Theme Of Dramatic Irony In Othello

William Shakespeare is one of literatures greatest writers who is best known for his sonnets and plays. One of his most famous plays is Othello. Like most of Shakespeare’s plays, Othello is a tragedy. Othello is the main character of the play who falls in love with Desdemona. Their lives seem to be moving along in happiness, but the infamous Iago has an evil plan in store for them. Iago’s plan is to fool Othello into thinking that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio. All of the characters in the play are oblivious to Iago’s treacherous plan except for the audience. This creates dramatic irony, in which the audience knows something that the characters do not. Dramatic irony is used to increase the suspense in a story and leave the audience …show more content…
A “trifle” is defined as “A matter of little value or importance; ‘a thing of no moment’ (Johnson); a trivial, paltry, or insignificant affair” (OED). Shakespeare uses “trifle” in Iago’s dialogue to show that the handkerchief is really nothing more than just an object. It is a weightless, insignificant item that he is going to use to ruin Othello’s life. This creates dramatic irony among the audience because it forces the audience to see how feeble the handkerchief is. It is silly that an inanimate object has the ability to ruin a person’s life. However, Othello does not realize that the handkerchief is just an object. He sees it as a valuable token of his love and lets it lead to his demise. This adds to the dramatic irony because the audience is left helpless in their yearning to tell Othello that he should not hold such faith in the handkerchief. The word “poison” is also used in Iago’s dialogue. “Poison” puts forth the intensity of Iago’s words because Iago himself is poison. He is the poison that Othello cannot see nor taste and he is the poison that will guide Othello to a tragic death. He is someone that Othello trusts, but the audience knows that Iago is anything but trustworthy. Othello’s trust is misguided because of Iago’s tone. Iago’s tone is sincere and honest to the characters, but his tone toward the audience is ruthless, evil, and full of destructive intent. The only thing …show more content…
Dramatic irony allows the audience to feel empathy towards the wronged characters. The audience holds such a bond with the characters because throughout the entire play, the audience wants to inform the characters of Iago’s plan. The audience wants to save Othello from himself. They want to keep Othello from trusting Iago. They want to back up Desdemona when she pleas her innocence. In the end, when both Othello and Desdemona die, the audience holds sorrow for the fallen characters. They wish that they could have done something sooner to stop Iago. It is Iago’s evil plan for the handkerchief that fuels the dramatic irony of the play. The way Iago explains his plan for the handkerchief most effectively and most eloquently demonstrates how the handkerchief works to intensify the dramatic irony that occurs throughout the