Othello Quotes

Question 1

‘Thick lips’ - Roderigo in Act 1 Scene 1

Answer 1

Highlights the racism rooted in Venetian society, cruel words are spouted out constantly by characters, targeted at Othello.

Question 2

‘My services which I have done the Signory shall out-tongue his complaints’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 2

Possible hubris - he knows his reputation as a general gleams and outshines the controversy of his marriage to Desdemona.

Question 3

‘But that I love the gentle Desdemona I would not my unhoused free condition put into circumscription and confine for the sea’s worth’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 3

He likens himself to the sea - wild, volatile, uncontrolled. Othello feels as though love and marriage has restrained him, he admits he would not have given up his bachelorhood and liberty if he was not in love. This emphasised the unstable foundations of their union.

Question 4

‘My parts, my title and my perfect soul’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 4

Potential hubris - Othello is confident in his position in the eyes of the Duke and that he will not be punished.

Question 5

‘Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 2

Answer 5

Othello is wise, reasonable, calm, rational, level-headed. Him being the voice of reason would contrast with Jacobean society’s stereotypes for a black man - savage, angry, irrational.

Question 6

‘Rude am I in my speech and little blessed with the soft phrase of peace’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 6

Othello uses sprezzatura to humble himself in front of the Signory, highlighting his skills in manipulation via flattery of others and self- deprivation. The truth that he is actually a skilled orator challenges racist beliefs.

Question 7

‘And of the Cannibals that each other eat, the Anthropophagi, and men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders’ - Othello in Act 1 Scene 3

Answer 7

Othello’s wild and riveting tales cement his reputation as a general. After all he’s been through, he’s a worthy leader and deeply attractive to Desdemona.

Question 8

‘Brave Othello’ - Montano in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 8

Othello is heralded and respected, this will contrast his fall from grace and descent into jealousy and madness later on.

Question 9

‘O my soul’s joy’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 9

Othello describes his love for Desdemona as passionate, spiritual, transcending the physical and mortal world.

Question 10

‘May the winds blow till they have wakened death…If I were now to die, t’were now to be most happy’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 10

Othello has lost rational thought and has been consumed by his extreme emotion. He makes strange declarations - that he wishes for more storms so that he can have the pleasure of seeing Desdemona’s face afterwards. This foreshadows future tempests that will lead to chaos and fury. This moment is also the pinnacle of his happiness.

Question 11

‘Mark me with what violence she first loved the Moor but for bragging and telling her fantastical lies’ - Iago in Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 11

Othello embellished the tales of his past experiences in order to woo Desdemona.

Question 12

‘What is the matter here? Hold, for your lives!’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 3

Answer 12

Othello asserts his dominance, he is the figure of authority and is deeply respected.

Question 13

‘Swounds’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 3

Answer 13

Othello’s first profanity. As the world around him is being poisoned by Iago, the use of expletives is growing and noble Othello begins to change.

Question 14

‘Though he had twinned with me, both at birth - shall lose me’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 3

Answer 14

Othello makes a bold, emotional claim without even knowing the truth about the brawl. Sign of his irrational and melodramatic behaviour growing - dangerous for a leader.

Question 15

‘To manage private and domestic quarrel’ - Othello in Act 2 Scene 3

Answer 15

Hypocritical and ironic in hindsight- Othello criticises the public brawl but his fight with Desdemona will be public later on - the merging of the public and private spheres.

Question 16

‘To leave me but a little to myself’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 16

Contrasts with Othello’s previous adoring comments about Desdemona. She is beginning to irritate him and he desires space away from her - cracks in their marriage are beginning to show.

Question 17

‘Excellent wretch, perdition catch my soul but I do love thee! and when I love thee not, chaos is come again’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 17

Othello is saying that when he stops loving Desdemona his soul will be damned to hell. He begins to mirror Iago’s language - he’s starting to lose his sanity and is exactly where Iago wants him. The caesura symbolises his lack of control.

Question 18

‘By heaven, thou echo’st me, as if there were some monster in thy thought’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 18

Motif of monster, connoting chaos, destruction, hell, malice. Iago is slowly driving Othello mad.

Question 19

‘I am bound to thee forever’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 19

Othello trusts Iago wholeheartedly, more than he trusts himself. This shows how Iago’s dominance is secured - he now has control over Iago.

Question 20

‘And yet how nature, erring from itself’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 20

Othello now sees his marriage to Desdemona as unnatural, his view aligning with Venetian society. Is he fickle? When he loved Desdemona he believed their union was pure and true but now when struck with rage and jealousy he sees their love as abnormal.

Question 21

‘If I do prove her haggard, though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings, I’d whistle her off and let her down the wind to prey at fortune’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 21

Othello uses animalistic imagery (Jesses were used to tether falcons) which presents the idea that Desdemona is under his control, restoring the patriarchal balance. It also makes her seem like a huntress - cruel, inhuman, unloving.

Question 22

‘O curse of marriage, that we call these delicate creatures ours and not not their appetites’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 22

Marriage has now become a curse for Othello, he resents how he is bound to his wife yet he cannot keep her from indulging in her lascivious desires.

Question 23

‘Farewell the tranquil mind; farewell content’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 23

Othello uses hyperbole, highlighting how his unbridled jealousy has now dismantled his psyche, he’s overcome with his emotions, he’s irrational and this will have a ripple effect on society due to his role as a general.

Question 24

‘O monstrous! Monstrous!’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 24

Othello is repeating his words, illuminating how he has lost control over his speech due to his wrath.

Question 25

‘I’ll tear her all to pieces!’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 25

Othello reduces Desdemona to a pronoun and his gory, brutal and gruesome declaration reveals how his fury has blinded him and eradicated the love he once has for Desdemona.

Question 26

‘Othello kneels’ - Stage direction in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 26

Shows how Othello has now submitted to his rage, letting it take full control of his mind and his actions.

Question 27

‘Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her, damn her!’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 27

Othello’s anger explodes, he damns Desdemona to hell repeatedly, which juxtaposes his previous explosions of emotions, fury and hate contrasting with love and passion.

Question 28

‘Tis true; there’s magic in the web of it’ - Othello in Act 3 Scene 4

Answer 28

The origins of the handkerchief are exotic and magical. This contrasts with 1:2 when Othello denies profusely having used magic to woo Desdemona. Is this story true or his previous claims? Also, is Othello giving into racial stereotypes by using magic?