Iago's Figurative Language In Othello

Othello centers around the two conflicting characters of scheming, deceptive Iago and the honorable, but often times faithless Othello. Despite the fact that these men are completely opposite in character, Iago commands such persuasive powers that he literally starts to affect Othello’s thinking, altering the figures of speech he uses and his perceptions of those close to him. Both Othello and Iago use many of the same literary devices and much of the same language to express not only their opinions of those around them, but also their general conceptions of the workings of the universe.

Othello opens with Iago giving an idea introducing his plan to make Othello lose faith in his wife. These choice of words reveal Iago to have an incredibly materialistic and conceited nature, as he reduces everyone mentioned to an object easily capable of manipulation. Roderigo becomes Iago's purse, Cassio is simply a handsome, nobleman who can be used to make Othello jealous. Even Iago's own wife, Emilia, is referred to as Iago's “office,” an item that he has earned, rather than a woman he has vowed to love. He concludes this speech by saying “Hell and night/ Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light,”

Iago degrades every other character by comparing them to objects that can easily be manipulated, while Othello, when he dehumanizes people, somehow makes them out to be more than human. Likewise, when Iago makes reference to heaven and hell, he always describes how hell comes out on top. Othello, on the other hand, knows that heaven represents all that is good and right on Earth and so eventually throws himself at the mercy of his God, making him the tragic hero of the play. Othello in my perspective had the opportunity to change his fate, by using Iago’s type of language, and use it against him, in a Battle Royal in the