Andy Lyons
AP English and Composition
Mr. Lane
7 January 2010
Othello Excuse
I strongly request the Venetian Court to excuse Othello for the murder of
Desdemona. Othello was a very faithful and loyal man, and truly believed that others
followed the same principle. Othello held this principle to his heart, and became full of
rage when others failed to stay truthful. Desdemona was falsely placed into this shadow
of unfaithfulness, and Othello could not bear his wife untrue. The manipulative and
menacing Iago created this shadow to which Desdemona could not escape. I have faith
that the Venetian court will see through the devious shadow Iago created, and will see
how and why he twisted the great Othello to commit such a grave crime.
Iago is a crafty villain with a power-hungry mentality. He gained his trust with
Othello from the ranks of the army. This trust was seen in Cyrus when Cassio got into a
drunken fight. Iago explained what happened to Othello, “I’d rather cut my tongue out of
my mouth than say anything bad about Michael Cassio” (Act. 2 Sc. 3 ln. 184-185). Iago
made an impression that he was very fond of Cassio, but at the same time he did this in
order to show Othello his loyalty to the ranks of the army. Iago always tried to make it
look like he held the same principle as Othello, trust and loyalty, this was also a reason
Othello was very attached to Iago. Iago held onto this bond and friendship he built with
Othello and turned it to his advantage. He used this bond to bring down Othello and
fellow officers.
Iago would constantly feed lies in order to twist the impression of Desdemona’s
faith towards Othello. For instance, when Iago told Othello that Cassio dreamt about
Desdemona and cursed the state of Othello (428-435). This is only one of the crafty lies
Iago fed to the curious, but over trusting Othello. Othello could never look past any of
these lies. The lies would burn his soul and would also slowly burn through the
relationship between him and Desdemona. Othello would constantly question and look
down upon Desdemona after hearing all of the false acts from Iago. Desdemona was left
to wonder why the man she loved would ever treat her like a whore.
The love once seen between Othello and Desdemona was sweet and pure. They
were bound to stay together while Othello maintained a successful military career. Their
future was bright and promising, and the people of Venice would have stood behind them
through anything. Othello won Desdemona with his charm and prestige, although the
Duke was not fond of the marriage, Othello smoothly amended the rigid feelings with his
passion he showed for Desdemona. He even told the Duke that if Desdemona said
anything bad about him, then the Duke could sentence him to death (Act. 1 Sc. 3 ln. 119120). This passion was corrupted by the duplicitous Iago, and never regained its original
state.
On these grounds, I urge the Venetian Court to excuse Othello for the murder of
his beloved Desdemona. He was clearly tricked into the deed by the inhumane Iago, and
could never salvage the trust he had for Desdemona until minutes before his death. Iago
ruined Othello’s young, but promising legacy as a leader and general of the Venetian
Army. I must question Iago’s soul and motive, but one must ask why anyone would want
to put the sweet and innocent Desdemona in harms way? For Othello and Desdemona’s
souls, please pardon the late Othello for a crime he would have never committed if not
under Iago’s treachery.