Othello Group

Question:

slyjacks08
slyjacks08

How does Shakespeare use Iago's soliloquies to reveal his motivations in "Othello"?

Rate question:

Posted by slyjacks08 on Thursday April 2, 2009 at 4:38 PM and tagged with characters, iago, motivation, othello, soliloquy.

Answers:

  1. mbomengen
    mrsmonica Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    Think of Shakespeare as the George Lucas of the 16th century. He wrote plays in order to have actors tell stories on a stage, much as Lucas wrote the Star Wars scripts to tell stories on film. Shakespeare didn't have cameras and film and special effects, so he had to use other tools.

    A soliloquy is one way for the audience to find things out about a character without the rest of the characters knowing. A soliloquy can therefore create suspense and dramatic irony. It can also foreshadow future events.

    Using this perspective, think about (1) the things that Iago does and compare them to (2) the things that Iago says when no one is around to listen except the audience.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/literary-terms/soliloquy
    http://www.enotes.com/othello/iago-character-analysis

    Rate answer:

    Posted by mrsmonica on Thursday April 2, 2009 at 5:09 PM