It is deception and outright lies, told by Iago, which create the conditions for certain characters to become suspicious and sustain erroneous beliefs that ultimately leads to tragedy. In the second scene of the very first act, Iago demonstrates his power of deception and manipulation by provoking Branbanzio into becoming enraged at the idea of his daughter, Desdemona, sexually involved with the African, Othello. Shakespeare cleverly used a common slang term for intercourse by stating "…your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs." (Shakespeare, I, i) and it is Branbanzio's own racism that clouds his vision and brings about the belief that his daughter could not truly be in love with Othello without the use of magic and potions.
The main instigator, however, of most of the trouble caused by uncertain vision is, of course, the character of Iago. It is Iago who provokes Branbanzio, as well as deceives Roderigo into becoming a pawn in his deadly games. Iago deceives Roderigo into believing that his service is helping Roderigo gain favor with Desdemona, but instead Iago is simply using Roderigo's money in order to "make my fool my purse." (Shakespeare, I, iii) Roderigo is also deceived by Iago into making an unprovoked...
This in turn leads to Iago deceiving Cassio into contacting Desdemona for assistance in getting his job back. And Cassio's interaction with Desdemona is twisted by into a sexual affair that Iago convinces Othello that the two are having. In effect, Iago creates a number of situations in which the actions of various characters are misinterpreted and misunderstood in order to provoke a tragic reaction. It is Iago who is the cause of the uncertain vision that afflicts so many of Shakespeare's characters, but most tragically Othello.
It is clear that there are distinct differences between the use of uncertain vision in Oedipus the King and Othello; where one is the result of fate and
supernatural forces, the other is the result of human scheming and deception. In Oedipus the King, the uncertain vision is something that fate delivered to them and they lived with for years, until it was suddenly removed and they could see what real, but in Othello, it was something that was created by Iago and then went on to cause destruction. By the time the characters in Othello realized the truth, the tragic events had already taken
place, but it was the realization of the truth in Oedipus the King that then led to the tragic events. This is the main difference between the two.
References
Shakespeare, William. "Othello." The Complete Works of
William Shakespeare. Web 28
Apr. 2012. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/othello/full.html
Sophocles. "Oedipus the King." The Internet Classic Archive. Web. 28 Apr. 2012.
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