeners suggests he has control on what he is doing; he is filled with such confidence and contentment with his plans. This makes Iago seem invincible and almost an unavoidable tragedy for Othello.

Iagos master plan then comes in to action. He creates the most disorder when he tries to convince Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him. He plants the ideas into his head, with such a sly careful manner, that it would be hard to detect him of doing so. Othello carries this misjudgement of Iago till the end of the play, still believing that Iago is a man of trust and great friendship. The metaphor where Iago compares his body to a garden has a running theme. It almost seems like he seeds evil plans into Othellos head. So even though Iago may believe he has control over his own body and actions, he should have the power to control Othellos as well. Almost as if Iago is planting his seeds in Othellos garden. However at this point of the play we still see Desdemonas importance to Othello. My life upon her faith! This sentence can be seen as foreshadowing the play, as we see Iagos plan is to destroy that faith which would then result in Othellos death. This also lets us know of how normal their relationship was because Iago intervened. Iago definitely causes disorder and tragedy for pair of them.

Othello shows how powerful he feels for Desdemona and Iago almost sets a goal to destroy these feelings. In other words, Iago plans to cause disorder in Othellos mind. Whether the results are what Iago intended, we dont know, but it was definitely a disruptive well thought of plan.