Language: Vehicle to Persuasion and Deception

In Shakespeare’s plays, language holds the power to both seduce and deceive an individual. It is an effective tool used by characters to persuade and influence others. It is the key to a person’s heart and mind and has the power to control one’s actions and behavior. Hence, those who retain a masterful use of language are often the ones who can deceive and trick those around them.

For instance, in Twelfth Night, Viola (pretending to be Cesario) resorts to rhetoric as the vehicle through which to express her master Orsino’s passion and desperation for Olivia. Ironically, however, it is Viola’s eloquence that leads Olivia to fall in love with her, claiming that Viola’s speech is a type of “enchantment” that has bewitched her. She declares her love for the one whom she believes to be Cesario, requesting: “Let me hear you speak” (III.ii.111-122). Though Viola did not intend to seduce the countess, it is the beauty of her tongue that proves an irresistible attraction to Olivia.

In a similar fashion, in Othello, the protagonist is able to magnetize and captivate people around him through his speech. Recalling the time that he and Desdemona fell in love, Othello asserts that he “often did beguile her of her tears,/ When I did speak of some distressful stroke/ That my youth suffered…And bade me, if I had a friend that loved her,/ I should but teach him how to tell my story,/ and that would woo her…” (I.iii.155-167). He is conscious that his words would “beguile” and “woo” her, so that his dialogue became alluring and would instigate interest and desire in Desdemona’s heart. “This is the only witchcraft I have used,” claims Othello of acquiring Desdemona’s love.

Language is perhaps most deceiving in Macbeth, as its main character is tricked by witches who foretell of his future Kingship. He is completely enraptured by their words and his behavior is determined by the words he hears them utter: “Hail Macbeth that shalt be king hereafter!” (I.iii.53) The plot of the story is dependent upon the words uttered by these witches as they incite ambition and a hunger for power in Macbeth. He is further deceived by the supernatural apparitions invoked by the witches, for they tell him that “none of woman born shall harm Macbeth” and that “Macbeth shall never vanquished be until/ Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill/ Shall come against him” (IV.i.90,105). Macbeth’s dependency upon language is what ultimately brings about his downfall, he is led astray by ambiguous and equivocal statements.

Finally, from a metatheatrical perspective, the audience too is deceived and enticed by the language of the playwright, which transports them into the world of the play.

Rossely Amarante
Aaron Gorelik
Disc 1C