Othello: Key Quotes + Analysis

Question 1

“I know my price”

Answer 1

• Feeling of emascualtion within Iago of being placed in a lower position than Othello who he views as a ‘primitive’ person + who should beneath him
• Believes that Othello is an outsider to his community - vengful that he’s seen as unworthy by social elites

Question 2

“Poision his delight’

Answer 2

• Shakespeare makes the audience complicit in Iago’s Machievillan plan to damage Othello’s public reputation + make his seem like he’s betrayed the social order - he’s mocked the social conventions of society through his interracial relationship
• Iago is given the solioquies which tragic protagonists normally receive (e.g Macbeth + Hamlet) allowing him to connect with the audience who Shakespeare then burdens with the responsibility of allowing the chasos to ensue

Question 3

“theives, theives”
“an old black ram is tapping your white ewe”

Answer 3

• Racial sterotypes of Othello ‘stealing’ + sexually violating Desdemona who is seen as the passive victim of a callous individual rather than a willing bride - Shakespeare higlights the racist ideas that means a** Black man cannot be seen to have power or agency over himself**
• The clear preoccupation with Othello’s race empahsises the anger Iago has that Othello a General - ironic as both Othello + Iago are socially inferior but rather than being angry at the social elities Iago focuses on Othello due to internalised racist views - link to Marxist AO5

Question 4

“damned in a fair wife”

Answer 4

• Casual misogyny in which Iago is clearly angry at not having the power + control he’s obsessed over - implies attrative women are more likely to be unfaithful - foreshadows women being seen as decitful throughout the play - ironic as it’s men like Iago who incite hate
• Explores Iago’s insecurities as he views women as possessions which further reinforce social status

Question 5

“For daws to peck at: I am not what I am”

Answer 5

• Iago implies that honesty is a form of vunerability + is dangerous especially for men to expose themselves due to the commerical society + **social structures
• Caesura in the sentence demonstrates the instability in Iago’s sense of self Othello’s breaking of social order has broken Iago as he feels completely inadequate

Question 6

“if you have not given her leave… tying her duty, beauty, wit and fortunes”

Answer 6

• Portrays the patriarch dominance over women’s choice - Desdemona is immediately seen as not being controlled enough to malign her father’s social status - sees women as immoral
• The use of listing demonstrates the attributes she’s throwing away by marrying below her status + allowing a Black man to by the rules of marriage control a white women - portrays Othello as a sexual predator

Question 7

“With the Moor, say’st thou? - Who would be a father? - she decives me… Fathers from hence trust not your daughters’ minds by what you see them act.”

Answer 7

• Repeated questions from Brabantio show his extreme + quick loss of control + subversion authority which shows the emasculation he feels because Desdemona is a women
• Horror of Desdemona’s choice of lover has subverted the natural order - women are seen as creatures which must be controlled - she’s been undermining paternal patriarchal authority
• Resorts to the idea of her being abused to find some sort of solace in the breaking of his status - see the idea of women needing to lack agency which is ironic as the men are those who wreck chaos across society
• Shakespeare highlights the connection between Desdemona + Othello as the two groups in society who are controlled + demeaned as worthless - joint rebellion of social norms