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.

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