Bittersweet Irony
...y face. Characters' beliefs become ironic because they are very different or opposite from the reality of their immediate situation, and their intentions are likewise different from the outcome their actions will have. Othello's hatred of Desdemona for betraying and deceiving him is more horrible and tragic because the audience knows he is deceived by Iago and can watch every step of his error. Dramatic irony plays a major role in the play Othello such as in Brabantio's last words to Othello. He warns Othello that "She has deceiv'd her father, and may thee" (I. iii. 310). Desdemona never actually deceives Othello, but Iago convinces him that it is so. Othello's reply to Brabantio, "my life upon her faith!" (I. iii. 311) is also ironic because he eventually does take his life due to his belief that Desdemona has not been faithful. In the first act Othello addresses Iago as “honest Iago” (I. iii. 312). This is dramatic irony because Iago is in no way honest, he has been and will continue to lie to Othello throughout the play; however, Othello has not yet figured that out. Othello and Cassio continually call him "honest Iago" while the audience knows he's not. In the third act, just as the security of his personal life is about to be unexpectedly undermined from within, Othello is inspecting the security of Cyprus against an expected attack from without. Desdemona, worried about the loss of her handkerchief, comforts herself with the though that Othello is not a jealous man and will not misinterpret this loss. “But my noble moor is true of mind, and made of no such baseness as jealous creatures are, it were enough to put him to ill thinking” (III. iv. 20-24). Neither consolation, as the audience already knows will prove correct. Dramatic irony is also seen in act four when Othello calls Desdemona a “whore” (IV. ii. 80). Desdemona is not really a whore but Othello has been lead astray by lies from Iago and is oblivious to the truth. Iago is believed to be honest and that he is telling...