Othello is clever, as his style and military prowess show but is to content of Venice he is na
•ve. He is too trusting and misunderstands the subtleties of Venetian society it is the combination of his openness and decisiveness, pride and trustfulness that allows super subtle Iago to destroy him, powerful as Othello is. Therefore it could be argued that the contrast between Venetian and Othellos nature is the main reason for his downfall. [6] .
Iago is not really a Venetian. There is no reference to him being so in the text, and it fits the purposes of the play better if he does not belong to any culture or society. Moorish culture is extraordinary for its powerful spirit (embodied in Othello), Venetian culture is extraordinary for its civilization art and religion. Iago is on the contrary, highly ordinary, for this facet his evil is all the more terrible, he can infiltrate Venice without detection and use the various aspects of Venetian civilization against Othello. For instance, he can use rhetoric like affected doubt and naivety. The effect Iago is to create as a rift in the otherwise civil Venice, as Brabantio would lead us to believe.[7] .
The way Iago describes Desdemona, and the way Othello says she had a "greedy ear" devouring up his discourse leads us to think that Desdemona can use her manner o get what she wants, she knows that Venetian society stipulates that a daughter must be obedient to her father, but she can bend the rules to show that she owes loyalty more to her new husband Othello. She knows the ways of Venice perhaps more than anyone else in the play who is Venetian. This casts her in utter contrast to Othello and serves to highlight how much of an outsider Othello is. It also adds to evidence against her later on. If he knows she is capable of manipulation, Othello will believe that he is the more deceived. .
Though it only forms the backdrop to one of the acts, Venice as a place is one of the most significant themes in the play.