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Summary 2018 A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO SCENE ESSAY - Iago Second Soliloquy
2018 A* AQA ENGLISH LITERATURE OTHELLO SCENE ESSAY - Iago Second Soliloquy
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2018 Othello – William Shakespeare Read theextract below and then answer the question.
[Iago's Second Soliloquy]
2018
Othello – William Shakespeare Read the extract below and then answer the question. Explore
the significance of this extract in relation to the tragedy of the play as a whole. Remember to
include in your answer relevant analysis of Shakespeareʼs dramatic methods. [25 marks]
Iagoʼs place as the tragic Machiavellian Malcontent villain.
The extract revealing an aspect of Iagoʼs motivation.
Roderigo as a tragic victim and the method in which Iago manipulates him.
The extract comes from Act II Scene I as the characters arrive in Cyprus marking the shift from
order and democracy to chaos and disruption. It begins in the middle of Iagoʼs manipulative
villainy being enacted on the tragic victim Roderigo as he uses his love for Desdemona and
sensitive class position to make his fool his purse. The scene therefore begins with an
immediate sense of the end as we already witness a character enmeshed in Iagoʼs web of lies
and deceit. The scene is also pivotal as it provides the current turning point in the play where
Iago hatches out his plan with the tragic themes of the tragic victims, Iagoʼs place as the tragic
villain, and motivation are all explored in the extract. Using this I will explore the significance of
the extract in relation to the tragedy of the play as a whole.
The extract presents the audience with the second of Iagoʼs soliloquys within the play
representing and foreshadowing the power which he will have as the play progresses. In
Shakespearian tragedies soliloquys are usually given to the tragic hero the man who is “highly
renowned and prosperous” (Aristotle) in an attempt to connect the audience with the hero as
that the tragedy becomes so much more cathartic. However, as Shakespeare subverts his usual
tragic presentation by giving Iago the soliloquys, he causes the “audience to become complicit
in Iagoʼs intentions and vengeful plotting” as Sean McEvoy. This causes Iago to become almost
likeable in the audiences minds as he reveals so much of his schemes and plotting so that even
the audience becomes manipulated. This acts as dramatic irony in the play so the audiences
know what to expect and instead anticipate how it will play out placing focus on the action of
the novel not the possible surprises.
However, the extracts soliloquy further makes the audience complicit through the interaction
between Roderigo and Iago. It not only introduces the first tragic victim who Iago not only
psychologically betrayals but also physically as “Roderigo goes to the devil with his eyes open
yet blindly” as critics have stated. He describes Roderigo as the “poor trash of Venice” causing
the audience to laugh at Roderigo alongside him, so he acts as a comedic relief character. He is
also the man Iago squeezes for money; “put money in thy purse” but also kills in Act V to tie up
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