Othello 1.3 L.342-447

As a continuation of the previous post, the entire audience had left leaving Roderigo and Iago to have the time to talk. Immediately, Roderigo expresses his sadness by saying to Iago that he is going to go and drown himself. Iago comforts him by saying things like Desdemona is a guinea hen to dissuade him from suicide. Iago uses many imagery devices such as relating bodies to gardens and wills, gardeners. He manipulates Roderigo using his heightened emotions and empty promises of being able to woo Desdemona. Iago convinces Roderigo to follow the couple to Cyprus as a chance to get closer to Desdemona but at the same time, Iago is using Roderigo as his purse after telling him to sell all his belongings for money. To be even more convincing, Iago describes his hatred for Othello in order to reassure Roderigo about his plans. At the end of the play, Iago has a monolog in which he belittles Roderigo and explains that his motive for ruining Othello is because of a rumor where Othello had sex with his wife.

In these lines, I found the imagery very intuitive and useful for explaining the setting and mood of the scene. Iago describes the body as a garden and our will as the gardener. He explains how our wills will determine if the garden is cluttered with a variety of herbs or with one type of herbs. He's relating the analogy to a person's sex life. He is describing how Roderigo could be more aggressive and should be actively going for Desdemona. Another form of imagery he uses is to describe the changing desires of Moors. He describes how his desire for Desdemona right now is like a locust and it will change to a coloquintidas in a short amount of time.

Why does Iago end with the phrase, "Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light" (446-447)?
Aside from dramatic effect, I think that Shakespeare made Iago say these lines in order to portray him as a dark and villainous character who has the rest of the play in his hands. Iago means in these lines that he has a plan laid out to catch Othello and ruin him and the idea is so cruel it could be something that originates from Hell and night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fItEfJhf0oc
This video shows an actor playing the role of Iago when he says his soliloquy. The actor himself portrays Iago very well but the part that fascinated me is when he used chess pieces to represent himself, Othello and Desdemona. He portrays himself as a knight in between Othello and Desdemona who are the King and Queen respectively. It is interesting how he sees himself as a knight even though knights are righteous and just but Iago is anything but.

Quotes	Context	Themes	Explanation
“What sayst thou, noble heart? (344)	Iago is about to comfort Roderigo with his heart-break for Desdemona	There is a theme of dishonesty where Iago doesn’t truly believe that Roderigo is noble	Iago is manipulating Roderigo to do his bidding and one of the ways he does this is flatter Rodrigo even though it is not truthful
“Our bodies are our gardens, to which our will are gardeners” (370-372)	Iago is describing the body and will as a garden and gardener to help Roderigo understand his desires.	There is a motif of plants in these lines.	Iago could be thinking of himself as a gardener who is managing a garden of plants.
“a supersubtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her” (399-400)	Iago is giving Roderigo hope that if he follows Iago’s instructions, he will be able to get Desdemona.	The motif of hell is illuminated in these lines	Hell is later mentioned in Iago’s soliloquy and hell could be a motif to represent the evil that is present in Iago’s mind
“That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,and will tenderly be led by th’ nose as asses are” (443-445)	This is in Iago’s soliloquy where he is ridiculing Othello for being a trusting man	There is a theme of lies and honesty.	Othello nature is opposite of Iago’s. While Othello is honest and noble, Iago is witty and cunning and it is displayed in the soliloquy.