Previous
Hyperbole
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Irony Mind Map
Mind maps help you organize, develop, and visualize your best ideas, whether you're writing an essay, checking your comprehension, or organizing your notes. Explore our mind map for Irony, save a copy, and add your own insights.
Tip: Click any card's arrow to expand it. Click on the paperclip to reveal evidence pulled from across LitCharts.
Key Examples in Othello
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Iago's Honesty:
Iago’s reputation as a man of honesty and morality is a clear example of irony. Othello says Iago is “a man of honesty and trust,” Desdemona calls him “an honest fellow,” and Cassio says he “never knew a Florentine more kind and honest.” Iago, of course, ends up deceiving all three of these characters, making these remarks highly ironic. Indeed, part of the reason why Iago is able to manipulate these characters so easily is because he has so effectively cultivated this image of himself as trustworthy.
Related Themes:
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—My Life Upon Her Faith:
Irony is embedded into Othello right from the start of the play. In one of the earliest scenes, when Brabantio warns Othello that Desdemona may end up deceiving him, Othello gives a reply which proves to be ironic: “My life upon her faith!” The situational irony here is revealed in this line's double meaning.
Related Themes:
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Iago's Plotting:
By keeping the audience privy to Iago’s plotting throughout the play, Shakespeare steeps the whole of Othello in dramatic irony. Dramatic irony, a device where the audience knows more than the characters in the story, is a common device in classical Greek tragedy due to its ability to create tension. Likewise, in the play, it works as a powerful device that elevates the drama of the action. That the audience knows Desdemona is innocent, for example, makes the deception of Othello all the more frustrating and devastating to witness. Equally, the tragedy of the play’s ending is made even more acute by the fact that the audience knows it is coming all along. The imbalance in knowledge between the audience and the characters in the play emphasizes the ignorance and thus the vulnerability of Iago’s victims, strengthening the play’s emotional impact.
Related Themes:
Act 2, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Iago's Soliloquies:
Iago’s soliloquies are used as a device to create dramatic irony by exposing Iago’s real intentions to the audience. The insights into Iago’s plotting emphasize Iago’s control and paints him unambiguously as the play’s scheming villain, weaving “the net that shall enmesh them all.” Iago’s seven soliloquies also add structure to the play. Littered throughout and structurally placed at the beginning or ends of scenes, Iago’s soliloquies signpost to the reader how the plot is progressing, making him a semi-narrator figure.
Related Themes:
Act 3, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Iago as playwright :
Iago, a character whose tendency to lie and manipulate is clear to the audience, is an unreliable narrator. While the play does not assign an official chorus or narrator, Iago’s regular soliloquies, in which he often recounts the actions of the play and foretells what will happen, gives him the function of one. His narration, however, is clearly biased, with Iago’s agenda against Othello made clear to the audience. The disparity between what Iago says in private to what he says in public—for example saying in private that he hates Othello, but in public that he loves him—unambiguously highlights Iago’s duplicity. Knowing this, Shakespeare indicates that Iago’s commentary on the events is unlikely to be trustworthy.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Foreshadowing and Fate :
Foreshadowings of the play’s tragic ending can be found multiple times in Othello’s speech. Before he is fully convinced of Desdemona’s alleged infidelity, Othello exclaims:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul
But I do love thee! And when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again
Related Themes:
Act 5, scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Marriage Bed as Deathbed:
Othello and Desdemona’s marriage bed becoming their deathbed is an example of situational irony which highlights the play’s central theme of love’s fatal potential.
Related Themes:
Act 5, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Marriage Bed as Deathbed:
Othello and Desdemona’s marriage bed becoming their deathbed is an example of situational irony which highlights the play’s central theme of love’s fatal potential.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Female Honesty:
The constant references in the play to female dishonesty and women’s dangerous bewitching powers prove to be ironic, with it being the female characters who turn out to be the most honest. Othello and Iago’s repeated emphasis on Desdemona’s deceitful nature, for example, is steeped in irony, as she turns out to be the truest character in the play and faithful to Othello to the last.
This irony is picked out by Emilia in the final scene of the play:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Othello: She’s like a liar gone to burning hell!
’Twas I that killed herEmilia: O, the more angel she, and you the blacker devil!
Othello: She turned to folly, and she was a whore.
Emilia: Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil!
Othello: She was false as water.
Emilia: Thou art rash as fire to say
That she was false. O, she was heavenly true!
Related Themes:
