Why is epithet used in the play Othello?

In Othello epithets are used to address characters and to tell that person what the speaker thinks of them as much as their status.

How are epithets used in Othello?

Iago refers to Othello with damning epithets to suggest the Moor as a lust driven animal that is violating the innocent Desdemona. For instance, he calls Othello, "an old black ram" who is "tupping" Brabantio's "white ewe"(Act I, Scene I: 90-91). He is referring to the fact that Othello is a Moor, or dark skinned man.

What is the purpose of soliloquies in Othello?

The protagonist of the play, the tragic Othello, uses soliloquies to show his emotions about what he is told by deceitful Iago regarding his wife's unfaithfulness. Othello's soliloquies tend to be emotionally driven and as the play progresses they tend to be become more infected as he descends into rage and jealousy.

What literary device is used in Othello?

Shakespeare uses in Othello are allusion, symbolism, dramatic irony, and metaphor. These literary devices help the author to emphasize the central conflicts of the story. Moreover, they depict the themes of jealousy, compromised morality, and appearance vs.

What language techniques does Shakespeare use in Othello?

The main literary devices Shakespeare uses to enhance the play are allusion, simile, symbolism, and foreshadowing.

How to play Othello

What metaphor does Othello use for killing Desdemona?

Throughout his soliloquy in act 5 scene 2, Othello uses metaphors to contemplate killing his wife or letting her live. When Othello discusses killing Desdemona he compares her to a plucked rose when he said ” When I have plucked thy rose, I cannot give it vital growth again, It must needs wither (5.2. 13-15).

Why does Othello say goats and monkeys?

“Goats and Monkeys!”: Iago's Insidious Animal Language in Shakespeare's Othello. Language is paramount in Othello; it is both the weapon and palliative of choice. Thus it is interesting to note the manner in which Iago, master manipulator of words, controls not only the action of the play, but its language as well.

Why does Iago use animal imagery?

Iago is the first to use animal imagery in Othello. He uses it in a way to be crude and derogatory. This is when Iago refers to seeing Desdemona and Cassio sleeping together, but by using animal imagery, he words it in a way that seems bestial.

What is the best known soliloquy in Othello?

'It Is The Cause' Soliloquy Translation

I can't utter its name before the chaste heavens, but that's the reason. And yet I won't shed her blood or leave any mark on that whiter skin of hers than snow, and as smooth as alabaster used for sculpture. But she must die or she'll betray other men.

What does Othello's soliloquy reveal about his character?

Often he shrouds characters in 'tragedy' in such a way that we see they are anything but tragic. The overall effect of Othello's soliloquy is to show the extent to which he has deluded himself - and allowed himself to be deluded by Iago. We, the audience, know full well that Desdemona is innocent.

What is dramatic irony in Othello?

Dramatic Irony in Othello

Dramatic irony is when the audience knows more about what is happening in the story than the characters. A main example of dramatic irony from Othello is the plot to destroy Othello's life. The only character who knows about this is Iago.

How are epithets used for characterization?

Epithets make a text more meaningful. They allow writers to describe characters and settings with more vivid, figurative language and can help paint a better picture for readers using just a few words. Epithets make sentences stronger and more vibrant, especially in poetry.

What are examples of epithets?

A girl's name is Marilynn, but her parents call her Lynn. Her sister calls her Mary. And her friends call her Merry-go-round when she's being silly. Lynn, Mary, and Merry-go-round are all epithets, or special nicknames that replace the name of a person and often describe them in some way.

Why is Othello black?

Othello himself would have been played by an actor who had darkened his skin with soot or coal, a common technique used to indicate a character's Moorish or Turkish roots. But audiences would also have understood that Othello's dark skin was emblematic of his dark or evil nature.

What does a goat represent in Shakespeare?

ii. 175-76); Iago's innuendo that the allegedly adulterous lovers are “as prime as goats” (Othello III. iii. 403); and Lear's denunciation of seemingly virtuous women who in reality are given to “luxury”—“The fitchew nor the soiled horse goes to't/ With a more riotous appetite” (Lear IV.

Were they as prime as goats as hot as monkeys meaning?

"Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride, as fools as gross as ignorance made drunk" - Creates images of an animalistic, sexual hunger between Desdemona and Cassio.

What is the meaning of the phrase goats and monkeys?

“Goats and Monkeys” by Derek Walcott from “The Castaway and other Poems (1965)”, is a dark poem that justifies a black man in a world where everyone looks down on him. This poem portrays many notions of racism, sex, savagery and jealousy.

What is Othello's tragic flaw?

Some say that Othello's tragic flaw was jealousy which flared at suspicion and rushed into action unchecked by calm common sense. A more modern interpretation would say that Othello's tragic flaw was that he had internalized, that is taken into himself, the prejudices of those who surrounded him.

What does the handkerchief represent to Othello?

The handkerchief initially is a gift given to Desdemona by Othello as a love token. It is subsequently symbolically transformed into Desdemona's bedsheets, which she uses to reveal her true innocence and fidelity to Othello; and finally, Desdemona requests that the bedsheets be used to cover her as a death shroud.

How old is Iago in Othello?

Iago, the great deceiver of Othello, is 28 according to Shakespeare – but actors have a habit of tweaking the lines ...

Why might Othello kiss Desdemona before murdering her?

As he is dying, he says that he kissed Desdemona before he killed her. This suggests that perhaps his love for her flickered briefly within his dark soul before he murdered her.

What are some symbols in Othello?

Symbols are central to understanding Othello as a play and identifying Shakespeare's social and political commentary. The significance of red is love, red strawberries like red hearts on the love token handkerchief, and like the red stains from Othello and Desdemona's first night of love on the marriage sheets.

Why does Desdemona say that Othello is not the one who murdered her?

Before she dies, Desdemona tells Emilia that she has killed herself. Why do you think she does not say that it was Othello who killed her? A5. Bravely, because Othello might easily kill her at this point and because her own life may be at risk, Emilia defies Othello.