An analysis of how the character Iago from William Shakespeare’s Othello moves his plan forward through references to his soliloquies and exchanges with others.
Beginning with Iago’s initial exchange with Roderigo and Brabantio, this paper works through the first 3 Acts of the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare looking at the way in which Iago moves his plan forward. The semantic fields and imagery sequences are examined in detail, with analysis and line references after each quote highlighted in bold for easy cross-referencing. All quotes are well integrated and put into context. The paper also includes character analysis of Iago and Othello.
“Iago’s next exchange with Othello shows how successful he has been – Othello makes it clear he has convinced himself of Desdemona’s guilt in Iago’s absence: I swear ‘its better to be much abused / Than but to know a little. 3.3.338/9, and What sense had I of her stolen hours of lust? 3.3.341. One can infer that Iago is delighted by this, as it means he has been successful, and with the handkerchief in his possession he can offer proof of her ‘guilt’. Emilia’s deception came just at the right moment, as Othello demands `ocular proof` which Iago is now in a position to give. One may argue that he was playing things rather riskily by `abusing` Othello’s ears without the proof of the handkerchief, but now things are falling into place more by luck than by his own manipulation.”