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  • Essay / Iago's use of language in William Shakespeare's Othello

    "IAGO: Stay away. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned " ?Get the original essay Confine yourself but in a patient list. While you were here, overwhelmed by your grief - a passion which does not become such a man - Cassio came here, I sent him away, and I 'gave a good excuse for your ecstasy, I told him to come back immediately and here tell me, about what he promised. Just make a cave, and notice the notable fugitives, jeers and scorns that dwell. in every region of his face. For I will make him tell the story again, where, how, how many times, how long ago, and when he will have and will have to take care of your wife again. but mark his gesture. Marry, patience, or I will say you are quite spleen, and nothing of a man” (Othello 4.1). .72-87).During the course of Othello, the main character suffers several metaphorical falls. Indeed, it is enough to compare his social status in Act I and in Act V: at the beginning, Othello commands respect for his great military successes; by the end of the play, supernatural jealousy has reduced him to murder, stripped him of his power, and ultimately led him to stab himself. Rather than a precipitous decline, as in Oedipus Rex, however, it seems that Othello falls a little in each scene. The most significant of these declines in honor occurs in Act IV, Scene I (immediately after Othello literally faints, and this is no coincidence), when Iago tricks Othello into believing that he saw “ocular evidence” (3.3.365) of Desdemona’s infidelity. , thus leaving him, once and for all, doomed to a tragic end. The obvious fragility of this evidence must force us to ask two important questions: Why is Othello so willing to trust Iago? And why is he so quick and careless to condemn his wife? For the answers, we need only look to Iago's words to his master, in which he outlines his plan - which we know to be deceptive - to trap Cassio into a confession. Our understanding of Iago's state of mind at this moment depends on our interpretation. of his character as a whole. More specifically, there are two popular ways of thinking about Iago: as a human or as a devil (or even Lucifer incarnate). If we regard him as a devil, and therefore as a totally evil entity, the very term "state of mind" is irrelevant; a character whose being is unwaveringly inclined in a particular direction has no mood swings, but rather, in Iago's case, remains malevolent throughout. This view of Iago, although popular, is too simplistic; In order to do justice to the play, we must view Iago, like any other character, as a human being. According to this interpretation, his state at this point in the play is one of relief and, one might assume, revived optimism for his plan. Cassio's recent entry, had Othello been conscious, would probably have sounded the death knell for the ensign, for the Moor would have had the opportunity to question his lieutenant directly and thus dispel Iago's deception; instead, Cassio's appearance gives Iago the perfect opportunity to cement his master's fury, and thus his downfall. Othello's fainting - caused by Iago's deception - allows this same deception to continue, reaching its climax, leaving the ensign in a state of barely controlled relief and renewed vigor as he utters this brief speech. Iago's language in these lines adheres to his speech patterns throughout the play. The lines closely follow the iambic pentametric form: nine of the fourteen lines (the first and.