language

• Othello’s characteristic idiom is dignified blank verse, with the rhetoric power to seduce and keep Desdemona. When his persona is fracturing, he exclaims “handkerchief” three times, his syntax reflecting his mental state, colouring the words “It is not words shake me thus” with irony. As Iago corrupts him, he begins to use oaths such as “Zounds”, associated with Iago.
• G Wilson Knight: Othello’s speech is “highly coloured… rich in sound and phrase”. It displays a “uniquely soldierly precision” and “serenity of thought”.
• Othello and Desdemona’s speech patterns complement eachother, with “well tuned” (Iago) harmony, yet they begin to misunderstand eachother (”I understand a fury in your words/ but not the words” Desdemona) and Othello murders Desdemona to silence her.
• Iago’s speech is full of colloquialisms, oaths and slips between prose and verse, but he can also make use of loftier speech when parodying Othello. He also uses silence to his advantage, using “stops” to intrigue and infuriate Othello.
• Irony: Iago described as honest, often speaking of love while being a master manipulator. Desdemona killed in the bed she expects to consumate her marriage in, Othello’s military strength reversed in his personal life, virtuous Desdemona described as “the cunning whore of venice”