How Does Othello Change Throughout The Play

The Tragedy of Othello written by William Shakespeare features many dynamic characters throughout the play. However Othello himself changes the most throughout the play due to the lies and rumors that he is hearing. Othello starts as a completely loyal high ranking general in the Italian army who appoints Cassio to lieutenant and secretly gets married to the senator’s daughter named Desdemona. Upset by Othello’s choice of lieutenant, Iago begins feeding Othello lies about what is happening between his new wife and his new lieutenant. Over the course of the play Othello begins to believe Iago’s lies and ends up doing something that he cannot take back. Othello undergoes the drastic change from a loyal general to an emotionally compromised, quick to judge, killer, who
Iago explains to Othello that it was Cassio who ran away, guiltily just as Othello walked in, as if he were trying to hide something. Iago then informs Othello of the, fake, rumors of the affair between Desdemona and Cassio, but he tells Othello that they are just rumors and nothing to worry about. This shred of doubt in Othello’s mind causes him to not stop thinking about it and makes him very upset. He is so upset that he asks Iago to look into it further and get him proof that Desdemona is being unfaithful. As a response Iago tells Othello that his proof is that he has seen Cassio using Desdemona’s handkerchief that Othello had given her. Upset by this news, Othello instructs Iago to kill Cassio and he promotes Iago to Lieutenant, Othello then goes to Desdemona demanding the handkerchief because it has magical powers that keeps him in love with her and without it he will fall out of love with her. Throughout act three Othello’s emotions begin to get the best of him due to Iago’s lies and Iago's lies are not over