Othello - Iago Key Quotes Flashcards
A quote from A1, S1 as Iago talks to Roderigo, suggesting Iago to be jealous of Casio for his placement over him into the position of lieutenant by Othello, the precursor to Iago’s jealous activities throughout the play
“Michael Cassio, a Florentine, / […] That never set a squadron in the field / Nor the division of battle knows / More than a spinster”
A quote from A1, S1 suggesting Iago’s duplicitous nature and his manipulative ability and intention in order to take what he desires, presenting from the very opening of the play Iago to be a manipulative and entirely self-serving individual
“Others there are / Who, trimmed in forms and visages of duty / […] throwing but shows of service on their lords, / Do well thrive by them, and , when they have lined their coats, / Do themselves homage”
A quote from A1, S1 further reflecting Iago’s duplicitous nature as he suggests honesty to be a life-ending weakness. His paradoxical phrase that mirrors God’s “I am what I am” in Exodus reflects his conniving, manipulative ability, and his nature as the antichrist
“But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve / For daws to peck at: I am not what I am”
A quote from A1, S1 as Iago wakes Brabantio to inform him of his daughter’s marriage to Othello. It highlights the latent racism within Venice and the manipulative ability of Iago to rouse anger and panic. Note the agitation and urgency created by repetition of “now”, as well as the bestial imagery used in “old”, “black”, and “tupping”, compared to the youth and innocence in “white ewe”
“Even now, now, very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe”
A quote from A1, S3 as Iago consoles Roderigo reflecting Iago’s scorn toward love and genuine relationships. He infers Desdemona is a prostitute in suggesting she is a “guinea-hen” (a showy bird)
“Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen I would change my humanity with a baboon”
A further quote from A1, S3 reflecting Iago’s fixation on immorality and his scornful attitude toward love. He suggests to Roderigo that love is a commodity that can be bought at the right price, suggesting he should sell his land for Desdemona’s love
“Put money in thy purse”
A quote from A2, S1 as the Venetians arrive in Cyprus and Iago watches Cassio greet the “divine Desdemona”, observing as “he takes her by the palm”, planning to use this action in order to arouse suspicion of Desdemona’s infidelity. The quote emphasises Iago’s blatant malevolent use of others as pawns within his game for revenge, describing Cassio as a mere “fly”, reflecting also the frustration of his appointment to lieutenant. He also describes himself like a spider, weaving a “web” of deceit
“With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio”
Two quotes from A2, S1 suggesting Iago to know Othello to be good and noble in nature, but that he treats him with malice due to a jealousy for Othello’s success
“The Moor, howbeit that I endure him not, / Is of a constant, loving, noble nature”
“I put the Moor / At least into a jealousy so strong / That judgement cannot cure”
A quote from the end of A2, S3 as Iago speaks to the audience in soliloquy, suggesting him to be simply entirely evil in his nature. He acts due to a kinship with hell, referring to himself as a “devil”. Note the juxtaposition between heaven and hell
“Divinity of hell! / When devils will the blackest sins put on / They do suggest at first with heavenly shows / As I do now”
A quote from the start of A3, S3 as Iago hints to Othello of his suspicions of his wife’s affair with Cassio. Iago manipulates Othello through words such as “might” and “should”, suggesting not all is as it seems. It is deeply dramatically ironic, as the audience are acutely aware of Iago’s duplicity
“Men should be what they seem, / Or those that be not, would they might seem none”
A quote from A3, S3 as Iago suggests to Othello Desdemona’s infidelity. His words indicate a violent image of deception, manipulating Othello in suggesting that Desdemona aggressively blinded her father to their love, and that she may too do the same to him. Links to Brabantio’s words in A1, S3. “Close as oak” refers to the close grain in oakwood
“To seel her father’s eyes up, close as oak”
A quote from A3, S3 in which Iago ruthlessly and boldly suggests to Othello that Desdemona’s love for him is unnatural and against nature, an accusation Othello has heard previously from Brabantio. It demonstrates Iago to play on Othello’s insecurities as a means by which to evoke the hamartia of jealousy within him
“To be bold with you / Not to affect many proposed matches / Of her own clime, complexion and degree, / Whereto we see, in all things, nature tends”
A quote from a moment of soliloquy in A3, S3 after Iago has been given the handkerchief by Emilia. The tone of malice is clear as he suggests he will make the garment into the “ocular proof” required by Othello to stoke his jealousy, proof as strong as Biblical law
“Trifles light as air / Are to the jealous confirmations strong / As proofs of holy writ”
A quote from Iago in A3, S3 further suggesting him to be a character of malice. He takes pleasure in tormenting Othello and robbing from him the “peace” found in sleep
“Not poppy nor mandragora / Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world / Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep / Which thou owedst yesterday”
A quote from the ‘marriage ceremony’ in A3, S3 as “Iago kneels” and pledges his allegiance to Othello to the heavens. Note the use of cosmic imagery similar to that used by Othello in “ever-burning lights above”
“Witness, you ever-burning lights above … / Witness that here Iago doth give up / The execution of his wit, hands, heart, / To wronged Othello’s service”
