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Iago’s soliloquy is such an important passage because this is where we see what Iago’s intentions are. At this pivotal scene in Act I, you see how Iago plans on getting revenge on Othello. His first part is that he is convincing Roderigo to go after the love of his life Desdemona. Iago says that even though she married Othello she will get sick of him because he is much older than her. “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse. For I mine own gained knowledge should profane. If I would time expend with such a snipe. But for my sport and profit.”(page 55, lines 426-429) Iago is planning on taking Roderigo’s money and will profit off of his plan. He calls Roderigo a fool and believes that he is superior over him. He is such a great manipulator and Roderigo is lesser of a man than Iago that he feels he is obligated to profit off of this plan.

Next, Iago talks about how much he despises the Moor. It was interesting to see the reasons behind his hatred. You would think that he would hate Othello more because he has been rumored to have slept with his wife, Emilia, but he is more upset that Othello passed up on him for lieutenant. He feels that because of these reasons he is allowed to seek revenge on Othello with this plan. He felt that Cassio was not experienced enough in battle to gain that position. He feels it would be perfect to convince Othello that Cassio is sleeping with his wife because it destroys Othello and Cassio at the same time. He is able to convince Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio because he is very sweet and handsome. Othello trusts what a lot of people tell him. I believe that this has to do with him being an outsider and is not used to how people act in the Venetian society. He can tell Othello that his wife is sleeping with Cassio with little evidence because of this.

Shakespeare uses soliloquies very frequently throughout this play so we can view the thoughts of the characters. Through these soliloquies we are able to hear information that tells us a lot about the play as a whole and really helps develop the plot. This soliloquy is so important to the story because the whole play is based on this plan of Iago to seek revenge on the moor. You are able to see Iago’s true intentions through this passage and it guides us and thickens us to the climax of the play.

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An important question that I posed in my blog post was if the play of Othello agrees with the way Iago speaks about women throughout the whole play? I feel that this is an important question because I feel like it is a hidden issue throughout this whole play. Iago has spoken negatively about plenty of women including his own wife. I do believe that it is accepted by the play to a certain extent. Women are viewed as people who are powerless cheaters that can’t make their own decisions. From the very beginning, Desdemona is questioned about her decision to marry Othello by her father, Roderigo and Iago. Her own father was convinced that she was put under a spell from Othello to make her love him. That shows that women are powerless and are susceptible to magic and are unable to choose who she loves.

Also, the play only has three female characters: Desdemona, Bianca and Emilia. All three women are very important to the story as a whole but not one in a positive way. It shows how Shakespeare feels about women and marriage. Iago is clearly a villain and he has to be in all aspects of the play so that is why he speaks of women in such a derogative way. Also, I feel that Iago feels superior to women and that is why he speaks on him the way he does.

All women are casted as unfaithful. Even if they were not that is what the main view of women is. Emilia is rumored to have slept with Othello according to Iago and Desedomona is manipulated by Iago to believe she has had an affair with Cassio. Bianca is the last woman in this play and she is a prostitute. She falls in love with Cassio you see that once he gets wounded. It seems that the only power that women have is their sexuality. “if the general camp,/Pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body,/So I had nothing known”(page 143, lines 397-400) You see that Othello is infatuated with her sexuality. They are viewed as temptresses throughout this play. Other than that they are viewed as possessions and weak.

The most powerful thing I have seen from a woman throughout this whole plays is from Emilia. She is the one that unfolds and tells everyone how Iago is to blame for all of this tragedy. I would have never predicted that the antagonist’s wife would be the one that will tell all about Iago. She was very loyal to Iago throughout the whole play but she put that aside because she knew what was right.

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I like watching the play be performed because you realize mannerisms and understand things better while seeing it actually performed. These plays were meant to be seen not read. A scene that really sticks out to me was when Othello slaps Desdemona. While reading the play you don’t really see the mannerisms of Iago, Desdemona, Othello. I find it so sad that when Othello speaks about crocodile tears the reader is set to believe that they are indeed fake tears but while viewing the play you are able to see that they are not fake. “if that earth could teem with woman’s tears, each drop would prove a crocodile. Out of my sight!”(page 159, lines 273-276) Othello does not believe his wifes tears and this causes him to strike her. Desdemona literally has no idea what has gotten into her husband because she has never seen him act like this. He is behaving like a monster and she has no idea what the reasoning is behind it. It was very interesting to see how Iago was positioned in that scene. He was standing right by the couple while they were arguing and he is standing there with a blank look on his face like he does not know what is going on. In reality, He is the sole reason that Othello is slapping his wife. He knows exactly what is going on and his plan is developing right in front of his eyes.

