has nothing to do with us. Sometimes we can figure it out from our knowledge of the immediate context.

Suppose you were to say to your son, "Johnny, you can't go out to the movies with your friends tonight; you have to stay home and take care of your younger brother, because the baby-sitter canceled and your father and I must go to our dinner party." If Johnny looks angry, it is probably with you for interfering with his plans, for thinking your commitments for the evening take precedence over his. Then again, Johnny might be angry with himself for caring that much, for feeling so much disappointment. Not likely, but still possible. We have to avoid Othello's error.4 Recall that in Shakespeare's play, Othello accuses his wife, Desdemona, of loving Cassio. He tells her to confess since he is going to kill her for her treachery. Desdemona asks Othello to call Cassio to testify to her innocence. Othello tells her that he has already had Cassio murdered. Desdemona realizes she will not be able to prove her innocence and that Othello will kill her. Alas, he is betrayed, and I undone! OTHELLO: Out, strumpet! Weep'st thou for him to my face? DESDEMONA: O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not! OTHELLO: Down, strumpet!
DESDEMONA:

Othello's mistake was not a failure to recognize how Desdemona felt; he knew she was anguished and afraid. His error was in believing that emotions have only one source, in interpreting her anguish as due to the news of her supposed lover's death, and her fear as that of an unfaithful wife who has been caught in her betrayal. He kills her without considering that her anguish and fear could have different sources. That they were the reactions of an innocent woman who knew her intensely jealous husband was about to kill her, and that there was no way she could prove her innocence. If we are to avoid Othello's error, we have to resist the temptation of jumping to conclusions, and strive to consider alternative reasons other than the reason we most suspect for why an emotion is shown. Fear has many sources- The fear of the guilty person about being caught looks just like the fear of the innocent person about being