Othello Soliloquy Analysis

During the Elizabethan Era, drama began to flourish in Western Europe. Plays have become more violent and dramatic as well as new ways of driving a performance. William Shakespeare’s Othello involves a man named Iago who wants to get revenge on Othello who is known as ‘the Moor of Venice’. Iago is able to get Othello to fully trust him and manipulates Othello to believe in false claims which eventually brings both of them to their downfall. A soliloquy acts as an aid to the audience in order to understand a character’s internal thoughts. Shakespeare utilizes this technique frequently throughout the performance especially for the antagonist for the play, Iago. The soliloquies enhance Iago’s villainous characteristics by giving him moments to

Although the audience is well aware of his hatred for Othello at this point, this soliloquy begins to delve into the mind of Iago. For example, Iago states “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse;/ For I mine own gained knowledge should profane/ If I would time expend with such a snipe/ But for my sport and profit” (1.3.375-8). Because Roderigo is in love with Othello’s wife Desdemona, Iago is just using him in order to achieve his goal. While Iago continues with discussing his thoughts, he brings up many reasons behind why he is planning to get revenge. First, he uses derogatory terms to describe Othello such as a moor. Because of these, the audience may suspect that his motive is due to him being black and in a high position. In addition, he suspected his wife Emilia to be having an affair with Othello which, to the audience, may be another reason why revenge is desired. Thirdly, Iago mentions his motive to try to get Cassio out of the lieutenant position. As the audience receives more information about his hatred for Othello, it is still vague on how and why exactly Iago wants to destroy him. Because of the lack of clarity, it creates a spark of interest to hear more of Iago’s

Because Cassio is distraught from the sequences that occurred earlier, he confides to Iago for advice. After recommending him to talk to Desdemona and Cassio leaving, he finally figures out his plan to destroy Othello. He first starts off with realizing his irony of helping Cassio while trying to be evil at the same time. It has been so easy for Iago to mold the other characters into his plan that it is hilarious to him. At this point, it is questioning to the audience of the continuation of his plot. The job is complete in terms of getting Cassio relieved, but he continues to strategize. “For whiles this honest fool/ Plies Desdemona to repair his fortune, / And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor, / I’ll pour this pestilence in his ear” (2.3.341-4). Iago has set the trap for Cassio to ask Desdemona to possibly try to change Othello’s mind which will lead to Othello believing that they are having an affair. From this point on, the ultimate plan has begun and the pace speeds up. The audience would watch and see how everything will unravel. Shakespeare utilizes soliloquies to help aid the audience in terms of understanding what is going on internally between characters. Iago’s characterization is enhanced with soliloquies due to these moments showing his honest self and allowing the audience