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Literary Devices In Othello Analysis

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Moment with Page Number ONE Quotation to Support Moment Literary Device Significance/Connection to Universal Theme (2-3 sentences)
1) Iago refuses to lay the blame on Cassio for the fight between Montano and Cassio. Page 35. “IAGO: Touch me not so near; / I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth / Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio” (Shakespeare 2.3). Dramatic Irony The dramatic irony in what Iago says lies in how he appears versus the reality of his nature. The audience knows the reality of Iago; we know that he hates Cassio; in fact, he is trying to ruin his life. However, to the characters in the play, Iago appears to be a kind and honest man who loves Cassio.
2) Iago explains to Roderigo that he is loyal to Othello …show more content…

Page 82. “OTHELLO: Ah, balmy breath, that dost almost persuade / Justice to break her sword! One more, one more: / Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee, / And love thee after: one more, and this the last: / So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep, / But they are cruel tears: this sorrow’s heavenly; / It strikes where it doth love” (Shakespeare 5.2). Internal Conflict Othello experiences a major internal conflict here, which is sparked by the distinction between Desdemona’s appearance and what Othello accepts as her reality. He wants to kill her based on the evil he sees in her personality, but, at the same time, he is hesitant in doing this as her beauty seems to overpower her …show more content…

Page 91. “OTHELLO: Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, / Nor set down aught in malice: then you must speak / Of one that loved not wisely but too well; / Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought, / Perplex’d in the extreme; of one whose hand, / Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away / Richer than all his tribe” (Shakespeare 5.2). Catharsis Othello goes through a sort of emotional healing as he explains his vices to Lodovico. One fault in particular that he emphasizes is his jealousy which, as he explains, fogged his judgment and led him to kill Desdemona. This relates to the theme of jealousy as it leads to

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Othello had a few friends, but the worst of them was Iago. Iago was an ensign in the army, eventually becoming the lieutenant thru misfortunes, lies. Iago was jealous that Cassio became the lieutenant and not himself. He was angry with Othello because he had heard rumors of him sleeping with Iago’s wife, and also heard rumors of Cassio sleeping with his wife too.

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A Close Reading In Shakespeare's Othello: A Close Reading

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This perhaps lack of confidence, however, does not persist throughout the rest of the soliloquy. Another prominent feature of this passage is that it is utterly inundated with bestial imagery. The first image comes in lines 162 to 165, where Othello states, “If I do prove her haggard, / Though that her jesses were my dear heartstrings, / I’d whistle her off and let her down the wind/ To prey at fortune.”

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The following passage is significant to the play ‘Othello’ in retrospect to the plot progression, as it reiterates themes and introduces important facets to the plot development. Through Iago’s cunning manipulation and Shakespeare’s crafting of language, this passage is constructed as a pivotal point of the play, marking the transition of Othello’s personality and revealing his deepest insecurities that eventually lead to his downfall and tragic ending. Iago wields a lot of power over all the characters throughout the play, but in this passage in particular he is presented at his most powerful. The passage is riddled with subtle suggestions and insinuations by Iago to raise Othello’s suspicions of his wife’s fidelity, opening with the admonition to “beware, my lord, of jealousy!

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Jealousy Quotes In Othello

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In the beginning of the tragedy Othello tells Brabantio to “Keep up your bright swords signior, for the dew will rust them” (1.2.72-73). This statement gives the reader insight to Othello’s level-head and smart decisions, before he allowed jealousy to cloud his vision. Othello becomes convinced that Desdemona has cheated on him with Cassio; therefore, he is angered and beings to seek revenge for a crime that was never committed. Iago tells Othello “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (3.3.187-189).

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Examples Of Manipulation In Othello

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Secondly, Iago manipulates Cassio the most throughout the book. He uses Cassio’s social status and his trust with Othello to ruin his reputation. Iago is jealous of Cassio because he is higher status and has a strong relationship with Othello. For Iago’s plan to work he needs to get closer to Othello, but first he needs to break Othello and Cassio’s trust first. So one night Cassio is supposed to be keeping a party under control Othello tells him “good Michael, look you to the guard tonight.

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Othello believes that once he kills her his love for her will not die but by killing her she will not be able to hurt anyone anymore. This is also Othello justifying his actions as

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Throughout the play, he would often talk about Iago in the same manner as in Act 2, scene 2, “a man he is of honesty and trust”( II,ii. 323-324). Given that Othello trusted who he thought was his best friend, it was easier for Iago to bring Othello down. The root of Iago’s evil intentions is jealousy, which he describes to be like a “green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (III,iii. 196-197). He speaks of it in a way that captures how it affects man because that is what he was going through after Cassio got the lieutenancy.

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Iago also manipulates Othello with jealousy. When Othello is gone at war, Iago tells him that Cassio and Desdemona were getting too close. At first Othello does not believe him, but by Iago saying “nothing,my lord; or if- I know not what” Othello starts to question if it is true (III. III. 39). Iago constantly uses his “innocence” to make Othello jealous and start to assume that it is true. These actions eventually lead to a tragic event.

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Othello’s This rage at Desdemona’s infidelity signals destmetion of his identity as a successful and loving man. It shows that he now completely loses control of himself, he no longer is that gentle man. He has become so poisoned by the manipulation of Iago, he no longer hears out for his “fair

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Throughout the play Othello’s blind trust in Iago led him to a perplexed state in which he was vulnerable to flaws that he did not usually struggle with. In a perplexed state Othello “becomes jealous and eventually a murderer” (Kliger 222). Without Othello’s blind trust in Iago Othello would never have become perplexed and would not have led to flaws that resulted in the murder of Desdemona. Othello recognized his growing problem as he said “There is no more but this: Away at once with love or jealousy” and yet Othello was still unable to shake his jealousy as Iago kept feeding him lies (Shakespeare III.iii.222-223). Othello became so jealous that he began to think he would be “happy if the general camp, pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body, so [he] had nothing known” (Shakespeare III.iii.397-400).

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Act 3, Scene 3 of Shakespeare’s Othello embodies a pivotal point in the play, as it is a transition act that grounds the foundation of Iago’s development as an antagonist and the play’s development as a tragedy. In fact, Othello is written by William Shakespeare in the early 17th century. In Act 3 Scene 3, Iago begins his insinuations of an affair between Cassio and Desdemona, which petition Othello to consider the likelihood of Desdemona’s infidelity and Cassio’s disloyalty. In this particular scene, Shakespeare makes meticulous use of linguistic and dramatic techniques to characterise Iago as an scheming, deceptive and hypocritical antagonist.

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