Othello III: Act 2 Scene 2 - Act 3 Scene 2

In this passage, Iago maintains his principle of never making a statement that is entirely untrue except about his own feelings. He asks at the beginning of his soliloquy, "what's he, then, that says I play the villain, / When this advice is free I give and honest, / probal to thinking, and indeed the course / to win the moor again?" (II.iii.356-359). In other words, Iago asks the audience: why would Cassio think I am evil if I give him advice that is, indeed, the best course of action, even if I have my own motives behind it? Iago illustrates why every character in the play believes him to be honest: because he always offers advice that is valid and information that is generally plausible, despite his own motives for guiding characters in particular directions. Thus, Iago maintains his odd honesty that makes him, ironically, true to what he presents (honest) in the technical meaning of the word, without the trustworthiness that is connotatively associated with that diction.