What is the significance of Iagos Soliloquies in Othello?

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What is the significance of Iago’s Soliloquies in ‘Othello’?

‘Othello’ is a Shakespearian tragedy written in 1604. Othello is a black African prince who is a general in the Venetian army. He wrongly falls in love with Desdemona, who comes from a noble family, where it is unacceptable to marry a black man. After Othello gives a promotion to Cassio, Iago gets extremely jealous. His jealousy gets the better of him, and he plans to break Othello. Because of his manipulation, Othello, Desdemona, Emilia who is Iago’s wife and Roderigo who is a friend, all die. One of the main characters in ‘Othello’ is Othello. Othello is black and this makes him a victim of racism. The earliest experience of racism is when Iago and Roderigo wake Brabantio to tell him “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe.” By this, they mean that Othello is having sex with Brabantio’s daughter Desdemona. This makes Othello seem like the perpetrator, and Desdemona as the victim. It puts Othello in the wrong straight away and makes him sound evil and horrible. Othello lives in a white society and this also contributes to the fact he is a haven for racism. He stands out in this society as a unique character. Othello falls in love with the very attractive Desdemona. Desdemona comes from a noble family and is extremely independent and faithful. Cassio is Othello’s lieutenant and is used in Iago’s plan to break Othello. Roderigo is also used by Iago and is referred to as ‘the fool’. Emilia is Iago’s wife and also Desdemona’s maid so is stuck in the middle of Iago’s schemes, although she is unaware of his manipulations. Iago is also one of the main characters. He works with Othello and is adamant he will be promoted, but when he isn’t, he gets extremely angry and jealous. He is often referred to in the play as ‘honest Iago’ and is very duplicitous. Iago is a Machiavellian villain and amoral as he is completely unaware of right and wrong. He is also an opportunist and takes advantage of people’s weaknesses. There is a clear distinction between Othello and Iago. The audience are able to tell that Othello is the hero. The typical hero has to have a considerate amount of heroic qualities, such as being brave, noble and loyal, which Othello is. Iago on the other hand, who is the villain, has to be perceptive, manipulative, clever and selfish. He cares for nobody else but himself. ‘Othello’ is clearly a tragedy by the way that Othello has a flaw in his character, which is his jealousy, and Iago uses this to make him believe his deceptive lies. Iago’s ‘real’ character is revealed through his soliloquies. A soliloquy is a thought that is read aloud, where the character may be talking directly to the audience, or the audience may overhear the character’s private thoughts. The soliloquy allows the audience to know various secrets or schemes that the characters don’t know anything about. Iago’s soliloquies in ‘Othello’ are used as these are the only times at which the audience know he is telling the truth, but the audience still find it hard to trust him. The audience also get an insight into Iago’s plan and how he is going to execute it. Iago’s soliloquies have a big impact on the audience as we can see how duplicitous and manipulative he is, but realise how blind the other characters are to him. This aggravates us as an audience because we can see how it’s going to end, but the characters still believe Iago and go along with his plans.

