9.1.3
Form & Language
Form
Form
Shakespeare wrote the play in both verse and prose, and employed other literary techniques such as metrical irregularities, incomplete and shared lines, enjambment, caesuras and stress reversals.
Verse and prose
Verse and prose
- The play is written in both verse and prose.
- Verse is language that is rhythmically organised according to particular patterns of metre and the arrangement of lines.
- Prose is language that is not constructed according to any measurable pattern and is not set out in lines, but can still have a rhythm.
Iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter
- In the plays of Shakespeare’s time, verse was the conventional medium of all literature, including drama, and his plays all consist largely of blank (unrhymed) verse usually written in iambic pentameter (10 syllable lines).
- The iambic pentameter is used because is seems to imitate most naturally the rhythm of spoken English.
Verse
Verse
- Verse tends to be given to noble and royal characters, expressing romantic or elevated feelings, and at certain heightened moments, they use rhyming couplets.
- These are also used at the ends of scenes to give them an air of finality—often sinister—or for spells, songs or some other special form of discourse.
Prose
Prose
- Prose was generally reserved for characters of lower social status, for comic or domestic scenes, or to indicate secrecy or conspiracy (Iago and drunken Cassio communicate in prose, and Iago and Roderigo when plotting in Act 2, Scene 1).
Irregularities
Irregularities
- The monotony of several hours of blank verse is avoided by metrical irregularities, incomplete and shared lines, enjambment, caesuras and stress reversals.
- These all obscure the normal verse rhythm and give variety, so that the audience is usually not conscious of the play’s dialogue being mainly in verse.
Fluency
Fluency
- Characters who suddenly become less fluent, articulate or capable of speaking in a smooth rhythm are often undergoing emotional disturbance or rapid thinking.
- This is particularly noticeable in Othello’s speech in Acts 3 and 4.
Language
Language
Many different words and phrases are repeated throughout the play and paradoxes dominate the construction of language as well.
Duplicity
Duplicity
- In a play dealing with duplicity, seeming and opposites, one would expect the language of Othello to contain elements of doubleness.
- The word ‘double’ is itself used several times e.g. ‘double-damned’ (4.2.37).
Othello and Iago
Othello and Iago
- Othello is sometimes called ‘the General’ and sometimes called ‘the Moor’, which draws attention to contrasting aspects of his character and the contradictory attitudes of others towards him.
- As well as two Othellos, there are two Iagos, the ‘honest’ Iago and the behind-the-scenes dishonest one.
Paradoxes
Paradoxes
- Paradoxes therefore dominate the construction of language in the play.
- For example, oxymoronic phrases show that paradox is built into the language of the play:
- ‘Divinity of hell!’ (2.3.340).
- ‘excellent wretch’ (3.3.90).
- ‘fair devil’ (3.3.481).
- ‘this sorrow’s heavenly’ (5.2.21).
- ‘an honourable murderer’ (5.2.291).
- and the on-going concept of ‘honest Iago’.
Innuendo
Innuendo
- Iago is also deliberate in his use of sexual innuendos and double entendres, as with ‘soliciting’ at the end of Act 2, but presumably Cassio and Desdemona are not; Cassio asks that Emilia will ‘procure’ him some ‘access’ to Desdemona (3.1.35-6).
- All the time Iago’s language is lascivious and sexual in nature.
Reiteration
Reiteration
- Another group of words seem to dominate the play because of their constant reiteration include:
- 52 ‘honests’.
- 29 ‘lieutenants’,
- 25 ‘lies’ and ‘devils’
- Over 20 ‘beds’.
Form and content
Form and content
- Saying something many times gives it credibility, especially to the unsuspecting hearer, or it suggests an obsession.
- Othello is very good at hearing the wrong thing throughout the play and exaggerates certain concepts he has heard.
- Here, Shakespeare deliberately matches the form to the content.
1Context
1.1Introduction
1.3Othello
2Act One: Summaries & Themes
2.1Act and Scene Summaries
2.2Scene One
2.3Scene Two
3Act Two: Summaries & Themes
3.1Scene One & Two
3.2Scene Three
4Act Three: Summaries & Themes
5Act Four
5.1Scene One
5.2Scene Two
5.3Scene Three
6Act Five
6.1Scene One
6.2Scene Two
7Character Profiles
7.1Major Characters
7.2Minor Characters
8Key Themes
8.1Love & Tragedy
8.2Other Key Themes
9Writing Techniques
9.1Writing Techniques
10Critical Debates
10.1Criticism & Performance
11Approaching AQA English Literature
11.1Specification A
11.2Specification B
12Issues of Assessment
12.1The Exams
Jump to other topics
1Context
1.1Introduction
1.3Othello
2Act One: Summaries & Themes
2.1Act and Scene Summaries
2.2Scene One
2.3Scene Two
3Act Two: Summaries & Themes
3.1Scene One & Two
3.2Scene Three
4Act Three: Summaries & Themes
5Act Four
5.1Scene One
5.2Scene Two
5.3Scene Three
6Act Five
6.1Scene One
6.2Scene Two
7Character Profiles
7.1Major Characters
7.2Minor Characters
8Key Themes
8.1Love & Tragedy
8.2Other Key Themes
9Writing Techniques
9.1Writing Techniques
10Critical Debates
10.1Criticism & Performance
11Approaching AQA English Literature
11.1Specification A
11.2Specification B
12Issues of Assessment
12.1The Exams
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