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Similes In Othello

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The speaker’s use of similes and extended metaphors in “Doubt” reveals her tortuous tone as she introspectively values security over potential fulfillment. By employing the use of a simile to describe her lover as “luminous,” the speaker says, “It’s like looking at a light gleaming through clear glass” (Colonna). Highlighting his incandescence, the alliteration of “luminous,” “looking,” and “light” evoke a sense of transparency and vivacity when contrasted to her later extended metaphor where she claims, “I am a shadow.” Using contrasting visual imagery of light and dark, the speaker reveals not only are her thoughts conflicting, but she also views love as impossible because her lover, is “light” and the speaker is a “shadow,” …show more content…

While Othello ultimately kills his wife over his fears of not being enough for his wife, one cannot deny that both Othello and the speaker of “Doubt” let their fears rule their lives. In Othello, the towns people, even his wife’s father, are constantly telling him that he is not good enough for his wife, Desdemona. Ultimately, Othello lets Iago manipulate him into killing the love of his life because he cannot keep his fears in check. Similarly, the speaker of “Doubt” lets her worry eat away at her until she convinces herself that, “If to love him was bold of me, to fall silent may be wise—he might just disdain my frail overreaching words” (Colonna). Not even taking a chance on love, she is brave enough to admit that she “fears failure,” but cannot even tell a soul of her love for the fear the he might “disdain my frail overreaching words,” as if to love is to cross a boundary that no one should ever cross. It is her overwhelmingly negative diction that is her downfall, un like Othello. She cannot even conquer her fears enough to see that she deserves a chance at happiness, valuing a miserable, but secure life over happiness almost as if she contents herself with a life as a “shadow,” lacking depth and a sense of identity. Foreshadowing the misery that comes with letting fear rule, both the speaker of “Doubt” and Othello set themselves up for a life of misery by choosing fear over trust that their lover will love them enough in

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