It is uncertain who is directly at fault for the tragedy in Shakespeare's Othello. There are many characters who contribute to the deaths of Desdemona, Othello and Emilia. Despite Othello and his ensign, Iago being the ones who carry out the murders there are other people who can be held responsible in other ways. It is wrong to say the responsibility lay solely upon one character as the play is set in an interdependent community in Cyprus. To be at fault means to be the cause of the actions or guilty for them. In the play many people fall under this category, making it hard to directly associate blame.

Much of the disaster of the play can be connected back to Iago. The seemingly jealous soldier, or ensign, was a servant in the battle fields to his moor yet a master in the emotional everyday life of Othello...