The tone of Othello is largely dark and cynical, with the characters in the play driven by strong emotions of jealousy and vengeance that enable violent acts. The characters speak in lofty terms of noble concepts such as love and justice, which also gives the play an elevated tone matching the grandeur of its tragedy.
While Othello does not have an explicit narrator, Iago’s intimacy with the audience through his soliloquies— which guide the audience through the plot and structurally signpost the action—gives him a narrator-like position which allows him to set the tone. Accordingly, Iago’s cynicism and constant suspicion of others lends the play its dark quality. Indeed, Iago is one of the first characters we are introduced to, and the play’s opening scene, in which Iago is already scheming against Othello, immediately sets the vengeful and sinister tone which will dominate the play.
The tone of Othello also proves to be duplicitous, thanks to Iago’s control over the narrative. Iago, who says one thing in private but another in public, embeds deception and duplicity into the very fabric of the play. Indeed, the duality of the tone of Iago’s speech, which switches between one of love and subservience to one of hatred and bitterness, gives the play an overall tone of suspicion. Indeed, this tone is so powerful that it may even infect the audience, with the play’s evident duplicity highlighting to the audience how nothing, even the play’s narrative itself, may be trusted.
