There are frequent instances in Shakespeare’s Othello where the antagonist of the story Iago is described as “honest” when in reality he is manipulating those around him for his own personal gain during the entire play.
“I know, Iago, Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter…”
This quote from Act 2: Scene 3 is spoken by Othello to Iago after Cassio drunkenly strikes Montano. To Othello, Iago’s description of the events is accurate but downplayed for the benefit of Cassio, in an attempt to not blame him for what happened, when in reality Iago engineered the entire situation in an attempt to get Cassio removed from his lieutenant position.
Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony in this situation reveals Othello’s blind spot for Iago, as only the audience knows Iago’s true intentions, and can infer that Othello’s wrongful trust that he has placed in Iago will at some point lead to disaster.
“Tis he. Oh, brave Iago, honest and just,
That hast such noble sense of thy friend’s wrong!” (Act 5: Scene 1)
This is another instance where Iago is described as honest by Othello, after Iago instructs Rodrigo to murder Cassio to uphold his end of the plan he made with Othello. Othello is astonished that his friend is so loyal to him that he would even murder another man to help his friend. Little does Othello know, Iago has been manipulating his blind trust into following his exact plan, which will eventually end in the deaths of Othello and Desdemona.
Iago is viewed as honest by almost everyone in the tragedy, and the only person who even knows that he is in fact planning something devious is Rodrigo, who Iago eventually betrays after Rodrigo failed to kill Cassio.
Iago’s wife Emilia is the first character in the tragedy to catch on to Iago’s master plan, even though she appears to be one of Iago’s pawns early on in the play. She eventually catches onto Iago’s role in Desdemona’s death, and insists on outing his plan when she declares in front of everyone “your reports have set the murder on” (Act 5: Scene 2). Iago then attempted to quiet her, but she refused so in a final act of desperation he stabs her, murdering his own wife.
Shakespeare’s use of the adjective “honest” to describe Iago is mainly used as a catalyst for the dramatic irony created every time Othello or another character in the tragedy refers to Iago as “Honest Iago”. But it is this imputed honesty also shows the naivety of those surrounding him in the play. With the help of Iago’s meddling, Othello murders his wife in her own bed because of a fake suspicion of Iago’s that Desdemona was cheating on Othello with Cassio.
Iago is even viewed as honest to those who know of his hatred towards Othello. Rodrigo goes along with everything Iago tells him to do, but in the end that blind loyalty has him end up with a knife in his chest.
Although Iago is viewed as honest by almost everyone in the tragedy, all those closest to him: Othello, Emilia, and Rodrigo, all end up dead by the end of the story. Two of them were killed by Iago’s hand, while the third committed suicide as a direct result of Iago’s scheme, showing that Iago is only ever truly honest with himself.