Othello Act V Theme of Trust

                In my own personal opinion, I found the issue of in whom one should place their trust to be a major theme of Shakespeare’s Othello. Othello and Roderigo prove themselves to be the two characters whose actions speak to this theme most profoundly in Act V. To begin with, Othello has been placing his trust in the wrong characters throughout the entire play, but the culmination of this blind trust does not fully reveal itself until this fifth act. Despite the fact that Iago is a treacherous and dishonest man, Othello overlooks the indications that he is an evil man and chooses to take heed to every piece of false information with he gives Othello. Rather than questioning the man who is his ensign, he instead places all his trust in the conniving Iago and instead questions his very own wife, who is loyal and honest to the moment of her death. However, in addition to the fact that Othello foolishly trusted the wrong individuals, he additionally contributed to the theme of the dangers of trust or a lack thereof by refusing to trust the words of his honest wife, Desdemona. Despite her genuine and sincere protestations that she is absolutely and entirely guiltless and has performed no act of infidelity to deserve Othello’s scorn, he stubbornly insists that she is guilty, asserting that she must, “Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin, For to deny each article with oath cannot remove nor choke the strong conception that I do groan withal. Thou are to die” (Shakespeare, V, ii, 53-56). Othello has become so hardened in heart by his belief of his wife’s affair that he has become adamant in his resolve to murder her, and no words in Act V can dissuade him of the need for Desdemona’s death. However, the entire issue could clearly have been resolved if Othello had only placed his trust in the much more honorable character of Desdemona rather than the wicked Iago.

                Roderigo’s blind trust of Iago also reinforced the necessity of placing trust in the right character. Roderigo foolishly trusted Iago for quite a length of time, handing over most of his riches to the man without demanding any immediate and concrete evidence that his personal sacrifices were even being used for the advancement of his own good. Though Roderigo does eventually see the futility of his trust in Iago and even confronts Iago about his falsehood, he makes this essential revelation a little too late and ultimately still faces a very unfortunate death at the hands of Iago. Had Roderigo placed his trust in someone more honorable than Iago, then he could not have been used as an instrument in Iago’s wicked schemes, and the entire plot of the novel may have been altered. Therefore, the events which unfold in Act V of Othello prove the  culmination of the theme of the relevance of trusting the appropriate individuals in the final act of the play.