How does Shakespeare create an effective villain through his presentation of Iago in the soliloquies?

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How does Shakespeare create an effective villain through his presentation of Iago in the soliloquies?

Over 400 years ago, the theatre was one of the most popular and novel forms of entertainment around. The leading role model here was William Shakespeare, with his 40 plays that captivated audiences the length and breadth of 16th and 17th century England. His plays are divided into three different genres: Comedy, Tragedy and History. In the era that Shakespeare’s plays started to earn the recognition we now see he deserved, tragedies were seen as the more popular with plays like Titus Andronicus and King Lear. One of his more famous tragedies was “Othello,” the tragic story of a young, valiant and well respected Moor, who is driven to suicide as a result of the exploitation of his fatal flaw. In this case, it is his jealousy of his wife Desdemona supposedly sleeping with Cassio. In this essay I will be analysing the villain in the play, Iago, and his soliloquies, the numerous solo speeches to the audience. These establish Iago as the main villain and allow him to reveal his inner most thoughts. Even today many people still enjoy re-enactments of Shakespeare’s plays, either on stage or through television or films. This is because many of the themes Shakespeare based his plays on, relate to many modern day events.

In his first soliloquy, it is the first time the audience sees Iago’s true feelings towards Othello and Roderigo, “I hate the Moor,” and “such a snipe.” The fact that the first quote is so short means that it is very blunt and to the point. You also see his duplicitous nature, from him being loyal towards Othello before the soliloquy, to him desperately seeking revenge, “The Moor is of free and open nature/and will as tenderly be led by th’noose.” This simile shows that Iago wants to exploit Othello’s second fatal flaw, his gullibility or his, “free and open nature.”

This is also when we start to see Shakespeare’s presentation of a villainous character and Iago starting to become increasingly evil. Another thing is that you see why Iago has become evil, “To get his place, and to plume up my will.” Furthermore, he enjoys being evil, “my sport and profit.” He revels in his villainous role in the play and is unpredictable at times which makes him all the more threatening. His careless disregard for whoever else his plans might affect and the lack of proof he needs before acting, “will do as if for surety,” expresses Iago’s scariest character trait: his impulsive nature.

Iago portrays the inner-workings of his mind through the soliloquies and this enables you to see his thought process whilst he is thinking about his next dastardly deed, “How? How? Let’s see…” and “Let me see now.” This clever use of rhetorical devices makes him seem cunning and skilful because he is questioning himself; he has the answers to all of his questions. He is nearly always duplicitous in the nature of his plans so as to fool people into thinking that he is trustworthy enough. This trust is also extended to the audience because he is revealing the structure of his plans to them and them alone. This makes the audience feel like the have a higher status as they know about all the things that Iago is going to do.

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Shakespeare’s use of imagery is very strong throughout Iago’s soliloquies, but in this one it is particularly strong. His use of animal imagery of an ass or donkey in particular is flamboyant, “…will as tenderly be led by th’noose.” As well as animal imagery, his imagery of Heaven and Hell is strong in, “Hell and Night must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.” The word choice here of “monstrous” depicts the size of his plan as huge, and it makes you think that a lot of planning must have gone into it. When he is talking about his ...

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The essay isn't structured well. Yes it has a clear introduction and conclusion, but these are weak and focus too much on the plot rather than the effect. The essay has a chronological structure, which may seem logical, but prevents any sophisticated discussion. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are fine. It was a shame to see the first person used, and this should be refrained from in an English Literature essay, at any level.

The analysis in this essay is solid. Imagery and language techniques are explored, and the embedding of quotes allows sharp analysis. I do, however, have a big query with this essay. It constantly refers to Iago as if he makes the decisions in the plot. By having this style, you do not access the analysis of why Shakespeare has constructed Iago's soliloquies to affect the audience. A good example is "Although Desdemona doesn’t know it, she will be helping Iago in his plan to help him exploit Othello’s jealousy." This sentence adds nothing and retells the story. If I were doing this essay, I would be exploring why Shakespeare does so, possibly saying how it builds hatred for Iago. The audience response is explored, but in my opinion it is not a significant enough part of the essay. I would like to note that at GCSE level you must talk about the effectiveness on stage, and the dramatic effect, rather than effectiveness within the constraints of the plot.

This essay engages well with the task, exploring how Iago's soliloquies make him villainous. I wasn't too sure on the way it is structured, and would've looked for common techniques rather than analysing each soliloquy in chronological order. A part of becoming more sophisticated at GCSE level is the choice of paragraphs, and I feel this is a good example of solid content but poor organisation. Most of the introduction is unnecessary, where useless contextual information is bolted on. I would've preferred to have seen a definition of a villain, and in particular within the context of a tragedy. This could've allowed for a solid argument showing the significance of Iago's soliloquies in building Othello's tragedy.