The word “thus” makes the sentence sound like a conclusion and the colon at the end suggests that he will explain the statement. By repeating the word ”my” a possive pronoun and with the sentence containing monosyllabic words that fore emphasis on “my”, he underlines that this soliloquy is about him. This is exactly what the audience would have expected, for Iago to explain what he is doing and why, this is because that is what is conventionally done in soliloquy.
The first line of the Second Soliloquy.
“That Cassio loves her, I do well believe it;”
Again this line is a conclusion of what he is doing but the syntax of the sentence and the semi-colon at the end force the emphasis on the “well”. The word “well” is not definite and is open to interpretation, Love is a definite statement and with Iago giving the impression he doesn’t believe in Cassio’s love; it is unsure what Iago is trying to achieve with this statement. If the line was not been studied in close detail than indefinite nature of Iago’s statement would be missed and the audience would be unaware of it.
The first line of the third soliloquy;
“And what’s he then, that says I play the villain,”
Iago asks the audience the rhetorical question am I a villain. The audience by now have made up their mind that he is a villain but in contrast to the other opening lines where he explains himself, he is defending himself. By not letting the audience dwell on the fact that they think he is a villain, with a comma at the end of the first line and not a question mark, it forces the emphasis away from the question but onto the next line, which is what Iago wants the audience to remember “… this advice is free I give, and honest,” Iago wants the audience to remember the word “honest” because the word honest is used all the way through the play in conjunction with Iago, as if it was a prefix. With Iago been synonymous with the word “honest” it has turned from a belief about him, to a statement in the subconscious of the characters and audience, Iago is trying to make the audience re-remember that he is honest. Iago finds the need to defend himself because in the eye of the audience he is a villain but Iago doesn’t want to be seen as a common villain, he sees himself higher than that, villains concentrate on wealth or position; Iago does what he does for pleasure, he acts like a chess player moving pieces round with expertise and fluidity. So for him to be seen as a villain Iago would think of it as failure. He would rather be known as a sportsman;
“But for my sport and profit: I hate the Moor,”
Iago identifies that hate for him is sport; if he really detested the Moor hate would be an obsession not a sport. The way the sentence is structured makes the statement less forceful; to make “I hate the Moor” stand out it should have been a sentence on its own, not after a colon and ending in a comma. With Iago not believing in what he says, it creates an uneasy atmosphere, for the audience as they guess what he really believes. Iago wants to have this tension so the audience don’t know what he as a character is about, so it gives him control over them.
With Iago not enforcing his statements, it shows that he doesn’t believe in what he is saying and is stating these facts to impress the audience.
“And I dare think, he’ll prove to Desdemona
A most dear husband: now I do love her too’”
The word “dare” shows that Iago is mocking Othello but in a soliloquy there is no need to mock because a soliloquy is a reflection on what you are thinking. Iago is mocking and that is because he is playing to the audience and when he mocks to the audience about Othello, he gains respect because he has the nerve to mock someone who is perceived by others to be powerful.
Iago is not driven to create all this destruction because he is evil; its because he wants respect, that is why he impresses the audience by mocking and boasting about how destruction is a sport. Respect for Iago is everyone not knowing what he has done but for the characters and audience to give him respect after the whole event. At the time of the three soliloquies no character in the play knows what he is up to. Only the audience, so that is why he is so desperate to tell the audience he is not the villain because a villain has no respect.
“…How am I then the villain”
Iago sees himself has the controller that controls everything not a villain;
“And will as tenderly be led by the nose…”
Iago demonstrates to the audience that he can control others and with the “will” in the sentence he leaves to room for doubt because the word “will” makes the rest of the sentence a certainty because “will” only has one meaning and that of certainty.
In this play Othello is related to god, by the fact that he is the one that the Venetians turn to, to control their army in spite of what he may of done with Desdemona, that he is a Moor and not one of their own. But Iago plays the role of a god, this relates back to religion because there once was an angel called Lucifer who was the highest of Angels but he wanted to be as powerful as god but when he tried to dethrone god. God banished him to Hell. With Iago been seen as Lucifer he automatically becomes evil and nothing will change the audience’s mind. The audience of Shakespeare’s day would have been very narrow minded and with Iago been evil; would feel hatred towards him and very disgusted with themselves for believing Iago early on in the play.
With Iago realizing that the audience think is evil, by the end of the second soliloquy he spells out what he wants to do without disguising the fact that he is evil.
“And practising upon his peace and quiet,
even to madness…”
With the events of his plan been unrolled Iago has lost the chance that the audience will respect him, so in an attempt to show the audience how cleaver he is; he boasts what he is doing and will do. In Iago’s mind the fact that you are recognised to be cleaver is the next best thing after respect. All the way through the last soliloquy Iago spells out his plan to the audience, in an attempt to make them appreciate the brains that went into the plan.
“So will I turn her virtue into pitch”
The “will” shows us that Iago is definite about the plan but by sharing it with the audience, Iago demonstrates that if events don’t go to plan, he is content to boast and brag what he will do;
“That shall enmesh ‘em all.
Iago is stating that he will catch everyone but this isn’t as controlled and precise as the rest of the soliloquies because it is in prose rather than poetry and the language shows he is rushed “enmesh ‘em all” is too fast and casual, it doesn’t let the audience digest what is been said. If Iago had said enmesh them all, then the point would have stood out and had the desired shocking effect because the use of “them” rather than the abbreviated form “ ’em” puts more emphasis on the verb, which tells the audience what is happening but instead the final line just passes the audience by. With Iago been rushed so much that he can’t have a dramatic ending by the incoming of Rodrigo. Iago is losing his timing and everything is getting out of control.
In the end trying to destroy Othello and boast and brag to the audience for his own glorification was too much. Iago couldn’t concentrate on what needed to be done to destroy Othello because he was too interested on what people thought of him; because that is what mattered to Iago. Iago didn’t set out to destroy Othello for greed, wealth or position but for respect.
