Importance of Language in Theatre Plays

Aristotle finds expression, language, as one of the most important layers of a theatre play because it helps audiences to explore the inner conflicts of a character, his / her intentions, identity, themes of the play and such. During Elizabeth I's reign, theatre plays had their golden era, and rhetorical language was an important tool to reveal everything about characters. In his plays, William Shakespeare uses this as a tool to explore human nature, and themes of the plays and reveal his characters. 

Shakespeare masterfully uses rhetorical language throughout his plays to enhance character development, persuade audiences, and build dramatic tension. His skillful deployment of rhetorical devices allows characters to argue, manipulate, reflect, and provoke. 

In his play The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare uses language to manipulate, control and sustain the societal order. At the beginning of the play, Katherine uses language to control and scare people around her. She uses harsh words and insults people to manipulate them and not approach her and she also shows her identity as a daughter of a rich family through her word plays. As the play progresses, Petruchio shows up and starts using language to alter Katherine’s behaviors. Instead of using nice and kind words, as he did at the beginning of the play, he uses insults just like Katherine to manipulate her and make her change herself to become a lady who is appropriate with social norms. Petruchio’s use of language is based on manipulation and shows the alteration of Katherine, and also the hierarchy in society. Women had to obey social norms and embrace them meanwhile it was accepted as normal for a man to insult a woman, a human being. Petruchio tames Katherine through manipulation which shows that he uses language as a tool to control people. 

In Julius Caesar, language is used as a tool for manipulation once again. Through rhetorical language, the persuasion of characters occurs in his play Julius Caesar during Antonie’s speech at Caesar’s funeral and Cassius’s words to Brutus to justify the murder of Caesar. At first, people found Brutus a patriot and had the right to kill Caesar since he was scared that he might become a tyrant, but then because of Antonius’s manipulative speech in which he said ‘Brutus is an honorable man, but Caesar did not deserve this way of murder, Murderers were strong and honorable men, but Caesar thought of all of you and your well being,’ etc. By his speech, he manipulates people into thinking Brutus was wrong and his action of murdering Caesar is not acceptable since Caesar was a good man. People, who found Caesar’s death as a necessity at first, get mad and a rebellion occurs as a result of Antonius’s speech. He alters people’s ideas and manipulates them by using language.

Lastly, in Othello, language is used as a tool for many things such as identity, change of identity, manipulation, and hierarchy. However, in general, language is used to manipulate Othello and insult Desdemona, showing the hierarchal order in society. In this play, Iago talks to Othello about a plot he made up in his mind to reach his goal. His way of talking is manipulation through language as he is aware of the power of language to alter someone’s ideas and manipulate them. Othello, in the beginning of the play, uses dignified language showing his high status as a soldier, but through the ending, his speech changes as his way of using language alters such as when he starts calling Desdemona slurs just like other people who are not equal to him. He produces the discourses of a clown, no dignity is produced or felt in his speeches which shows his alteration of identity in the play.  

Overall, in his plays, William Shakespeare uses rhetorical language to persuade both the audience and his characters. He uses language as a tool to show characters’ insights, alterations, identities, and status and to explore specific themes of his plays. Language is used to justify the thoughts, express their feelings and create the ending of the play. The sentences he wrote show the alteration of the characters, their intentions, hierarchical order and power dynamics in a society.