It is hard to tell while reading but watching the performance you really are able to see how innocent Desdemona due to her unawareness of Iago devious plan. Iago’s plan is being executed perfectly and most important he is there to view every part of it without anyone catching on. These tears are real from Desdemona and she is heart broken by the way her husband is acting. Othello was easily manipulated and instead of jumping to conclusions on circumstantial evidence he should have acted like an adult and spoke to both Cassio and Desdemona about this situation. This behavior is what leads to the overall outcome of the play and that is DEATH!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOG_Cc-DKZI

Skip to 1 hour and 3 minutes in and you will see this scene where Othello strikes her and speaks about her crocodile tears.

When comparing Othello to other works of literature that we have read throughout the semester I found it very easy to contrast it to the Epic of Gilgamesh. In that story you see how Gilgamesh is a well-respected individual because of his accomplishments on the battlefield. What I found interesting is that Othello is such a decorated General but the color of his skin cannot be overlooked by the Venetian society. Othello is ostracized and left as an outsider in this society because he is not from there. He has done such great work as a warrior to help defend the city of Venice but he cannot be accepted. “Valiant Othello, we must employ you against the general enenmy Ottoman.”(page 33, lines 56-57) You see that they have respect for Othello as a warrior by calling him valiant. But I can’t help but wonder if Othello were in Urik would the citizens accept him? I understand that Gilgamesh was the king but he could be accepted because his success in battle.

Gilgamesh is looked at as a leader because he is a well-respected warrior. Othello is a well-respected warrior but because he is black it overpowers the fact of his success in war. Brabantio and Iago see it as a problem if Desdemona marries someone of a different color. It is quite obvious through textual evidence that the people of Venice do not accept Othello. The whole play revolves around Othello being the Venetian moor that has married someone that is white. It always comes back to race in this play and it shows how blacks were looked at in this time period. You would think that based on our past readings that the people of Venice would overlook the fact that he is a moor for the fact that he has protected and saved this city from its enemies. You would think it would outweigh that small issue based on the patterns of our readings from earlier in the semester especially Gilgamesh. You see the differences in values across the world and it is clear that the color of your skin is valued more than the protection of your city.

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It is interesting to see that Gilgamesh the King and a very great warrior while Othello is a great warrior as Gilgamesh but is ostracized in the Venetian society. Othello looks weak in his animated while Gilgamesh looks strong and collected.

A passage that I think is very important to the story and why Iago behaves the way he does is because of the nickname he has. It serves to be an ironic name because it is the exact opposite of what he is. But that is not why it is so important. The importance of this passage is that we are able to tell the main reason that Iago is acting out. You are able to see that Iago does not have a title. He is not a Sir or a lieutenant. He is not a General like Othello. This really gets under the skin of someone like Iago because it shows that Iago is from a lower class and viewed as a lesser man than characters like Cassio and Othello. Iago not having a title drives him to make a name for himself because he feels like he has none. This drives his deviant and malicious behavior, which leads to his plan to destroy Othello. He has no regard for anyone else and whoever is standing in his way is destined for a downfall. He uses his “friends” as pawns for his plan and they are clueless that the villain of this story is a man with the nickname honest Iago. “this fellows of exceeding honesty, and knows all with a learned spirit of human dealings.”(page 135, lines 299-301) You see in this soliloquy from Othello that he respects and takes in to account the word of Iago and believes honesty is a great quality of his.

This is very significant to the play as a whole because like throughout the whole play Iago is hiding behind himself. Whether it’s a wall or his word that is what Iago does. In this situation Iago is able to hide behind his past reputation to accomplish his goal. To gain a nickname like Honest Iago you must have done something right to prove to people that you are deserving of that nickname. He is smart and uses his past actions as an advantage to emerge as a villain. He hides behind his nickname allowing him to manipulate every character in this play. He may be evil, but he is an evil genius.

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There is a huge difference between reading a play and watching it be performed. When you are able to see it you see the gestures and facial expression that words can’t give you. You are able to grasp the emotion of the characters by simple movements or placements and that is what happened in a scene of Othello the movie. The scene that stood out to me the most was the scene where Iago and Roderigo are telling Brabantio about his daughter and Othello. “I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are making the beasts with two backs.”(page 15, lines 129-131) He is slandering Othello’s name to make it seem a lot worse that his daughter is with a Moor. He is manipulating Brabantio to make him have a huge problem with the situation that is happening. What was said was very important but I want to focus on where Iago was standing compared to Roderigo and the importance of it.

