Rhyme in Othello

Iago ends Act I with a strange, dense rhyming couplet. In these two lines, Iago layers three separate metaphors to describe his plot. The three metaphors are initiated in the first line and completed in the second. The first metaphor uses a cycle of conception—or engenderment—and birth. The second uses a movement from hell, or the underworld, up to the living world. The third uses the transition from night to day. One could say that the use of “monstrous” is aptly metaphorical as well. After all, the mythological definition of monster—a composite creature—finds its parallel in the “double knavery” of Iago’s plan.

The Duke continues his pattern of issuing words of wisdom in the form of rhyming couplets. Using “black” as a double entendre to signify both virtue and race, he characterizes Othello as a virtuous man, no matter his race.

The Duke takes on a scholarly tone here, speaking in rhyming couplets, each one of which serves as a wise saying. For the rest of his speech, the Duke invents new ways to tell Brabantio to get past his woes.

The Duke of Venice grants Brabantio the role of judge, jury and executioner. Shakespeare crafts these lines to be delivered dramatically. Notice the heavy alliteration and rhyme in phrases such as “bloody book of law” and “bitter letter.”

Iago’s praise for Desdemona comes down to her combination of “fairness and wit”—her beauty and intelligence. As he puts it, beauty is a resource meant to be used by one’s wit. The rhyming couplets Iago uses to praise Desdemona underscore the irreverence and frivolity of his words.

Othello takes control of the scene with a commanding, eloquent speech. The musicality of his phrasing marks a change in tone from the brawl to the aftermath. He employs a number of subtle rhymes and alliterations: “turn’d Turks”; “barbarous brawl”; “holds his soul”; “dreadful bell”; “matter, masters.”

Shakespeare uses a combination of consonance and assonance to give this phrase emphasis. The pair of r and k sounds in “drink” are repeated in “rock.” This is an example of rim rhyme, a technique in which the beginning and ending sounds of a word are repeated in another. “Rock” shares its short o sound with “not,” creating a short rhyming chain. The phrase is additionally startling because of the trio of stressed syllables in “drink rock not.” These effects are purposeful; we get the sense of a cradle being rocked.

Shakespeare pens this tune using onomatopoeia, a technique in which the sounds of the words imitate their subject. In this case the words “canakin”—a drinking can—and “clink” recreate the sounds of cups and cans clinking together in a toast.

Iago attempts to calm Othello by saying how common jealousy is. Iago uses the metaphor of a team of oxen to describe the shared plight of suspicious husbands together drawing the heavy plough of jealousy. Shakespeare assembles a sonorous trio of rhyming words in “dare swear peculiar.”

In a rhyming couplet, Othello addresses Desdemona from afar. He claims that her hold on him, represented by her eyes, has been “blotted,” or removed. The second line is highly ironic. While Othello plans to spill Desdemona’s lustful blood on their bed, the sheets are already stained with her matrimonial blood—the symbol of her faithfulness.