Othello 6

"Sir, you shall understand what hath befall'n,

Which, as I think, you know not. Here is a letter

Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo,

And here another. The one of them imports

The death of Cassio to be undertook

By Roderigo."

-Act V.ii.306-311

 

Throughout the entire play, most of the irony has been dramatic. The characters all believed Iago to be an honest, brave, and trustworthy friend. The reader knew however, that Iago was a selfish liar. This quote above is situational irony though. It comes from Lodovico near the end of Act V. He tells Othello, Cassio, Montano, and Gratiano that he found letters in Roderigo's pockets. He explains that one was from Iago telling him to kill Cassio. The other note was from Roderigo to Iago which had complaints in it. They found out that Iago actually killed Roderigo though. These notes are an example of situational irony, because Iago had been using Roderigo to carry out all of his plans, but in the end, the letters in Roderigo's pocket is what dooms Iago. Roderigo who had been manipulated and used by Iago gets back at him by revealing the truth through the letters in his pockets.

Side note: I find it interesting that in this time period it was honorable to commit suicide when the person committed a serious crime or sin of somesort. Othello stabs and kills himself when he realizes what he has done by being tricked. Iago, however, trys to run away and does not think about killing himself. I think this reveals more about how cowardly Iago truly was.