Dramatic Irony In Shakespeare's Othello

Shakespeare is well known for his clever employment of literary devices, such as dramatic irony, to heighten audience involvement. This use is especially prominent in Shakespeare’s well-known tragedy Othello. Iago, often referred to as “honest Iago,” hardly lives up to his trustworthy reputation. Out of jealousy and spite, Iago hatches a scheme in order to reap revenge on those he feels have wronged him. This prominent use of dramatic irony creates a unique, especially one-sided, relationship between Iago and the viewers. Shakespeare engages his audience by establishing them as Iago’s sole confidants and powerless bystanders to his ill will.
Due to Iago’s paranoia and sociopathy he never fully confides in other characters. Though he informs
According to Oxford Dictionary, a confidant is “a person with whom one shares a secret or private matter, trusting them not to repeat it to others” (Oxford Dictionary). Iago’s soliloquies, in Act I Scene III and Act II Scene III, develop the confiding nature of Iago’s relationship with the audience. In Act I Scene III Iago discusses one facet of his motivation to carry out his ill will. Iago states “For that I do suspect that the lusty Moor/ Hath leapt into my seat” and “I’ll have our Michael Cassio on the hip, / Abuse him to the Moor in the rank garb, / (For I fear Cassio with my nightcap too),” (Shakespeare, 292-293 and 302-304, 44). Though Iago never informs any other character of his motivation, in the previous quotation he reveals the driving force behind his actions to the audience. Iago’s suspicion of his wife’s infidelity played a role in his decision to plot against the participants in this alleged affair. Because Iago never expressed the intent to share this particular motive with other characters, Iago is confiding in the audience, knowing full well that they do not possess the ability to intervene in the story or tell other characters. Later, in Act IV Scene I, Iago gloats to the audience regarding the success of his plan. He states, “My medicine works! The credulous fools are caught, / And many chaste dames even thus, / All guiltless,
After serving as confidants, as Iago initially describes his plot, the audience’s role shifts as they become bystanders, as Iago actually carries out his plot. Due to the viewer’s predicate knowledge of Iago’s scheme, when he does carry out the plan the audience cannot help but get emotionally involved. This involvement and the sense of accompanying helplessness, because of the viewer’s inability to intervene, cause the audience to squirm. This nervous and powerless energy exuding from the audience would surely fuel Iago’s twisted, sadistic nature. Thus as the role of the audience shifts from confidants to powerless bystanders, Shakespeare elicits audience involvement in the storyline and the