Examples Of Monologue In Othello

In this passage taken out of the play Othello written by Shakespeare during the Elizabethan era in England, the audience is introduced to a monologue spoken by the character Iago to his acquaintance Rodrigo. The context of this scene is that both Rodrigo and Iago feel that they have been cheated by Othello in some way: Rodrigo having been cheated out of Desdemona of whom he was obsessively in love with, and Iago who felt cheated out of lieutenancy of which the position was given to Cassio, a person whom Iago felt was most unworthy of the rank. Being a play, the monologue is written in verse, and contains many literary elements such as metaphors and imagery. The structure of the play is placed in verse within lines which are embellished by the vocabulary, all of which help to illustrate a vivid imagery allowing the audience to gain a deep insight of Iago’s character. It is through this writing style that Shakespeare develops these themes and causes them to become engrained in the

In line 2 Iago states, “I follow him [Othello] to serve my turn upon him […]” From this segment, Iago’s intentions become clear in that he wants to payback Othello, and will plan to plot against him which becomes all to successful as seen later in the play. This revenge that Iago wishes to afflict Othello with is backed by his ambitious nature which is seen in lines 3-16 in which he states that if one is not aggressive and is to kind they will get nothing out of it and will remain “ when he’s old, cashier’d.” It is this very ambition which drives him to progress his scheming and take revenge upon Othello. This scheming done by Iago is seen in the very last line of the monologue when he states, “I am not what I am” meaning that he pretends to be a friend to Othello but is actually conniving against him and planning his down