Othello! help needed! soliloquies (1 Viewer)

everanoutsider

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so we have the assessment to do and its supposed to be a 4-5 minute speech:
analyse two soliloquies at different points of the play which highlight character motives and ambitions. Discuss and analyse how the speeches, or soliloquies contribute to the wider meaning of the play.

i've chosen Iago's at the end of Act 2, scene 1 and Othello's in Act 3, scene 3 (about Desdemona) and am turning up blanks. Help would be appreciated.
 

emma12

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Ok, I know it's not much but hopefully you can get started with this:

Iago, Act II, Scene i
In this soliloquy, Iago is saying that he wants revenge because he suspects that both Othello and Cassio have slept with Emilia.
Quote: "For that I do suspect the lusty Moor/ Hath leaped into my seat"
and "For I fear Cassio with my night-cap too -".
So it seems like Iago is trying to justify or give himself a reason why he's being so evil and making these plans.
Iago also says "And nothing can or shall content my soul/ Till I am evened with him, wife for wife" which is just a quote for revenge.
Iago says he will do this while making Othello think he is really trustworthy and honest, when he says "Make the Moor thank me, love me and reward me".
He's going to go this by using Othello's good and trusting nature, which is shown when Iago says "An practising upon his peace and quiet."
The theme of appearance versus reality also comes in when Iago says "Knavery's plain face is never seen till used".
 

agua.fuego

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Yeah, Iago's soliloquy's are the best to analyse. Iago is the character that matters, I think. You can do Othello's though, and show his downfall (like in the Aristotlean [spelt wrong, I'm sure] model).
 

kaz1

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heres a normal english translation of actII scene I

IAGO
I think Cassio really does love her, and it's perfectly likely that she loves him too. I can't stand the Moor, but I have to admit that he's a reliable, loving, and good-natured man. He'd probably be a good husband to Desdemona. I love her too, not simply out of lust, but also to feed my revenge. I have a feeling the Moor slept with my wife. That thought keeps gnawing at me, eating me up inside. I won't be satisfied until I get even with him, wife for wife. If I can't do that, I can at least make the Moor so jealous that he can't think straight. If that piece of Venetian trash Roderigo can do what I need to carry out my plan, I'll have power over Cassio. I'll say bad things about him to the Moor. I have a feeling Cassio seduced my wife as well. I'll make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me, even though the joke will be on him the whole time. I've got a good plan, though I haven't worked out the details yet. You can never see the end of an evil plan until the moment comes.

Act 3, scene 3

OTHELLO
This Iago is extremely honest and good, and he knows a lot about human behavior. If it turns out that she really is running around on me, I'll send her away, even though it'll break my heart. Maybe because I'm black, and I don't have nice manners like courtiers do, or because I'm getting old—but that's not much—She's gone, and I've been cheated on. I have no choice but to hate her. Oh what a curse marriage is! We think our beautiful wives belong to us, but their desires are free! I'd rather be a toad in a moldy basement than to have only a part of someone I love, sharing the rest of her with others. This is the plague of important men—our wives betray us more than those of poor men. It's our destiny, like death. We are destined to be betrayed when we are born. Oh, here she comes.

hope it helps
 

everanoutsider

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lol thanks for the help. i still go with the opinion shakespeare was never meant to be read.
 

RainyDayGirl

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I need help on that too!

Anyone know anything on Iago's at Act 1 Scene 3??? :(
 

kaz1

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RainyDayGirl said:
I need help on that too!

Anyone know anything on Iago's at Act 1 Scene 3??? :(
i can give you a traslation of it

IAGO That's how I always do it, getting money from fools. I'd be wasting my skills dealing with an idiot like that if I couldn't get something useful out of him. I hate the Moor, and there's a widespread rumor that he's slept with my wife. I'm not sure it's true, but just the suspicion is enough for me. He thinks highly of me. That'll help. Cassio's a handsome man. Let's see, how can I get his position and use him to hurt Othello at the same time? How? How? Let's see. After a while I'll start telling Othello that Cassio is too intimate with Desdemona. Cassio is a smooth talker and a handsome man, the sort of man that people would expect to be a seducer. The Moor is open and straightforward. He thinks any man who seems honest is honest. People like that are easy to manipulate. So it's all decided. I've worked it out. With a little help from the devil, I'll bring this monstrous plan to success.
 

kaz1

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everanoutsider said:
lol do you like Othello?
Are you asking me?

Yeah cause its the only shakespeare play i have read so far that has a black guy in it.
 

everanoutsider

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lol yeah i was. didnt romeo and juliet? or was that just the leonardo and claire danes mi=ovie version with the black guy?
 

kaz1

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everanoutsider said:
lol yeah i was. didnt romeo and juliet? or was that just the leonardo and claire danes mi=ovie version with the black guy?
Nah movie version.Speaking of black guys in Shakespeare Denzel Washington played Don Pedro in Much ado about Nothing and Keanau Reeves played Don John (Don Pedro's brother) in that same movie. lol
 

everanoutsider

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lol we had a crap teacher in year 8 so we watched much ado about nothing a bazillion times cause everyone kept telling her we hadnt watched all of it ... i hate that movie -_-
 

selablad

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everanoutsider said:
lol we had a crap teacher in year 8 so we watched much ado about nothing a bazillion times cause everyone kept telling her we hadnt watched all of it ... i hate that movie -_-
Haha, that's exactly the same as me! Except it was in year 9, and we only watched it a *billion* times :D
 

everanoutsider

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too bad it wasnt romeo and juliet. i coulda watched that a bazillion times . except the ending when they die *tear
 

RainyDayGirl

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i have that movie! its good =]

this speech is so dumb. i still havent done anything and its due monday!! ARGH!!! *dies*

hey do you think if i die they'll still want it??
 

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