Iago's Third Soliloquy In Othello

Iago’s third soliloquy is an excerpt taken from William Shakespeare’s famous play “Othello”, written in 1604. A soliloquy is a theatrical convention in which a certain character, in this case Iago, is alone on stage and gives the audience an inside view into his mind and motives.

With a soliloquy, the playwright creates both suspense and dramatic irony. The audience, in contrast to the characters in the play, gets a closer look into Iago’s motives and reasoning.

After his first plan had failed, Iago had to come up with an even more cunning scheme to bring about both Othello’s and Cassio’s downfall. While the whole of Cyprus celebrates Othello’s victory over the Turks, Iago encourages Cassio to drink. Provoked by Roderigo, Cassio drunkenly attacks the latter. Othello dismisses Cassio from his Office, but Iago advises him to seek Desdemona’s help.

Immediately after Cassio has left the stage, Iago launches into his monologue.

The soliloquy begins with a rhetorical question, effectively grasping the audience’s attention. Besides, Iago uses the key word “villain” in the same sentence, and thus makes a connection to the previous soliloquies. He then contrasts it (and the general perception of his character) with several adjectives and phrases which underline the presumably good intentions of his advice to Cassio. The complicated and long-winded wording makes it difficult to understand what is actually said. Iago tries to paint himself as "the good guy" who should not be blamed for giving helpful

advice.

He uses the following sentences to flatter Desdemona with metaphors of nature (“She’s fram’d as fruitful as the free elements”) and describes the power she has over her husband Othello. The open and brash admiration makes for an uneasy atmosphere, and Iago’s real feelings towards Desdemona remain unclear.

However, Iago’s opinion on love and devotion are made clear once again in the following verses. He further elaborates on the weakness of the will, ("With his weak function") first introduced with the garden image. He diminishes love in general and Othello in particular, who is completely at the mercy of his wife Desdemona. (“His soul is so enfetter’d to her love”) To emphasise Othello’s “weakness”, he enumerates several possibilities for Desdemona to use her power.

Additionally, he jumps at the opportunity to once again hint at Othello's "animal" behaviour and sexuality.

In the second part of the soliloquy, Iago suddenly stops pretending to be well-meaning. The opposite is true, he is now extremely proud of his devilish plan. ("Divinity of hell!") Hence the lack of effort to disguise his schemes. He adores himself as the evil mastermind and his resourcefulness can only be compared to hell. The second rhetorical question, very similar to the first one, receives an honest answer. Iago could stop there, he has come to terms with himself and his motives. He does no longer have the urge to disguise his true self. But he is enjoying himself far too much. Even though the audience already knows most of the details of his scheme, he can’t help but go over it again. With the help of many dramatic images (e.g. “I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear”) he tries to make it seem new and exciting. It is his time to shine and he wants to make the best of it. The metaphors are expertly arranged in a climactic way, and it all leads to the last two verses. (“And out of her own goodness make the net / That shall enmesh them all.”) They show, for the last time, that it is indeed Iago who, like a spider, pulls all the strings and will destroy everyone else.