Othello Quotes

Question 1

Quote on Othello’s love for Desdemona

Answer 1

“I love the gentle Desdemona”

• defends his love
• first reference from Othello to both love and Desdemona- suggests they are equivalent showing her good nature

Question 2

Othello’s ironic quote about his nature A1, S2

Answer 2

“My perfect soul”

-does suggest pride/ arrogance

Question 3

Quote for him being a proud, successful solider

A1, S2

Answer 3

“Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them”

Question 4

Quote on Othello’s inner conflict

Answer 4

“Rude I am in my speech,
And little blest with the soft phrase of peace”

-“little” has connotations to weak- peace is weak

Question 5

Viewing Deademona as his possession

A1, S3

Answer 5

“I won his daughter”

-women are the property of their father, before being owned by their husband

Question 6

Othello’s ironic quote regarding Desdemona’s loyalty to him

Answer 6

“Hey life upon her faith! Honest Iago”

Question 7

Quote for Othello’s broken speech

Answer 7

“Why, how now, ho?”

Shows his anger and frustration

Question 8

Quote from Othello to show his life as a soldier connecting to his marriage

Answer 8

“Come, Desdemona: ‘tis the soldiers’ life”

Question 9

Abstract noun used to describe future events, A3, S3

Answer 9

“Chaos”

Question 10

Othello’s certainty of his wife’s love

Answer 10

“For she had eyes and chose me”

Question 11

Quote for when Othello places the future of his marriage in Iago’s hands

Answer 11

“Let me know more;
Set on thy wife to observe”

• Othello’s thoughts are officially under Iago’s control
• he is now well tuned with Iago, not his wife

Question 12

What is used as a symbol of destruction?

Answer 12

“Napkin”

Question 13

What does Othello want from Iago?

Answer 13

“Ocular proof”

Question 14

Quote for Othello no longer believing Desdemona is faithful

Answer 14

“Prove my love a whore”

Question 15

Quote for Othello being unable to see love from reality

Answer 15

“I think my wife be honest and she is not”

• love becomes war
• confusion

Question 16

What is the significance of “honest”

Answer 16

• sexually faithful or honest about her love to him
• Iago is often called honest, which he resents, due to it being used to describe someone who is socially inferior
• honest has a reverse meaning in the play

Question 17

Quote for Iago’s poisonous references being copied by Othello

Answer 17

“Poison, or fire, or suffocating streams”

Question 18

Othello speaks in violent ways

Answer 18

“I’ll tear her all to pieces”

-Iago has won the battle for his mind- men will always be stronger than women in a battle between Desdemona and Iago

Question 19

Othello’s broken speech as he discusses Desdemona at the end of A3, S3

Answer 19

“Damn her, lewd minx: O, damn her, damn her!”

Question 20

How is Othello seen to move away from his Christian values?

Answer 20

“Give me your hand”

• palm reading
• links to his pagan ancestry

Question 21

How does he copy Iago’s language at the beginning of A4, S1?

Answer 21

Repeats Iago’s line of “think so”

Question 22

How does Othello use Christian imagery at the beginning of A4, S1?

Answer 22

“Tempt heaven”

Question 23

Quote to show Iago infecting Othello

Answer 23

“Infected house”

Question 24

How does Othello use nature imagery to foreshadow the ending?

Answer 24

“Doth the raven”

-birds of ill omen

Question 25

Quote for Othello seeking advice from Iago

Answer 25

“How shall I murder him, Iago?”

Question 26

When does othello copy Iago’s language?

Answer 26

At the beginning of A4 , S1,

repeats “think so”

Question 27

Quote for Othello being tormented by Iago’s imagery

Answer 27

“Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm?”

Question 28

Evidence for Othello’s irrational, jealousy causing him to repeat his words

Answer 28

“Lie with her! Lie with her!”

Question 29

Quote for Othello seeking advice from Iago

Answer 29

“How shall I murder him, Iago?”

Question 30

Quote to show Othello’s pain over his wife’s betrayal

Answer 30

“A fine woman, a fair woman, a sweet woman”

Question 31

Othello uses very violent imagery

Answer 31

“I will chop her into messes”

Contrasts to his earlier calm language, just a few lines earlier when he refers to her as fine, fair and sweet

Question 32

How does Othello refer to her death?

Answer 32

“Justice”

Question 33

How is Othello’s language used to make him seem mad?

Answer 33

“Goats and monkeys”

Question 34

Contrast in his language to describe Desdemona in the same line

4.2

Answer 34

“Thou weed”

“Lovely fair”

Question 35

Example of Othello using religious imagery to create pathos

Answer 35

“Ignorant sin”

Question 36

Words used to insult Desdemona by Othello and it’s 17th century meaning

Answer 36

“Whore”

Degrading and shaming Desdemona
A good wife was part of a man’s honour

Question 37

Othello’s use of third person to distance himself from the pain quote

Answer 37

“That cunning whore of Venice

That married with Othello”