Analysis Of Iago's Soliloquy In Othello

701 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A social context for othello

This soliloquy shows how Iago tries to deceive Othello by asking Cassio about Bianca who is a prostitute crazing about Cassio. Because Othello is too jealous of Cassio, so he will definitely misunderstand that Cassio is talking about Bianca, but Desdemona. Before this, Iago already put a “worm” in Othello’ ears that Desdemona is cheating on him. Although Othello wants to believe Desdemona’s purity and innocence, but Iago keeps faking things between Desdemona and Cassio. Furthermore, Othello never tries to ask Desdemona and Cassio the truth; he only listens to Iago’s words which becomes his fateful weakness. It is easy to tell that in this play; people’s motivations to do bad things are driven by jealousy. Iago jealous of Cassio who chosen by the moor as his lieutenant, so he decides to take revenge on the moor and Cassio. Othello also jealous of Cassio who “wins” Desdemona, so he wants to kill Desdemona and Cassio. Therefore, jealousy is the basically the factor that leads to all the tragedies.
He can easily manipulate people’s thought and behaviors. Thus, he is actually a smart person. He knows how to achieve his goal if he makes up his mind. And he is the person who leads this play to a tragedy. From his words, he seems to despise women. In the previous scenes, we know that he does not have a good relationship with his wife, even though his wife treats him good. He always scolds his wife, and calls her stupid. He is so not respect women because he thinks that it is the prostitute’s curse to beguile man. Prostitute is not just a name but a job that strongly relates to men because if there is no man to find prostitutes, they cannot continue this job. Therefore, it is not only women’s fault, men should also take responsibility for

Show More
Related

  • How Hamlet's Mental State Changes in the Soliloquies in Hamlet by Shakespeare

    759 Words  | 2 Pages

    changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the

    Read More

  • Othello

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    In William Shaspeare play Othello, Iago make Othello believe that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. He does by taking advantage of any situation to make of Othello doubt. Iago make Othello thing a lot of crazy thing on his head, Othello got so jelous leading him to kill his own wife, Desdemona, satisfying iago obseccion for revenge.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis of Iago's Soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 3 of Othello by William Shakespeare

    684 Words  | 2 Pages

    Critical Analysis of Iago's Soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 3 of Othello by William Shakespeare

    Read More

  • Iago's Soliloquy Act 3

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lines 440-441: “ He hath a person and a smooth dispose/ To be suspected, framed to make women false.”

    Read More

  • Iago's Figurative Language In Othello

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Othello centers around the two conflicting characters of scheming, deceptive Iago and the honorable, but often times faithless Othello. Despite the fact that these men are completely opposite in character, Iago commands such persuasive powers that he literally starts to affect Othello’s thinking, altering the figures of speech he uses and his perceptions of those close to him. Both Othello and Iago use many of the same literary devices and much of the same language to express not only their opinions of those around them, but also their general conceptions of the workings of the universe.

    Read More

  • Race In Othello Essay

    1727 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ituation Iago is finding ways to twist the innocent actions of Desdemona and Cassio to make it seem as if they are flirting and carrying on this affair for almost everyone to see. Enraged and eventually consumed by his emotions Othello’s takes Desdemona’s life due to the manipulation of this so called friend and confidant. A ‘friend and confidant’ who has been to battle with Othello and fought side by side, yet Iago is the one who ultimately uses and betrays Othello.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Iago In Othello

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Being the only black man in a white society makes him an outcast in the play. He is referred to as “The Moor” and his relationship with Desdemona is “in a period when such a marriage would be rare and controversial” (Baker and Womack 1534). As Othello’s social prejudice became a conflict, his self-esteem diminishes and Iago uses this to his advantage. Iago begins to imply that Desdemona is being unfaithful to Othello and that she prefers her “type” of class that he will never belong to. Since Cassio is more of her race, class and age, Desdemona would prefer someone like him instead of Othello. Iago uses the fact of Desdemona betrayed her father by marrying Othello and implements to Othello that having betraying her father, is very likely to betray him. Knowing that women in that time period were unfaithful proofs to Othello that Desdemona would be unfaithful as well and ignited him. Gradually, Iago wears down Othello with jealousy to the extent that Othello is believing him and now is turning against Desdemona. Iago has created a trustworthy bond between Othello and himself creating lies and promotes him to lieutenant. Mostly, Iago takes over Othello’s mind by using his insecurity against