It was interesting to see that Iago was standing behind wall so he cannot be seen while speaking to Brabantio while Roderigo was standing out in the open. What was interesting about this situation was that when I read the play we did not know that this was happening. We believed that they were both speaking to Brabantio face to face. We do not know how Shakespeare originally wanted it but when the film was made they through that little twist on the scene. That twist was important and perfect to show the type of person Iago was. Through this scene, you were able to see that Iago is a man that hides from his actions. Just like his plan to destroy Othello he manipulates every character in the play but none of them know just like Brabantio was not sure that it was Iago speaking. He was using Roderigo as his puppet so he could receive all the blame if it were to get back to Othello. I thought that this was a great move by director Oliver Parker because of the creativity and symbolism that it brought to the scene. This is why it is very important to watch plays be performed as well as reading it. You are able to pick up on things that were impossible to see while reading the text. Iago is a coward and a snake that will use whomever to get to his goal and that is exactly what Parker shows through this scene.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOG_Cc-DKZI

Skip to 3 minutes and 55 seconds and you will see the scene where Iago is hiding behind the wall when telling Brabantio about his daughter.

Another image that was worth analyzing was the image and continuous use of animals throughout the play. Specifically, how it is used to describe Othello. From the very beginning of the play Othello is referred to as an animal. In fact, he was not even named in the first two scenes. Iago is to blame for this because all he does is talk about Othello but every time he mentions him it is a different animal. He refers to him as a “black ram” while he is telling Brabantio that he is sleeping with his daughter. While he even is telling Brabantio about Othello he says that he is “making the beast with two backs.” He calls him a “barbary horse,” a “baboon,” and a “beast.” “Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon”(page 51, lines 356-358) Animals references is what Iago uses to describe people especially when referring to Othello. He uses racist ones constantly. His most popular name he calls Othello is a moor. Although a moor is not an animal, it is a racist term that is derogatory towards Othello. It is not only Iago who uses these references but Emilia and Cassio.

The continuous use of these animal references shines a negative light on Shakespeare. They are so frequently used that they show how racist the characters in this play are. It is called the Tragedy of Othello the moor of Venice for a reason. The real tragedy is how Othello is a victim to these racist remarks and how the real villains are those that are white. The downfall of Othello is indeed a tragedy but the prejudice stereotypes are to blame for his downfall. Also, what I found interesting is that Iago continuously is referring to Othello as an animal when in reality Iago himself is the animal. He is the cause of all this death because of his manipulation and evil plan. Iago is the clear antagonist of this play and he deserves to have those names due to his action. Othello is only on the receiving end of this because of the color of his skin and that is the real tragedy.

I believe that the most important image in the whole play is the handkerchief. This small but significant image not only serves as an object but also provides us with a monumental symbol. This symbol represents the downfall of Othello. Along with Iago manipulating Othello’s brain it caused one of the most epic downfalls of a character in Shakespeare’s work. This was Othello’s first gift that he gave his lovely wife, Desdemona. As well as it being the first gift it also had family value to Othello. An Egyptian charmer gave it to his mother and as long as she had it her husband would love her and only her. In the beginning of the play Othello thought of the handkerchief to symbolize his love for Desdemona as well as her chastity and faithfulness. Iago convinces his wife, Emilia, to steal the handkerchief to convince Othello that his wife is no longer any of those things that this symbol represents. Once we see it in the possession of Cassio that is the end of Othello’s trust for his wife and vows to take action on this circumstantial evidence.

It is quite simple to see the significance of this symbol to the text. From the very beginning of this play you see the main problem of this play. Iago has a grudge against Othello because he passed on him as lieutenant giving it to Michael Cassio. Iago believes that Othello has slept with his wife, which you would think would be a bigger problem but it serves as his secondary motivation behind his plan to destroy Othello. Looking at the white napkin with strawberries spotted all over it. Othello tells Desdemona that the strawberries represent the blood from the “maidens hearts” or the “virgins blood.” Clearly you can see how important this handkerchief is to Othello due to the fact that he has family value behind it and a meaning for every stich. Iago knew this and used it to his advantage to pollute the mind of a warrior who once viewed his wife as an angel.

Quote- page 157, lines 65-79

You can clearly see the importance and meaning of the handkerchief to Othello. It was the most significant gift that he can give his wife and that is why when she loses it, it is such a big deal.

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