Othello Quotes

• 1.1 Iago: "Mere prattle without practice, is all his soldiership"


  Iago is resentful of Cassio being promoted over him, he says Cassio was not qualified to be a lieutenant.
• 1.1 Iago: "I follow him to serve my turn upon him"


  Iago is manipulative - he is working for Othello only to have revenge on him.
• 1.1 Iago: "I am not what I am"


  Sums up Iago's duplicitous (two-faced) and manipulative nature - key characteristics of a Machiavellian villain.
• 1.1 Iago: "Poison his delight... plague him with flies"


  Iago tells Roderigo to wake up Brabantio to inform him that his daughter has eloped with Othello. Iago takes pleasure in Brabantio's anger at what has happened.
• 1.1 Iago: "An old black ram is tupping your white ewe"


  Iago uses bestial imagery to try to anger Brabantio. He is also exploiting Othello's race here by appealing to Brabantio's racist prejudices.
• 1.2 Othello: "Tis better as it is"


  Othello says that it is good that Iago didn't stab Brabantio. This shows he is rational - in direct opposition to the racist stereotype of the time.
• 1.2 Othello: "My services, which I have done the signiory / Shall out-tongue his complaints"


  Othello is self-confident - he believes that his worth as a military commander is enough to convince the Duke to ignore Brabantio's complaints about his marriage.
• 1.2 Othello: "I love the gentle Desdemona"


  Establishes Othello's love for Desdemona. The epithet used to describe Desdemona is associated with the traditional feminine stereotype.
• 1.2 Othello: "I won his daughter"


  Though this establishes that Desdemona freely chose to love Othello, it also objectifies her - she was previously the property of Brabantio but now she is Othello's.
• 1.2 Iago: "he to-night hath boarded a lank carrack"


  Compares Othello to a pirate raiding a ship - suggesting he is only married to Desdemona for the money and does not love her.
• 1.3 Othello: "Most potent, grave, and revered signiors"


  Othello is eloquent and respectful - he does not align with the stereotype.
• 1.3 Othello: "Rude am I in my speech"


  He is humble, as he is anything but rude.
• 1.3 Othello: "She loved me for the dangers I had passed / And I loved her that she did pity them"


  Othello states that his love for Desdemona is reciprocated and based off of who they are and what they have done - it is not the result of drugs or "witchcraft" as Brabantio claims.
• 1.3 Desdemona: "I do perceive here a divided duty"


  Desdemona says that part of her duty is to Brabantio, her father, but part of it is also to Othello, her husband. She is brave in opposing him like this in public - establishes that she is composed and self-confident.
• 1.3 Iago: "as tenderly lead by the nose / as asses are"


  Iago uses more bestial imagery to explain to the audience that Othello is trusting and so will be easy to exploit.
• 1.3 Iago: "I have't. It is engendered. Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light"


  Ends Iago's soliloquy, shows he is satisfied with his plan. His use of imagery associated with the devil would clearly label his as the villain to the Christian audience of the time.
• 2.1 Cassio: "Our great captain's captain"


  Refers to Desdemona - shows that she has power and authority over Othello - their relationship is equal.
• 2.1 Othello: "My soul's joy"


  Shows Othello's joy at being reunited with Desdemona. The religious language makes it seem as though as he views it as a miracle.
• 2.1 Othello: "My fair warrior"


  Another reference to Desdemona, focusing on her power in direct contrast to the traditional portrayal of women at the time.
• 2.1 Othello: "If it were now to die / 'Twere now to be most happy"


  Othello's happiness at the return of Desdemona makes it so that he would be happy to die now.
• 2.1 Iago: "You are well tuned now: but I'll set down / The pegs"


  Iago uses the metaphor of a stringed instrument for Othello and Desdemona's love, saying he will loosen the pegs so the harmonious sound we see now will turn to discord.
• 1.3 Iago: "it is thought abroad, that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office: I know not if't be true; / But I, for mere suspicion in that kind, / Will do as if for surety"


  Iago believes Othello has been having an affair with Iago's wife, Emilia (which is not true). Iago does not know if it is true, but acts as if it is.
• 2.2 Herald: "Our noble and valiant / general"


  Othello is well respected, especially as he has now saved Cyprus.
• 2.3 Othello "My blood begins my safer guides to rule, / And passion, having my best judgement collied, / Assays to lead the way."


  Othello begins to slip into irrationality - here, he is threatening to lose his temper.
• 2.3 Othello: "never more be officer of mine"


  Othello fires Cassio, upon the advice of Iago.
• 2.3 Desdemona: "What's the matter?" Othello: "All's well now, sweeting"


  Othello assures Desdemona that the trouble is over.
• 2.3 Cassio: "Reputation, reputation, reputation! ... I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial"


  Cassio is self-pitying and cares more what others think about him than what he is, as emphasised as his despair at his loss of reputation rather than his position. This makes him gullible and allows Iago to easily manipulate him.
• 2.3 Iago: "Divinity of Hell"


  The oxymoron emphasises Iago's evilness - he sees the devil as divine.
• 2.3 Iago: "I'll pour this pestilence into his ear"


  Iago plans to manipulate Othello into thinking Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio.
• 2.3 Iago: "And out of her own goodness make the net / That shall enmesh them all"


  Iago is gleeful at the brilliance of his own plan and intensely evil - the metaphor emphasises how he manipulates people so they bring themselves down
• 3.3 Desdemona: "Whatever you be, I am obedient"

  Desdemona pledges unconditional love for Othello - saying she will be obedient to him whatever he does. This was what wives were expected to do to their husbands at the time.
• 3.3 Iago: "Beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock / The meat it feeds on: that cuckold lives in bliss / Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger"

  Iago warns Othello against jealousy - he has experience with it as he is jealous of Cassio himself. Iago goes on to tell Othello that compared to the agony of jealousy, simple anger is "bliss" - he is thus tempting Othello to become angry at Desdemona rather than just jealous -
• 3.3 Othello: "When I love thee not, chaos is come again"


  Othello experiences extremes of emotion - he either loves Desdemona or succumbs to "emotional chaos" - foreshadowing.
• 3.3 Othello: "I had rather be a toad / And live upon the vapour of a dungeon / Than keep a corner in the thing I love / For other's uses"

  Othello has been manipulated by Iago - as shown that he now uses Iago's animalistic imagery. He also calls Desdemona a "thing" - a far cry from "fair warrior".
• 3.3 Othello: "I'll tear her all to pieces"

  Othello is so angry at Desdemona he is now becoming violent - he is becoming the stereotype he was once the antithesis of as a result of Iago's manipulations.
• 3.4 Desdemona: "My noble Moor / Is of true mind, and made of no baseness / As jealous creatures are"

  Desdemona still thinks highly of Othello - she believes he could not be jealous based off a rumour - this is dramatic irony. When Emilia doubts this she says that his jealousy has been evaporated by the hot sun of Africa - this shows how even she makes assumptions of people's character based off their race.
• 3.4 Othello: "A young and sweating devil, here / That commonly rebels"

  Here Othello is referring to Desdemona's hand as a metaphor for her sexual appetite. Though he is accusing her of being unfaithful, she does not believe his capable of such of a thing so takes it as a lover's teasing.
• 3.4 Emilia: "They are all but stomachs, and we are all but food"

  Emilia is cynical with regard to men - could be as a result of her experience as Iago's wife.
• 3.4 Emilia: "It is a monster / Begot upon itself, born upon itself"

  Emilia tells Desdemona that jealousy does not need a cause
• 4.1 Othello: "The raven over the infectious house"


  Metaphor compares the handkerchief to a raven over a plague-ridden house