    Read More

  • Othello Relationship Analysis

    792 Words  | 2 Pages

    Othello is overhearing this conversation, making the point of Cassio sleeping with Desdemona more believable. Cassio resonance does not mention Bianca, leaving it up to interpretation to Othello of to whom he is speaking of: “She was here even now. She haunts/ Every place. I was the other day talking on the/ Sea-bank with certain Venetians, and thither comes/ The bauble. (By this hand, she falls thus about my/Neck”( 4.1 150-154)! Iago places Othello in a position to listen to his (Iago’s) conversation with Cassio, and although Cassio is speaking of Bianca, Iago has strategically set up this scenario as if it is Desdemona was the topic of interest in the conversation. Iago sets the stage to completely have Othello believing that Desdemona was unfaithful to him. And at this point of the play, Iago builds up the anger behind Othello to use Cassio’s slurs to damage his

    Read More

  • Jealousy, Love and Betrayal in Othello by William Shakespeare

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    The role of jealousy, love and betrayal play a major role in The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. The entire play is based on the human interactions of the characters as related to Othello and Desdemona. The characters’ personalities, their social status, and their relationships to each other control the story line and their fate in the play. Othello is portrayed early in the play as an outsider with animalistic characteristics by Iago and Roderigo because of jealousy. “Your heart is burst; and have lost half of your soul/Even now, now, very now, an old black ram/Is tupping your white ewe”.(531) Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, accuses Othello of using witch craft on his daughter. “If she in chains of magic were not bound/ Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy/ So opposite to marriage that she shunned…” (535) This point is important because Othello must defend himself not only to Desdemona’s father, Brabantio, but to the entire Venetian Senate. “And till she come, as truly as to heaven,/ I do confess the vices of my blood./ So justly to your grave ears I’ll present/ How I did thrive in this fair lady’s love, / And she in mine.” (539) Othello proves himself to be an intellectual hero early in the play. He has worked hard to gain respectability and power, but because he has a different background, is from another country, is dark-skinned and is older than Desdemona, he becomes jealous very quickly of Cassio. Cassio is from the same social class, is compatible with Desdemona and is a young handsome man. Iago has also convinced Cassio to seek favor with Desdemo...

    Read More

  • Theme Of Corruption In Othello

    1815 Words  | 4 Pages

    Iago confesses his manipulation of each character to the audience, but refuses to reveal his plot to destroy the reputations of his victims even after he is caught. He portrays Cassio as an irresponsible drunkard and creates evidence to convince Othello that Cassio is sleeping with his wife. He is able to convince Othello that his wife is cheating on him because he takes advantage of his trusting nature and role as an outsider. Iago uses Desdemona’s mistake in marrying the Moor against her father’s wishes and social standards and her kindness against her in order to convince Othello and others to ruin her pure reputation. The destruction of reputations was essential to Iago’s plot. Reputation is the most important quality a person has, and without it they have lost a “jewel” or essential part of “their souls” (Shakespeare 55). Shakespeare uses dramatic irony to highlight the importance of this theme. Iago is able to entirely destroy the reputation and the lives of Othello and Desdemona by using their weaknesses against them. Iago’s destruction of Cassio was not complete because he created flaws instead of taking advantage of the one’s Cassio already had, which is why Cassio did not die and was able to restore his good name when he became governor. English writer, Charles Caleb Colton explains, “There are two ways of establishing a reputation, one to be praised by honest people and the other one to be accused by rogues. It is best, however, to secure the first one, because it will always be accompanied by the latter” (“Charles Caleb

