ipl-logo

Literary Devices In Othello Analysis

1153 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literary analyses of Othello

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

Show More
Related
439 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
1359 Words | 6 Pages

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.”

Read More
923 Words | 4 Pages

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!

Read More
759 Words | 4 Pages

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).

Read More
901 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
856 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
868 Words | 4 Pages

At the start of the play, Othello, uses his word to win Desdemona over by the stories that he is telling her father. Othello and Desdemona also define their love

Read More
1474 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
1636 Words | 7 Pages

In Othello, Othello and Desdemona are both characters that are struggling with their identities. In the beginning of the play we find Othello as a respectful man that is successful, but then we get Iago that manipulates him to make him seem as the bad guy. We also find Desdemona that turns against her father and the Elizabethan society to marry Othello, but we also find that she is respectful and obedient to Othello.

Read More
944 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1327 Words | 6 Pages

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

Read More
431 Words | 2 Pages

In the beginning of the play, Othello is a good upstanding man. I know this because the Duke regards to Othello as Valiant (I,iii,56). Then as Iago manipulates him, he starts to become more aggressive and impulsive. For example, in act 3, scene 4, lines 103-114, Othello constantly calls for the handkerchief, until he storms out of the scene enraged. This shows how Othello starts to lose his calm and composure.

Read More
971 Words | 4 Pages

Olson, Rebecca. “ €Too Gentle: Jealousy and Class in Othello.” Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies, vol. 15, no. 1, 2015, pp. 3–25.

Read More
1545 Words | 7 Pages

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).

Read More
982 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Literary Devices In Othello Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document