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Literary analysis of William Shakespeare
Literary criticism of William Shakespeare's work
Shakespeare analysis and criticism
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Appearance versus Reality in Othello and Twelfth Night
Shakespeare cleverly uses the art of disguise, in both his tragedies and his comedies, in order to employ a literary device known as dramatic irony, where the audience members are aware of something (in this case the true identity of characters) that characters in the play are not. This, of course, creates tension in a play and excites the audience; actions take place on the stage, of which the audience knows the import, but characters on the stage do not. It also creates a setting for a great deal of irony where characters make comments that take on a double meaning.
Two examples of characters who utilize such disguise are Iago, from Othello, and Viola, from Twelfth Night. The purposes for which Iago chooses to disguise his motives are to gain an office which he feels he deserves and to get revenge on Othello for allegedly committing adultery with his wife.
Most of the irony in Othello stems not from what Iago says, but rather from what the other characters say about him, such as the references to him as "honest Iago," "the bold Iago," and "a very valiant fellow." Iago's disguise makes the audience fearful for the other characters, and causes them to pity those who suffer...
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... self-serving officer are both lessons in trust. In Twelfth Night, Olivia's readiness to fall in love with appearances is a lesson about love. Sometimes it seems disguise tells more than candor.
Works Cited and Consulted:
Jorgensen, Paul A. Appearance versus Reality in Shakespeare. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
He questions Othello and makes him think the worst between Cassio and Desdemona, and then his use of words adds color and a picture, so it has to be right. Last, his sarcasm creates the assurances Othello needed to be duped. To start, Iago uses rhetorical questions to cause Othello to question Desdemona’s love for him. When Othello finishes with “.Than answer my wrath!” Iago comes back with “Isn’t this my lord.”
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Price, T. D., & Feinman, G. (2013). Images of the Past. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespear. Othello. Dir. Grenblatt, Cohen, Howard, and Eisaman Maus. (second ed.) New York. 2008.
In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago is the antagonist and villain who causes all the trouble and disorder. Othello is the protagonist, and is the main person Iago’s destruction and revenge is aimed towards. Othello is naïve and gives everybody his trust even though he may not know them or they haven’t earned his trust yet. He often refers to Iago has “Honest” Iago, which is a direct showing of irony because Iago is not honest at all (Shakespeare, I, iii. 289). Iago is so angry that Othello didn’t give him the promotion that was given to Cassio that he plans to seek revenge against Othello. He seeks his revenge against Othello by manipulating and lying to all of the people around him including his closest friend Roderigo, Cassio, Othello’s wife Desdemona and even his own wife Emilia. In the end, Iago’s lies and manipulation led to the deaths of Roderigo, Emilia, Othello and Desdemona. This isn’t the first time many of these individual characteristics have shown up in one of Shakespeare’s plays.
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William Shakespeare’s antagonist, Iago, is a dynamic character whose villainous mastermind that strikes from the sidelines. Iago is the type of person who does not like to get his hands dirty, and would prefer to manipulate others in to doing his bidding. Iago is quite possibly one of the best examples of mischief in the literature. He is merely as manipulative, if not more as other "bad guys”. He uses not only lies but kind of twists the truth to get the results he wants in every situation. Benjamin Beier says “Iago also brings the interesting feature of truth into it all. From the very start of Othello, Iago is in the middle of his scheme to destroy Othello.” He leads everyone on using his likeable persona to fool everyone such as his wife Emilia, Cassio, and especially Othello to his advantage. It is true that his goal is to essentially affect Othello negatively but he does so in such a way where he is totally manipulating the situation without directly involving himself. He speaks with the rascal, Rodrigo and from the very first moment Iago states to not really being what he seems.
Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare. Edited Stephen Greenblatt et al. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans: 5: 9-10; “United Church”). Characters like Sydney Carton are people that will give up their own life. Such is the case when Sydney Carton promises Lucie Manette to give his own life for her. He pretends to be Charles Darnay, and he perishes when he gets executed by the guillotine. By sacrificing himself, Sydney allows Charles and Lucie the opportunity of escaping the terror during the French Revolution. The story in which these events take place is called A Tale of Two Cities, written by Charles Dickens. The central idea of A Tale Of Two Cities is that sacrifice is exemplified by the heroic power that the character demonstrates by surrendering his or her own life or a possession, that of which results from the struggles he or she faces. Furthermore, sacrifice is also exemplified by Charles Darnay, Dr. Manette, and Sydney Carton.
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...disguise to add comic effect by encouraging humour of an audience via the ‘theories of laughter’. Comic effect is accurately demonstrated by Shakespeare’s incorporation of confusion, disorder and farce. However, it can be concluded that Shakespeare’s use of mistaken identity and disguise was for the purpose of more than just for comic effect, but to highlight the audience more serious topics and challenge social norms and values of the period. Ironically, it can be inferred that Shakespeare has masked his underlying purpose of mistaken identity and disguise with comedy.