Dramatic Irony in Othello: Unveiling the Depths of Deception and Emotion

Introduction: The Legacy of Shakespeare

Othello Literary Paper William Shakespeare is called one of the greatest writers in the English language by the British Library. So many people recognize him as a revered playwright. He is well-known for comedies, history plays, and tragedies. One of his most acclaimed tragedies includes Othello, a play about a Moor, the eponymous character, who is married to a young, breathtakingly gorgeous Venetian woman from a wealthy family named Desdemona.

Dramatic Irony in Othello: Role of Soliloquies

Throughout the play, Shakespeare uses copious literary devices, such as monologues and soliloquies, which are noteworthy because they are known to be commonly used by him.

Monologues are long speeches by a single character to another person or other people in the scene. Soliloquies are also long speeches by one character, but the difference is that they are performed by the speaker talking to herself or himself. Shakespeare uses monologues and soliloquies in Othello for dramatic effect. Foremost, dramatic effect acts to seize the attention of the audience, and soliloquies are used by Shakespeare in Othello to do just this, as they create dramatic irony. For example, at the very end of Act II, Scene I, after Roderigo leaves Iago, he begins a soliloquy that exposes his true thoughts and intentions to the audience. To sum it up, he declares how he does not like Othello because he thinks his wife cheated on him with Othello and that he now loves Desdemona, partly out of lust and partly out of revenge. He explains his plan that he is going to get his revenge by making Othello tremendously jealous of Michael Cassio, all while making Othello praise him for what he thinks is his honest and kind friendship.

This soliloquy thereby creates dramatic irony as it allows the audience to know that Iago is deceitful and dishonest towards Othello, which is information that all of the characters, besides Roderigo, do not know. This serves to generate suspense, creating expectation and surprise within the audience, which Shakespeare may have used to get them on the edge of their seats. This dramatic irony also connects the readers to the characters of the play because it may cause the audience to feel emotions that they would otherwise not feel if they did not know this information. Using the same example, Iago's words, in the soliloquy, of "The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not…" and "...And nothing can or shall content my soul / Till I am evened with him, wife for wife..." may cause the readers to feel anger towards Iago and sadness towards Othello when Othello is admiring Iago for being honest and having his best interests at heart in later scenes. This appeal to emotions by Shakespeare through the use of soliloquies creates a dramatic effect, as it is used to make the audience connect deeper with the characters and consequently maintain their attention throughout the whole play.

Monologues: Another Tool for Dramatic Irony

Likewise, in soliloquies, Shakespeare also uses monologues to create dramatic irony in order to build dramatic effect in Othello. Although soliloquies may be used to create dramatic irony more often than monologues because soliloquies occur when a character is alone, which logically allows them to express their true, inner thoughts more freely than if they were with another person or other people, like in monologues, monologues are still used by Shakespeare to create dramatic irony. For instance, in Act 1, Scene I, Iago speaks to Roderigo about how "We cannot all be masters, nor all masters / Cannot be truly followed…" This statement is reflective of this entire monologue because it is the profession of Iago of how he is going to bring Othello down, only caring about his own selfish interests. His statement, "...not I for love and duty…" shows Iago's heartlessness to the audience, creating dramatic irony as this is not revealed to any of the other characters besides Roderigo. However, even Roderigo is not aware of the great extent of Iago's apathy because he is deceived by Iago later in the play, too, due to him believing they were friends.

This statement also acts as foreshadowing because it foreshadows Iago's future heartless betrayal of Roderigo. Shakespeare's word choice of "I," "me," "my," and "myself" is used seventeen times, collectively, throughout the monologue, in order to express Iago's selfishness. This selfishness may appeal to the audience's emotions by making them dislike Iago, as selfishness typically has a negative connotation associated with it, establishing Iago as the villain, creating dramatic effect by possibly attracting the audience to keep watching the play due to them hoping for his defeat. Moreover, Shakespeare additionally uses monologues in Othello to appeal to the audience's emotions to produce dramatic effect. One example is Othello's monologue in Act V, Scene ii. To abridge, Othello essentially is expressing his regret, yet also his obligation to kill Desdemona and why he must do it right before he is about to kill her. Othello cries out, "Put out the light, and then put out the light." Shakespeare's word choice of "light" allows him to make a play on words as Othello is metaphorically comparing Desdemona to the candle beside her.

In this sentence, he is saying that he must extinguish the light of the candle and subsequently extinguish Desdemona's "light," which symbolizes her beating heart. This statement is also used to create atmosphere, as it establishes the setting of Desdemona's bed, with a candle next to it. Afterward, Othello goes on to say that if he puts out the light of the candle, he can rekindle it. However, if he puts out her "light," he does know "where that Promethean heat / That can thy light relume…" is and if it exists. Here, Shakespeare alludes to Prometheus, the Titan who gave stolen fire from heaven to man. This is typical of Shakespeare's writing, as he commonly alludes to Greek mythology in his works because it was a topic his audience generally was familiar with. He could thereby connect the audience to the play more personally by referencing something recognizable to them. After making these comparisons, Othello kisses Desdemona, which adds to the intensity of the scene and the development of the symmetrical structure of the occurrence of tragic events.

The kiss also shows the development of the character of Othello because it displays how much love he used to place in Desdemona, compared to him currently about to end her life with his bare hands. Othello states, "...and I will kill thee, / And love thee after…" Shakespeare's word choice of "love" appeals to the audience's emotions of sympathy for Othello, who felt he had been betrayed by someone he loves. Othello continues, "...I must weep, But they are cruel tears. This sorrow's heavenly…" Shakespeare's word choice of "weep," "tears," and "sorrow" appeals to the audience's emotions of sadness because they serve to make the audience feel the despair and woe Othello feels in this moment. These appeals of emotion in this monologue are used by Shakespeare to personally relate the audience with Othello, enticing them to continue their attention to the play.

Conclusion: The Timeless Appeal of Othello

In Othello, Shakespeare uses monologues and soliloquies for dramatic effect. Both monologues and soliloquies are used to create dramatic irony and appeal to emotion. Dramatic irony allows the audience to know something that the characters do not know. This creates suspense, which grabs their attention, adding to the dramatic effect. Furthermore, dramatic irony allows the audience to connect more deeply and personally with the characters, which causes their attention to be retained. Similarly, appeals to emotion also allow this. To some, William Shakespeare's soliloquies and monologues go hand-in-hand, which is why the effects of their use in Othello are so important. Their use to create dramatic effect is what caused Shakespeare's audiences to pay attention to the play, so much so that people are still watching it to this day, over 400 years later than its initial debut. 

Works Cited

1. “William Shakespeare.” The British Library, The British Library, 13 Jan. 2016, www.bl.uk/people/william-shakespeare.
2. Shakespeare, William. Othello. Signet Classics, 1963.

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