ABSTRACT
An irony which is fundamental to Othello, but which has been generally overlooked, is expressed in these lines. The middle of Act III Othello has been possessed by the idea that if Desdemona be adulterous honour requires that he kill her. The structure of differs from that of Othello in that Brutus is presented from the outset as having an enigmatic but compelling commitment to 'the name of honour'. Shakespeare provides that basis by having the theretofore virtuous Othello succumb, in III. The importance to the theme and structure of the play of Othello's ironic appeal to honour to justify his action has probably been overlooked because of the two most puzzling difficulties which the complexity of the play has imposed on post-Shakespearean or post-Restoration readers. The play begins with Iago's announcing one of the reasons he hates Othello; 'his Moorship' has preferred Cassio, a mere theoretician, to Iago, whose worth has been proved, he announces, in practice.
