Tis pitiful, but yet Iago knows.
That she with Cassio hath the act of .
Shame.
A thousand times committed,.
[V. ii. 210-212].
As seen in the play, Othello was trustful. He put entire confidence in his companion in battle, Iago. This confidence was misplaced but it was no sign of stupidity in Othello. His opinion of Iago was the opinion of practically everyone who knew him: that one of Iago's only faults was his excess in honesty. Even so, if Othello had not been trustful, it would have been odd for him not to suspect anything because of the warnings from such a close friend, In addition, those warnings were offered with extreme reluctance and Iago thought that his confession came from a friend's sense of duty. Any man would have been naturally disturbed by accusations about his fiancé.
IF she be false, O, then heaven mocks itself,.
I'll not believe it.
[III.iii. 278-279].
Othello's speech that begins in Act III is absolutely central to the meaning of the scene as well as to the meaning of the entire play (MaGill, 2132). Through this speech, he also allows the reader to see the magnitude of the mental stress that Othello is undergoing. .
Jealousy, once awakened, becomes so self-perpetuating, self-intensifying,and where no justifying evidence .
for it exists, the jealous person under the impulse of an extraordinary perversity will continue to manufacture it, .
inventing causes, converting airy trifles into "confirmations strong as proofs of holy writ- .
[III.iii.323-324] (Scott, 418).
Without understanding the inner mechanics of Othello's mind, one could never hope to fully understand the level of stress that he underwent (Rosenburg, 413). The essential connection between this speech, the act, and the whole of the play is when Othello hears a close friends accusations, doubts Desdimona, doubts the information, and then finally coming to rest at a place that is just slightly more confused than the position in which he began.
