Irony Used In Othello

794 Words4 Pages
The plays of Shakespeare use many different types of literary devices, including imagery, similes, and metaphors but, Irony is arguably the most used. Irony is supportive and valuable to a story because it provides an edge to the readers because they may know certain things that the characters might not. There are three types of irony: situational, verbal, and dramatic. All three are used in Shakespeare’s Othello. Iago is the play’s main antagonist but almost in a way where he could arguably be the main character. Iago plays off as a trustworthy and honest person to the other characters in the play. This is ironic because he manipulates others to work in his favor to try to get revenge against Othello. Othello ends up falling to irony as a result of Iago’s fabrications. Irony is used especially in tragedies, which Othello is. The use of situational irony is prevalent throughout the play with many examples being used between different characters. Situational irony is when what is true is different from what the reader expects to be true. Iago, from the beginning, is jealous of Cassio because Othello promoted Cassio to lieutenant instead of Iago despite…show more content…
In the case of Othello, many things which are said are ironic. Othello calls Iago “honest Iago” and as the readers will find out, Iago is far from honest (Act I Scene III). He is lying, cheating, stealing, and manipulating people to get back at Othello and to try to take Cassio’s position. Irony comes to play when Iago later tells Othello that he loves him. Iago really despises Othello and is never honest with him like Othello thinks him to be. In Act I Scene I, we find that Roderigo is in love with Desdemona but she does not love him back. Roderigo contemplates suicide for this reason but the irony is that Iago asks Roderigo “what say’st thou noble heart” but a noble heart would not commit suicide for this
Open Document