'Dangerous Conceits Are in Their Natures Poisons': The Language of Othello

Abstract

In his perceptive review of M.M. Mahood's Shakespeare's Wordplay G.K. Hunter makes the provocative suggestion that there is a book to be written, 'a Romantic and moving tale of love and hate between the Bard and the Word — Shakespeare's verbal vision of evil, when words cease to mean what they say.' Although such a publication is still to emerge, when it does a notable chapter will surely be devoted to Othello, the play which perhaps more than any other 'words' us. In Othello language itself is made a Janus. Words are inverted, perverted, and ultimately even rendered meaningless, and with the corruption of the real worth of language comes that of the honour and honesty in the nature of the men who hear and speak it.

Toxic Encounters: Poisoning in Early Modern English Literature and Culture

“…Many of the critical discussions employ another of Shakespeare’s major tragedies, Othello , as their primary text for unpacking the rhetorical meanings of poisoning. Catherine Shaw (1980) and Leonard Mustazza (1985) each study Iago’s deceitful influence over Othello, noting the power of words on the minds and hearts of victims. As Mustazza’s essay title suggests, language can operate as “poison, plague, and weapon,” corroding, infecting, and destroying an individual’s capacity to think and judge clearly.…”