The quote that appears in I.iii.146-151 is part of Othello's explanation to the Senators of Venice for his success in conquering Desdemona. Othello tells them about Desdemona's behavior during courtship, where, like most characters in the play, he accepts and acts on second-hand knowledge gained through listening, without the support of evidence. The tragic action in Othello unfolds based on Iago's exploitation of this excessive dependence on hearing. He seems to be the only one who senses that people often interpret words based on what they want to hear or based on their underlying fears. Even without Iago's interference there are potential problems in the way Othello and Desdemona relate to each other through hearing. Othello betrays his fear that Desdemona will listen with an eager ear (150) by saying that she would devour my speech (151). Since she only knows Othello's speeches, this is equivalent to devouring him. His active listening betrays his non-passive character, which jeopardizes the masculine role that Othello tries to assume in Venetian society. Desdemona also perceived who she thinks Othello is through his speech - I saw Othello's face in her mind (I.iii.253) - which perhaps made her only half perceive his color and otherness, and potential male opposition to their marriage. What she heard is her version of events and she seems to have fallen in love with her exotic past through this speech. We can ask ourselves how well Othello knows the man in the context of Venetian society. The potential problems of their relationship are exploited to the full by Iago, who plays on Othello's fears: his insecure position in a white society with a white wife, and his strict adherence to that society's norms regarding passivity and wife's sexual behavior - to get him to see through listening. That is, Iago uses words to distort reality and create mental images for people, and then convince them to accept them as true. Listening to Iago is really dangerous. Despite the fact that Iago deliberately subjects Othello to his twisted thoughts, Othello seems to have an avid ear for his speeches, and seems to rely on Iago for the underlying truths of this white, male-dominated society that he inhabits. wants to belong. Perhaps this helps explain how easily Othello is deceived without any real evidence. Once Iago sows the seed of doubt in Othello's mind about Cassio, who they both supposedly see as a decent man (I.