Rhetorical Devices

 

Irony 

Shakespeare uses the literary device of dramatic irony in Othello. Dramatic irony occurs when there is a discrepancy between what a character believes and what the reader/viewer knows to be true. For example, the audience knows that Iago is a traitor and misleads Othello regarding Desdemona's fidelity. The audience reads/watches in horror as Othello trusts Iago's information and murders his wife. The result is one of the most heartwrenching scenes ever written, since we witness "the fall of a proud, dignified man," and "the murder of a graceful, loving woman" because of Iago's treachery.

Paradox

Statement whose two parts seem contradictory yet make sense with more thought.

"I am not what I am" .- Iago (1.1.71)

Metaphor

A type of figurative language in which a statement is made that says that one thing is something else but, literally, it is not. In connecting one object, event, or place, to another, a metaphor can uncover new and intriguing qualities of the original thing that we may not normally notice or even consider important.

"Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners".- Iago (1.3.362)