Iago's mastery of rhetoric: So they can more fully appreciate Iago's rhetorical skill, students should be introduced to (or reminded about) rhetoric and rhetorical devices before jumping immediately into the play.Folger Shakespeare Library digital text for Othello.The diverse set of activities below include short group performances, writing exercises, and the guided use of online dictionaries and concordances to study Shakespeare's language. In this lesson, students explore the basis of Iago's persuasive power by analyzing his astonishing command of rhetoric and figurative language. Iago's convincing rhetoric clearly reveals what a powerful-and dangerous-tool language can be, especially when used by the eloquent, but unscrupulous, individual. Indeed, Iago is so good at lying that he is able to convince even himself that he has the soundest of reasons to destroy Othello, Desdemona, and Cassio. In his soliloquies and dialogues he reveals himself to the audience to be a master of connotative and metaphoric language, inflammatory imagery, emotional appeals, well-placed silences, dubious hesitations, leading questions, meaningful repetition, and sly hints. A puppeteer of the psyche, Iago pulls the strings of those who should know better with a battery of verbal weapons. Much of the answer must lie in Iago's skillful manipulation of rhetorical skills. How? How is Iago able to convince one and all that he is, as he is constantly called, "honest Iago"? Despite Iago's confession to Rodrigo, he continues to trust this two-faced "confidante" who swears "by Janus," and who sows doubt, destruction and despair in the paths of all he encounters.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |