It is important to remember the elements of the plot pyramid when reading Shakespeare: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement (resolution). Since Shakespearean plays are broken into five acts, most are pretty evenly divided. This means that act 1 is the introduction, act 2 has the rising action, act 3 is the climax, act 4 is the falling action, and act 5 has the resolution.
Since act 3 is the climax of Othello, there's a lot going on. Iago is a very deceptive character, and he's trying to convince Othello that Desdemona is not being faithful. There is quite a bit of irony in this scene.
First of all, Desdemona is a great wife to Othello. She wants to make him happy and has given him no reason to doubt her. Nevertheless, Othello begins to believe Iago.
It is also ironic because Iago says things to Othello like "Men should be what they seem" when the reader knows that he is being deceptive. Similarly, Othello trusts Iago when Iago is actually being disloyal.
The overarching irony of Othello is, of course, the dramatic irony that is played out through the character of Iago. The audience learns in the very first scene of the play that Iago hates Othello and wants to make him suffer. As the play progresses, the audience has the opportunity to listen in on Iago's many monologues and soliloquies stating his plans for how he will accomplish Othello's ruin, so the audience knows to look for those signs in the plot even as Othello and the other characters have no idea of what plans Iago is developing. Another way in which Shakespeare keeps this dramatic irony fresh in the audience's mind is by the frequent mention of Iago being a man of excellent character.
There are several references to this made in act 3, scene 3. One is made by Desdemona when she tells Emilia in line 5 that her husband is an "honest fellow." Later on, after Iago has underhandedly convinced Othello that Desdemona has cheated on him with Cassio, Othello reflects on Iago by saying: "This fellow’s of exceeding honesty/And knows all quantities, with a learnèd spirit,/Of human dealings" (263–265). These two examples remind the audience that although Iago may be able to hide his true nefarious self from the other characters, he is not the "good man" that he appears to be.
To accomplish his purposes, Iago uses verbal irony frequently in act 3, scene 3. One of the first examples of this is when Iago begins to question Othello about Cassio's relationship with Desdemona. He asks if Cassio knew Desdemona while Othello was courting her. When Othello replies affirmatively and asks why Iago would ask, Iago says: "But for a satisfaction of my heart,/No further harm." (100). This displays verbal irony because Iago does have much deeper reasons for asking Othello, and these reasons are his ultimate purpose of causing Othello further harm.
There are several instances of irony in this scene. First of all, there is dramatic irony in Desdemona's remarks to Cassio that she will "do all [her] abilities in [his] behalf," coupled with the fact that when Othello and Iago enter the scene Iago immediately plants the seed in Othello's mind that Cassio is involved with Desdemona ("I like not that").
Later, consider Othello's comments to Iago: "I know thou'rt full of love and honesty." This is very obvious dramatic irony, as the audience is well aware that Iago is not honest and is actively working to deceive Othello. Later, Othello says that Iago's hesitations on the question of Cassio frighten him, "for such things in a false disloyal knave are tricks of custom," but in a "just" man (as he believes Iago to be) they are worrying. The irony here is that Iago is indeed a "false disloyal knave," while Cassio, the man he is attempting to turn Othello against, is completely loyal to his lord.
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