The Power of Words

Historically, the villains in Shakespeare’s plays, Othello in particular, derive much of their power from their ability to persuade other characters within the play to do anything within the villain’s will using speech as their main tool for exploitation. Shakespeare was an expert on using language to his advantage in his plays and quite deeply grasped the power of words. In Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago’s manipulative use of speech is an influential force that drives the play forward and leaves him no exception to the villain armed with a scheming tongue. But this powerful use of speech is not merely limited to literature; there are plenty of villains that endure in life and current times of real society. Perhaps one of the most recognized names of all of the villains is Adolf Hitler. Hitler was an Austrian born, German politician who went on to become the leader of the Nazi Socialist German Workers Party. He is most commonly noted for the rise of fascism that spread throughout Europe, World War II, and the Holocaust. But how could a man who is so cruel rally troupes peaking at around ten percent of Germany’s population to help him carry out his morbid conduct of genocide? Because of his prevailing and commanding use of speech and knew exactly how to say unerringly what the people wanted to hear. Over two-thousand years ago the Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, argued that there were three fundamental ways to persuade an audience that one is correct: these three devices are called ethos, logos, and pathos; the combination of these three entities is entitled “rhetoric.” Although Aristotle created them as three intrinsic proofs, they work together to attack the person being persuaded from all angles; theoretically, when combined...

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Works Cited

"Adolf Hitler Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

Burton, Gideon O. "Persuasive Appeals." Brigham Young University. Web. 05 Nov. 2011. .

Hitler, Adolf. "Hitler's Speech to the Reichstag, Berlin." Humanitas International - Press Freedom - Media Censorship - Freedom of Expression - Free Press - Individual Liberty - Human Rights - Humanitarian Action. Humanitas International. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

Shakespeare, William, G. Blakemore Evans, and J. J. M. Tobin. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Print.