Manthei 1

Christiana Manthei

Dr. MacFaul

Shakespeare Tutorial

23 January, 2017

“I know not if’t be true, But I for mere suspicion in that kind Will do as if for surety.”

This quote from Othello brings up interesting questions about the philosophy of this sort

of action: Is it good or bad to act surely on an assumption? What happens to the characters who

act in this manner? Is this sort of action common in tragedies?

Acting as if a suspicion is true can be both good and bad. The difference between when

it is a good way to act or a bad way to act depends on several factors: truth, motive, and people

involved. The first factor is whether the suspicion is true or not. Generally situations tend to turn

out better when the truth is the basis for action. If someone acts on false information, it is easy

for situations to go wrong or get out of hand. The second factor is the motive behind the action.

If the actor has good intentions for acting on the suspicion it usually turns out better than if the

actor has evil intentions. The third factor is who will be directly affected by the action. If the

action has the greatest impact upon the actor and not upon someone else, then this philosophy of

action generally works better.

For example, some high schoolers have a suspicion that they will succeed in university,

but they are not sure if it is true. They might be good students now, but university classes and

lifestyle are vastly different from high school. Many follow the idea presented in this quote and

act as if they will succeed at a university by applying and attending a univeristy. This confidence

of action is necessary in many situations in life. Without the ability to act on an uncertainty, there

would be little progress in one’s own life.

 Manthei 2
However, acting on assumptions could also lead to bad outcomes. As noted above, if the

assumption is false, the motive is selfish or evil, or the action affects people other than oneself,

this philosophy of action can harm instead of help. The actions of Iago and Othello in Othello

and of Hamlet in Hamlet display this.

Iago speaks the above quote in Act I in regards to his suspicion of his wife Emilia’s

infidelity with Othello. He states that he both hates Othello and that people outside of Venice

think Othello and Emilia are having an affair. Although he is uncertain of its verity, he “will do

as if for surety” (Othello 160). He proceeds to explain his plan to get revenge on Othello and get

Cassio’s position in the military. Iago has malicious and selfish intent behind his action of

planting doubt in Othello’s mind about Desdemona’s fidelity.

After Iago places doubt in Othello’s mind, Othello also acts on a suspicion as if he were

sure it were true. Othello does not believe Iago’s accusation without proof, but the thought of

Desdemona’s infidelity tortures him. Once Iago supplies minimal and circumstantial evidence of

Cassio and Desdemona’s supposed affair, Othello believes the suspicion to be true and decides to

act on it. In his rage he cries that his “bloody thoughts...shall ne’er look back” and his revenge

will consume them (Othello 239). He has decided that both Cassio and Desdemona must die.

Othello does not listen to his wife’s plea of innocence, but instead acts upon the suspicion that

she has had an affair with Cassio.

In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet at some points does follow the aforementioned philosophy of

action and at other points does not. At the beginning of the play, the Ghost calls Hamlet to

“revenge his [father’s] foul and most unnatural murder!” (Hamlet 213). Hamlet had the suspicion

before talking with the Ghost that his uncle Claudius had murdered his father. However, now

that the Ghost has confirmed it, Hamlet is torn. He wants to avenge his father’s murder, but he
 Manthei 3
also wants to find out for sure if Claudius is guilty. Hamlet waits to kill Claudius until after The

Mousetrap confirms that Claudius murdered his father.

However, once Hamlet is already in a fit of anger, he too acts based on an assumption

instead of finding out the truth. While he was berating his mother, he hears a voice behind the

curtain, and assuming that it is Claudius, he acts with surety as he stabs the person. This results

in the death of Polonius instead of the death of Claudius.

Before coming to any conclusions about how this philosophy of action relates to

tragedies, one must first explore what it means to be a tragedy. Clifford Leech defines tragedy as

“the realization of the unthinkable” (65). He goes on to explain that what happens to the person

does not have to be what they fear most or that the situation is irreversible. The point is that an

unfortunate event happened which one did not think would happen.

Tragic stories often center around misfortunes befalling innocent, good, or noble people.

Is is sad and even tragic when people undeserving of evil have unfortunate events such as deaths

or unlawful imprisonments that befall them. However, A. C. Bradley states that “no amount of

calamity which merely befell a man” is enough to make his story a tragedy (6). He cites the

example of Job from the Bible. He was a righteous, wealthy, and just man, and everything was

taken from him. His misfortunes were among the greatest ones man has ever seen, but his story

does not count as a tragedy. According to Bradley, “the calamities of tragedy… proceed mainly

from actions… of men” (6). Thus, it is not simply what happens to a person that makes his story

tragic, but what he does afterwards or in the midst of the unfortunate events.

With these actions and definitions in mind, one might conclude that the aforementioned

philosophy of action plays a role in Othello and Hamlet being tragedies. For Othello, it was not

until after he and Iago acted on suspicions that the play really became a tragedy. Because of their
 Manthei 4
actions, Othello murders his wife, two other innocent people die at Iago’s hand, Othello commits

suicide, and at least two other people are badly injured. Their actions do cause the heart of the

tragedy in Othello.

In Hamlet, misfortunes befall Hamlet before he acts on assumptions, but, as in Othello,

the heart of why Hamlet is a tragedy is because of Hamlet’s actions. After Hamlet kills Polonius,

Ophelia goes mad and drowns herself, three of Hamlet’s friends are killed, and the entire royal

family dies.

In both plays, the unthinkable has happened because of the actions of Othello, Iago, and

Hamlet. Their decisions to act as if their suspicions were true led them to become tragedies.
 Manthei 5

Works Cited

Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth.

London, Macmillan and Co., 1992.

Leech, Clifford. Tragedy. London, Methuen, 1969.

Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Edited by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, London, Arden

Shakespeare, 2006.

Shakespeare, William. Othello. Edited by E. A. J. Honigmann, London, Arden Shakespeare,

2002.