Iago is closing Act I, Scene III, with a very deep and self-revealing monologue. I find this an exceptional genuine (as much as possible) confession from Iago, being a deceptive, liar manipulator character that scarcely says what’s on his heart –

I hate the Moor,

And it is thought abroad that ’twixt my sheets

He’s done my office. I know not if ’t be true,

But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,

Will do as if for surety. (A I S III, 429-433)

An important addition here to Iago’s motives is the rumors about Othello sleeping with his wife, Emilia. He reveals the awful truth – he HATES Othello and wants to destroy him. Watching this monologue after re-reading it, with the same exact lines (obviously), had a much larger impact than reading. The text provided me with the background and the plan of Iago’s anger and revenge, but these were simple words with no power or influence. Thus, I didn’t get much of a picture about him, his looks, or his volume of seriousness / passion / intentions. These are crucial things missing in my opinion.

The way Iago said the first sentence (“I….HATE…. THE … MOOOOOR”) was slowly and fill with hatred. It gave it a completely different power than I gave it reading the text. Every line followed with a different emphasis in the movie, and I could feel the hate growing from each sentence to another. Furthermore, the game at the end of this scene was very interesting. It seemed like Iago is putting his own figure as a horse rider in between the ‘king’ Othello, and ‘queen’ Desdemona. A great metaphor of him coming in between their relationship (which is limited in texts). It was if he almost has supper powers: playing the chess game and reality follows (like ancient times where people made a small doll of someone and stabbed it to cause actual harm to the person).

The bottom line – even though the text is identical, the power of the movie took this sub-scene to a different level with emotional appeal and elevating Iago as a bad person, making him very scary in my opinion. It was clearly very interesting to watch after reading the same lines. (Since you remember them and it’s almost as if you can anticipate what the actor is going to say, buy you are still anxious to see how and when).

The story comes to life in a different way than you imagined, no matter what it was. The facial expression, volume, timing, and way things said changes the image you have and the atmosphere completely. That’s the beauty about movies based on books. I felt the need to add a pic in addition to the video link, since you can tell so much about the hate reflected in Iago just by looking at his eyes. I feel like he is anxious to destroy Othello in a different level than the text (being limited by its nature) has.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fItEfJhf0oc