othello 1

• Intro

  'Othello' is one of Shakespeare's most moving tragedies, warning the audience of how easily jealousy and doubt can consume someone, furthermore, the catastrophic consequences this can have. The play depicts the undoing of the great moor of Venice, Othello, who was steered into an envious mania against his wife and second in command by his jealous ancient, Iago, whom he had overlooked for a promotion. In act 3, Scene 3 of the play, Shakespeare aptly utilises a multitude of dramatic and literary techniques to showcase Iago's deception of those around him, particularly dramatic irony, imagery, language, as well as Othello's hamartia and revealing soliloquy. This scene is the turning point of Othello's character as Iago isolates, and turns him against his loving wife, whom he soon believes to be unfaithful due to Iago's cultivation of the seed of doubt he had previously planted into the moors mind.
• Dramatic irony

  Dramatic irony is skillfully used in the key scene to display how easily trusting Othello is and how that will ultimately aid his downfall as Iago plays him with ease. Hesitating purposefully to induce paranoia, he asked questions, and voiced uncertainties as to the nature of Cassio and Desdemona's relationship, thereby causing Othello to grow suspicious. "These stops of thine fright me the more", its clear Iago's actions unnerve the great moor who at this point in the play wholeheartedly believes that Iago is "Full of love and honesty", therefore wholly trusting him and quickly believing his suggestions of Desdemona's infidelity. This shows how oblivious he is to Iago's deception, putting all his faith in him, even though we as an audience are aware that Iago has been plotting Othello's downfall since the beginning of the play and is in fact everything but honest as he orchestrates those around him, namely Othello, to turn on others.
• Hamartia


  The noble moor's hamartia is deftly brought to light throughout the scene by Iago's sly manipulation, as he effortlessly drives Othello into spiteful jealousy. He initially evokes suspicion in the moor by bringing up Cassio's involvement in his and his wife's relationship, then upon being questioned on his curiosity deliberately echos Othello instead of answering his inquiries. "Is he not honest?" "Honest my lord?", followed by "What dost thou think?" "Think my lord?", this evasiveness leads Othello to believe that Iago is hiding something from him about his second in command. Later Othello gets told, "O beware my lord of jealousy; It is the green eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." Iago's warning is in-genuine, 'Beware' at first seems like he is showing concern but upon closer inspection we see its actually reverse psychology, as if Othello is instead meant to 'be aware' of the emotion, leading him to overthink. The bard goes on to cleverly personify envy as a 'green eyed monster', the word choice of 'green' suggesting both illness and nature, thus implying that the feeling itself is something natural, yet also like a disease with 'monster' further developing this idea that jealousy will have power over and ravage its victims. This warning can also be taken as dramatic irony, since as much as Iago tells Othello not to be consumed by jealousy, the audience sees through this facade, realising that for his plan to work, Othello spiralling is exactly what he needs.
• Soliloquy

  Shakespeare then eloquently exposes Othello's internal struggle through his pained soliloquy in the midst of the scene. The moor's character begins to change as he turns on his wife and his self-doubt begins to swallow him, showing the effect that society and Iago's treatment has had on him. "This fellows of exceeding honesty... look where she comes", Othello has begun believing himself to be inadequate a husband just because of his race, 'haply for I am black', thus also thinking this is the reason for Desdemona's infidelity. He curses out marriage for making him so infatuated with someone whose desires cannot be controlled, and his doubts pour out. 'And have not those soft parts of conversation that the chamberers have', Shakespeare very skilfully used this soliloquy to show the culmination of the moor's insecurity, 'soft parts of conversation' reveals his feelings of deficiency due to thinking he is not as well-spoken as the 'chamberers' of Venetian society. The bard subtly emphasises Othello's feelings from the first act "Rude am I in my speech", where already the moor had felt he didn't fit in with the other men in Venice. As envy sets in, Othello starts to fall apart.
• Language


  Illustrative language is cleverly employed by Shakespeare to present to the audience Othello's degeneration, as the way he expresses himself shifts from being quite sophisticated, to violent animalistic descriptions, mirroring Iago's way of speech, showing his influence on the moor. Thanks to Iago's devious tactics of reverse psychology and manipulation, by the end of the scene the moor is convinced of Desdemona's unfaithfulness and curses her out. "Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her!", 'Damn' connotes almost hell like condemnation and punishment, moreover Othello repeats this, emphasising his frustration and his want for retribution against his wife. This malice is further confirmed through him calling Desdemona a 'Lewd minx', where 'lewd' suggests obscenity and lustful behaviour whilst 'minx' implies a cunning and flirtatious lady. through this language Othello brands his wife as promiscuous and the audience can see how jealousy has thwarted his view of his Desdemona. This starkly contrasts his perception of his wife earlier in the scene, when upon seeing her, he states,"If she be false, o then heaven mocks itself. I'll not believe't", at this point Othello still cannot fathom Desdemona being unfaithful even to the point of saying heaven itself is a mockery if she is disloyal. From his language alone the audience can tell how drastically the moors opinion on his wife has negatively shifted.
• Conclusion


  By the end of the third scene of act 3 Othello's tragic undoing is certain, as he unknowingly falls victim to Iago's malicious and deceptive ways. This essay, through a thorough and perceptive analysis of Shakespeare's nuanced use of literary devices, has exposed the depth of Iago's duplicity, moreover how it unravelled and ruined the once grand moor of Venice. Unsurprisingly, as one of Shakespeare's most accomplished works, Othello has withstood over the centuries thanks to its understanding of humanities proclivity to jealousy, and the detrimental impact of it unto us. Upon reflection the tragic demise of Othello cautions the audience not to allow for envy and resentment to consume them, but rather to remain composed and rational.