Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Othello-- 3 Techniques

One technique that Shakespeare uses a lot in Othello is foreshadowing. He is constantly dropping little hints that big events will happen in the future. I think he does this to add suspense and to keep us thinking about possibilities from the plot. There is also false foreshadowing sometimes, which is also kind of fun in text because it leads us in the wrong direction and suddenly pulls us into a creative twist. 

Another technique that Shakespeare includes in Othello is the style of his dialogue structure. He often gives one character a big long monologue with another character giving little snippets of input. I think Shakespeare uses these because he doesn't have a narrator to tell the audience what is happening, so he uses the characters as a way of describing what is going on in the play, since we don't have as many backup visuals as a movie or a narrator, like in a novel. 

A third technique that Shakespeare often uses in Othello is symbolism. Shakespeare uses the handkerchief as a symbol of jealousy and control. It shows up quite frequently and it becomes a very strong image that is woven throughout many of the characters of the play. For example, Iago is able to use it to convince Othello that Desdemona is cheating, Bianca is able to use it to accuse Cassio of cheating, and Othello uses it to accuse Desdemona of cheating. It gives us a sense that one object can be very powerful and jealousy is something that spreads like wildfire and can affect quite a large group of people.

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