In ‘Othello’ before Iago’s first soliloquy, Cassio is given a promotion by Othello which Iago was adamant was him. This is significant to the soliloquy because this explains why Iago has a lot of hatred towards Othello. Also previously, Iago befriended Roderigo and has agreed to gather information for him about Desdemona. This is also significant because in the soliloquy, Iago reveals his true feelings and thoughts of Roderigo. The purpose of Iago’s first soliloquy is to inform the audience of his plans and real opinions of the characters. For example, Iago says ‘Thus do I ever make my fool my purse.” In this Iago’s is talking about Roderigo. This exposes his true colours as he only uses Roderigo for his money, which he gets in return for information about Desdemona. Iago then goes on to say “if I would time expend with such a snipe but for my own sport and profit.” This explains that he doesn’t actually like Roderigo and is only spending time with him for hiss own fun and because he is making money out of him. If it wasn’t for this soliloquy, the audience wouldn’t be aware that Iago is using Roderigo. Iago then moves onto Othello and reveals his true opinions of him. Although Iago acts like a friend to Othello, he admits “I hate the Moor.” This portrays Iago’s real hatred for Othello. The audience may think that by the tone of his voice, Iago is being truthful, but this may be a cover up. Iago may actually be in love with Othello and this may explain his hateful actions towards him. Either way, we can see that Iago’s character is extremely duplicitous. Iago gives reasons for his hate towards Othello, “And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets he’s done my office.” This indicates that there is a rumour that Othello has slept with Iago’s wife, Emilia. Although this may not be the real reason, as he isn’t sure if it’s true, its reason enough for his plan. Iago may be in love with Othello, or he may be in love with Desdemona. This could easily be believed as Desdemona is an extremely attractive character. This would give Iago a reason to hate Othello as he could be jealous. Iago decides that Cassio will be the best person to use in his plan to break Othello. He says “Cassio’s a proper man.” Although his tone suggests he is being sarcastic, he may also be jealous of him. This may be because Cassio got the promotion Iago wanted, or it may be because Cassio’s a ‘ladies man’ and can easily attract women. This may make Iago extremely jealous as he isn’t similar to Cassio in that way. Iago supports his plan to use Cassio by the way he says “fram’d to make women false”, which means that Cassio can easily be suspected of an affair as he can easily attract women. This makes Iago think his plan to break Othello will be remarkably easier. Iago then decides that he will “abuse Othello’s ear.” Meaning he will lie to Othello about Desdemona, making Othello suspicious and more easily fooled by Iago’s other plans which are revealed later in the play. Iago reveals that he will tell Othello that Cassio “is too familiar with his wife.” This will start to make Othello jealous and suspicious. As Iago pretends to be friends with Othello, he easily believes the lies. This emphasises how manipulating Iago is. All in all, the first soliloquy shows Iago’s character in a different light to what we see when he is with the other characters in the play. We see that Iago is obsequious, manipulative and extremely duplicitous, but also very clever. By using the soliloquy, Shakespeare intends to begin to show the audience Iago’s true character and also begin to reveal his plan. He also intends to start to show the audience what Iago really feels about the other characters. The impact this has on the audience is that it intrigues us. By being given a short description of Iago’s plan, it makes us want to know how all of it comes together. It also aggravates us because we know that Iago is lying to the characters, but they are completely oblivious to any of it. This may have been Shakespeare’s intentions to entice us with a preview of the play.

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In soliloquy one, Iago’s language is important because his tone of voice and the vocabulary give the soliloquy the impact it needs. Iago shows his contempt for Othello when he says “I hate the Moor.” Iago emphasises the word ‘hate’, and this makes the statement more aggressive. Even is this statement was only read, the short sentence makes us able to imagine the way he probably says it and this gives it a huge amount of impact. The audience are able to clearly tell that Iago doesn’t have a firm plan by the way he says “How? How? Let’s ...

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This essay is structured horrifically due to its length. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are fine, but unfortunately the sheer length of paragraphs detracts from this. There is no clear introduction and conclusion which suggests this is more of a memory dump of analysis, rather than focusing on the question itself and fully engaging with the task. Rather than analysing each soliloquy in turn, I would advise picking out the effects of the soliloquies as a group on Othello's tragedy and the dramatic effect.

Due to the overly long paragraphs, it is difficult to pinpoint any solid analysis. This is a great example of why being concise matters, as the essay tends to waffle about the significance of Iago's soliloquies on the plot. I would like to note that doing so will gain you little credit, and the question is prompting for significance on the dramatic effect, thus the audience response should be explored. Language and imagery are analysed, but I would've preferred to have seen more cohesion, showing common themes such as satanic imagery or poisonous imagery. It is key to note that this essay writes as if Iago is real "what Iago means" which is an awful style. You must show awareness that the play is a construction of Shakespeare's, and by doing this you'll naturally go on to explain why he has chosen certain techniques. There is a decent awareness of audience response, but there is no clear significance evaluated through the essay. I would've liked to have seen some context woven in also, maybe making reference to Elizabethan audiences fearing the devil, to which Iago refers to often.

The essay engages at an okay level with the question, but in my opinion this essay is much too long. It is clear from the lengthy introduction that this essay is unable to stay cogent, giving unnecessary background information about Othello's past and when the play was written. I had an almost identical task set for A-Level coursework, and I was able to submit a full marks piece with 1650 words. There is no need for more than that, and I'd like to note that submitting lengthy essays won't hide the lack of analysis. I wanted to see the significance command word in the task really explored, yet I was disappointed to see the essay simply tells what happens in each soliloquy. I would be exploring how Iago's soliloquies are key in setting Othello's tragedy in motion.