In William Shakespeare's classic tragedy Othello the theme of illusion and reality is
central to the play's action. In Shakespeare's Othello, illusion and reality play major roles in the
events that occur and the circumstances that govern them. Iago uses his superior language skills
to create images in characters minds which are different from reality. Despite Bianca's bad
impression upon the other characters, the views people have on her immediately change. Iago,
early in the play knows that the other characters have faith and trust in him, so he knows that
people will believe everything he says. Hallucination and actuality are key to the actions
Iago uses his extraordinary language abilities such as sarcasm to spawn ideas and images
in the other characters minds which are separate from reality. According to Iago, all women are
just pictures because they cover their faces with make-up. They are bells because their tongues
are constantly ringing. They are saints in their injuries because when they hurt somebody they
are doing it for a saintly reason. They are devils when they are offended because they never give
"Come on, Come on! You are pictures out of door, bells in your parlours,
wildcats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries, devils being offended,
players in your huswifery, and huswives in your beds"
(Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 122-125)
Although Iago most likely believes what he is saying, his words of hatred are supposed to
be delivered as an antic. The tone of this is very demanding as he is speaking to the Moor's wife,
Desdemona. Iago gets straight to what he wants to say, which is that he thinks very little about
women no matter what they do or what they look like. He calls all women pictures, meaning that
they try to be something that they really are not. By covering their faces with make-up, they are
trying to make themselves look b...