Caught in a "Lie"

Othello, the Moor of Venice
William Shakespeare
Act IV

There are often many words that can have several meanings. These meanings may come from misinterpretations, multiple meanings, or simple confusion by the speaker. For example, in Act IV, the word "'Lie" spoken by Iago in line 33 can be interpreted by the reader in several fashions (IV.i.33). Literally, it is the abbreviated version of "belie" which means  to fail to fulfill or to betray. In this sense, Iago is telling Othello that Desdemona is deceptive of her husband by managing an affair with Cassio. However, the reader can interpret the word without the apostrophe coming beforehand and read it simply as "lie." With this new misreading of the word, the reader would associate this speech with the speech of Iago in the sense that everything he is saying is a lie. This reading of the word is ironic because the word precedes the lie told by Iago in this scene. From the audience's perspective witnessing the play, they are unaware of spelling and grammatical structure of the script. Therefore, they may hear the word as "lie" and not an abbreviated "belie" which would completely change the meaning of what Iago is about to say. Shakespeare intentionally did this to remind the audience of the untrustworthy nature of Iago even though he is repeatedly trusted by several of the other characters in the play.