Appearance versus reality: Shakespeare wrote different types of plays such as comedies, tragedies, and historical plays. The play Othello is one of his tragedies. It is about a character named Othello who is Moor, in the service of Venice. Throughout the play, Iago, Othello's lieutenant, manipulates Othello into believing that Desdemona, Othello's wife, is cheating on him. Various characters in the play Othello appear to be virtuous and honest individuals, but their actions reveal that they are not what they seem. The character in the play who is most different from what he appears to be is Iago. He thinks he should have gotten a higher position than Cassio working for Othello. He is angry with Cassio for having taken the position he wanted. Iago knows that Cassio doesn't drink much. Therefore, he urges him to drink more than usual to make him drunk and get him into trouble with Othello. As Cassio's drunkenness makes him aggressive, he fights with Rodrigo. As a result, Othello makes the decision to send Cassio away. Iago is happy that one of his tricks works. Iago seeks ways to get revenge on Othello for giving the higher responsibility to Cassio. In Act 1, Scene 1, Iago says: "Though I hate him as I suffer hell, yet for the necessity of this present life I must show a flag and a token of love, which n "is indeed just a sign." (Shakespeare, 1937, p. 1173) The characters in the play view Iago as trustworthy, but in reality he is devious, double-minded, and scheming. (Smith, 2000) Iago's tricks begin when Iago tells Brabantio, Desdemona's father, that Othello took his daughter and performed some kind of witchcraft on her to make Desdemona fall in love with him. As Iago's plan did not succeed because Desdemona and Othello got married, he begins...... middle of paper ...... a man who has not harmed anyone. Emilia, Iago's wife, who is a good friend of Desdemona lies when she tells Desdemona that she did not see her handkerchief. In Act 3, Scene 4, Desdemona asks, “Where will I lose this handkerchief, Emilia?” Emilia replies: “I don’t know, ma’am.” (Shakespeare, 1937, p. 1193) Desdemona believes her because she always seemed to be a loyal friend. This is another example of appearance versus reality. The play Othello is a fictional story and is therefore another example of appearance versus reality. The characters are written through Shakespeare's imagination. Likewise, the plot is also an example of how appearance works. This is not consistent with reality. The person who sees the play also sees the characters differently. Since this is a fictional story, the author has the power to end it the way he wants, but in real life it might not end that way..