Othello #2: Iago's Asides

In Act II, scene i of Shakespeare's Othello, Iago has two asides, each of which provide insight into his thoughts and schemes. The first of his asides starts at line 182 and ends at line 193 and is in response to seeing Cassio and Desdemona hold hands. Iago says that "with as little a web as this will I ensnare as / great a fly as Cassio" (II. i. 183-184). Here Iago hints at how he will get back at Othello and become lieutenant. Iago wants to use this hand hold to trap Cassio and become lieutenant. Iago also says that "I will / gyve thee in thine own courtship" (II. i. 184-185). Iago again hints at how he will use the hand hold for his own personal gain. This is just another way if Iago saying that he is going to trap Cassio from his own actions (the hand hold). Throughout the rest of the aside Iago makes comments about the hand hold he is observing and how said action is going to make his goal easy to accomplish. Iago's second aside of Act II, scene i is in response Othello and Desdemona's conversation and then kiss. Iago says: "O, you are well tuned now, / But I'll set down the pegs that make this music, / As honest as I am" (II. i. 218-220). Through his aside, Iago once again provides insight into his future actions through his thoughts. Iago uses a metaphor of a string instrument to symbolize his plan to destroy the love between Othello and Desdemona. In a string instruments the pegs are what hold the strings and keep the music in tune. If Iago were to lower the legs in the instrument, he would cause the music, metaphorically Othello and Desdemona's love, to become out of tune, and thus, he would cause their love to unravel at the seams. The part of the aside "as honest as I am" hints at how Iago is going to make his story sound like the truth, especially given Othello's keen view of Iago. Iago's asides are his thoughts and his thoughts are key to understanding Iago's motives and what he plans on doing throughout the play.