Finally, Iago's rhetorical discourse is analyzed through Rhetorical Theory to examine his use of rhetorical devices such as rhetorical questions. The findings of this study show that Iago's use of animal metaphors in the play is to dehumanize and degrade other characters. Further, Iago is able to alienate Othello because of his different identity and different color from the Venetian society.
What's more, Iago has shown misogynistic attitudes toward women through the course of the play. In addition, Iago shows an exceptional ability in his rhetoric. He manipulates most of the characters in the play and was able to deceive all of them.
It can be concluded, then, that Iago's use of animal metaphors is conceptualized and connected to his cognitive mind. Moreover, Iago's racist language in the play reflects the racist attitudes toward 'non-white' people in Shakespeare's time. Finally, Iago uses different rhetorical techniques such as rhetorical questions to manipulate other characters which shows how language can be exploited to achieve negative impact on others.
It is written in the period when Shakespeare reached his peak of fame. Othello is a black Moor who lives in Venice and occupies a good military and social status. He is married to Desdemona and then suffers from alienation and racism imposed on him by other characters like Iago, Rodrigo, Brabantio and Emilia which leads to his downfall at the end of the play. Unlike other Shakespearean plays, Othello starts with no mentioning of the hero. Adelman points out that "before we meet Othello, we are utterly dependent on Iago's and Rodrigo's descriptions of him" p.
The first scene of the play is replete with racial pejorative descriptions of Othello. This suggests that the playwright is preparing his readers for the entrance of something not human Rose, In other words, Othello is portrayed with animal images from the very beginning of the play which aims to dehumanize him and make him look like animals. If Rand is right when claiming that Shakespeare's introductory scenes are always keynotes, then Shakespeare invokes his readers' anxieties and heightens their fears about what they already know about Moors or black people.
