Othello Blog Post #1

Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare

FORESHADOWING: the use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot
APOSTROPHE: directly addressing an imaginary, dead, or absent person, or a place or thing, or a personified idea
DRAMATIC IRONY:takes place when there is a discrepancy between the reader's understanding of a scene and a character's understanding of a scene, usually because the reader has knowledge the character does not.

10. Throughout Act I, there are times when Iago speaks in prose and others she when he speaks in poetry. Any theories as to why he switches back and forth?

The first theory I have on why Iago changes the way in which he speaks is because he is addressing different people or groups of people. I think that when he speaks in prose he is just talking to another character in the play. At the end of Act I, he is having a conversation with Roderigo about going out and making money. He speaks in prose during this section because he is in a normal conversation. After Roderigo leaves, however, Iago switches over to speaking in poetry. He is talking to no one on stage and is more providing information to the audience. In the very end of Act I, Iago is all alone and the audience gets to hear parts of his evil plan. He starts out, "Thus do I ever make my fool my purse," (I.iii.363). This is saying that he's just convinced Roderigo to go make money but it will turn out to benefit Iago more than Roderigo. This adds to the effect of dramatic irony throughout the play. We will all know that Iago is evil, but the characters only know what he tells them and what they actually play through. Also, it gives us an idea of what is going to happen later on in the play through foreshadowing.