    Read More

  • Conflict is a Major Issue in Othello

    1180 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conflict is a major issue in Othello, the source for all the problems in the story all lead back to love and jealousy. Love can be an extremely powerful thing in life. It can easily draw two people closer together or simply destroy something that could have been great. Ironically similar, jealousy can tear something apart just as fast as love can. This timeless tragedy starts out in Venice, with a plot to attain revenge on Othello. Iago and Roderigo are simply jealous with the fact that Othello has promoted Cassio to his lieutenant instead of Iago, along with the bitterness they both shared towards Othello to begin with (Shakespeare for Students, Othello). Together, Iago and Roderigo have come up with a plan to ultimately push Othello over the edge. For starters, Cassio unwillingly has told Iago that he is capable to be easily intoxicated and well obviously Iago uses this information against Cassio. Long story short, Cassio has stirred up a brawl to which in the long run costs him his new status as lieutenant. After all of this goes down Iago, trying to seem like the concerning friend, convinces Cassio to speak with Desdemona, Othello’s new bride, about the situation. Luckily, so Cassio thinks, Desdemona does such and tries to talk with Othello to have his dear friend reinstated. It is possible for people to make mistake. Once again Iago uses Cassio’s ignorance against him. All through the story almost every little detail and event all leads back to the scheme of Iago. Iago is thinking this could not work out better for me, so his next thought of process is that this conversation between Othello and his dear wife Desdemona will make Othello’s mind play tricks on him. Soon there after Othello is advised to keep closer watch of hi...

    Read More

  • Tragic Hero's Downfall In Othello '

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the drama, Othello let Iago control him as if he was a puppet under his master’s hands. When Iago first brought up the idea that Desdemona and Cassio might be having an affair, Othello did not believe him, he had faith in his wife. After many lies that Iago planted in Othello’s ears, Othello started to believe him and he dropped most of the faith that he had in Desdemona. Iago told Othello that in his sleep, Cassio said “Sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our love”. Cursed fate that gave thee the Moor” (III.iii.416-417).

    Read More

  • Isolation In Othello

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    Othello is one of the more romantic figures in Shakespeare’s works and tells fantastical tales of his strange life of adventure and exotic lands, which is what swoons Desdemona to marry him in the first place. She says she “saw Othello’s visage in his mind” and is able to look past his blackness and appreciate the brilliance of his imaginative mind (I.iii.247). However, Othello’s imagination is ultimately what causes him to become jealous. Through careful construction of images in Othello’s imagination, Iago has convincing power to drive Othello into a jealous state of rage. When Othello asks for ocular proof of Desdemona’s infidelity, Iago instead gives him imaginary depictions of Cassio and Desdemona, which to Othello are deems as the truth. As Othello’s sensible mind starts to decline, these images dictate his judgments and he becomes so engulfed with the evidence presented to him that he easily believes in Iago’s negative portrayal of Desdemona. When Othello asks Iago if Cassio can be trusted, Iago merely instead talks about infidelity, cuckoldry, and disloyalty to let Othello’s imagination run wild. Eventually, Othello chastises Iago since his mind is imaging the many possibilities that could’ve

    Read More

  • Iago's Reputation In Othello

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of course, this manipulatively entices Othello to keep insisting that Iago tell him what’s wrong. Iago keeps “reluctantly” dropping more and more obvious hints, even telling Othello that he would “hate” to ruin a man’s reputation. Here, ironically, the man he has in mind is, of course, Cassio and his reputation has already been tarnished because of Iago. He also advises Othello: “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy. It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” (3.3.178-80). In doing so, he actually brings up jealousy for the first time in their conversation, invariably steering Othello’s thinking in that direction through his fake, reverse-psychology warning. Once the irresistible foundation of suggestion is built up adequately, he finally admits his “suspicions” to Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio: “Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio. Wear your eyes thus, not jealous nor secure.”

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Deception In Shakespeare's Othello

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    Firstly, Iago insinuates that desdemona has been having an affair because she prefers people of her ‘kind’. Iago very convincingly states “As, to be bold with you,/Not to affect many matches/Of her own clime, complexion and degree,/Whereto we see in all things nature tends” (Othello, 3.3.233-236). He basically said that it would make sense for Desdemona to be attracted to Cassio because they are the same age, race and class opposed to Othello who is older, black and less attractive. Furthermore, Iago uses Desdemona’s past against her. “She deceive her father marrying you” (Othello, 3.3.210). He says that since Desdemona would deceive her father, the one she most loved, it is very likely she would do the same to him. Slowly, Iago begins to wear down Othello to his breaking point. He starts to trust nothing but the words of ‘honest’ Iago. He cocoons Othello with a coat of lies using his jealousy and doubt to turn him against his wife. He is so brainwashed by Iago's lies that he even promotes Iago to his desired spot as lieutenant. He begins to believe Iago's lies as truth and Desdemona's truth as lies. In essence, Iago Takes advantage of Othello's self-doubt to turn him against his wife bringing about his

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Iago's Soliloquy In Othello

Open Document