Chapter Commentary of The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice - Study Guide by William Shakespeare

...My lord shall never rest,

I’ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience,

His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift,

I’ll intermingle everything he does...

For thy solicitor shall rather die

Than give thy cause away(3.3.20-28)

Iago and Othello approach. Cassio, still embarrassed by his actions, makes a hasty exit. Iago seizes on this and so begins a masterly campaign of suggestion and subversion by which he convinces Othello that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. He arouses Othello’s curiosity, "Ha, I like not that". Othello takes the bait, "What dots thou say?". Iago seems to dismiss it, "Nothing my lord..."⁶ but actually fuels Othello’s curiosity further, "...or if – I know not what". Iago gently coaxes Othello to his own conclusion, denying that it was Cassio who just left Desdemona "so guilty like". Desdemona innocently assists Iago in this with an unfortunate choice of words, "I have been talking with a suitor here" and with the persistence with which she urges Othello to recall Cassio. "...shall’t be shortly?...Shall’t be tonight, at supper?...Tomorrow dinner then?...Why then, tomorrow night, or Tuesday morn; / On Tuesday, noon or night; on Wednesday morn!...When shall he come?...Tell me Othello. I wonder in my soul..." (3.3.56-68). Othello asks her to leave him in peace for a bit and he reflects,

Excellent wretch! perdition catch my soul

But I do love thee! and when I love thee not

Chaos is come again.(3.3.90-92)

Iago, purveyor of chaos to passionate Moors, interrupts, "My noble lord - ... Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady, / Know of your love?" Again, Othello’s curiosity is roused, "Why dost thou ask?" and again Iago seems to dismiss the issue, "But for the satisfaction of my thought". This gives Othello no satisfaction of his thought, "Why of thy thought, Iago?". Again, Iago dismisses the matter, but never lets Othello’s curiosity die. "Indeed?" he continues. "Indeed? Ay, indeed. Discern’st thou aught in that?". Iago is directing Othello’s thoughts. He does not present Othello with the lie, "Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona". Were he to state it thus, it would seem too ridiculous. It would seem dishonest! Instead, he gradually nurtures the suspicion in Othello’s own mind. The "green-eyed monster" of jealousy is more than capable of creating its own substitutes for truth. Though he is directing Othello’s thoughts, it is still Othello who is doing the thinking. The gentle hints that he gives, the poisoned words, the delicate suggestions, none of these seem implausible; none of these are clearly stated facts. It is not Iago but Othello who raises the question, "Is [Cassio] not honest?". Iago is not his normal assertive self, "Honest, my lord?...My lord, for aught I know". Asked what he thinks, again he is uncharacteristically ambiguous, "Think, my lord?". Othello becomes angry at this because he can see that Iago is hiding something,