othello quotes & analysis Flashcards
“I’ll pour pestilence in his ear”
- direct comparison to LM
- Iago planning how he will manipulate Othello in order to get what he wants
“that he would steal away so guilty-like, seeing you coming”
- planting a seed of doubt in O’s mind to convince him that Cassio is acting suspiciously around him, and that this indicates he is having an affair with Desdemona
“is he not honest? ‘honest’ my lord? ‘honest’? Ay, honest”
- Iago repeats O’s questions back to him and O mirrors I’s repetitions, being forced to create his own answers to the questions
- the way O mirrors I reflects his own pre-existing doubt
- ‘honest’ bales O question C’s honesty, as he trusts Iago and sees him as honest, so if he knew the truth about C and D, he would tell him
- beginning of O’s loss of honour, illustrates I’s slyness
“behold her topped”
- crude sexual imagery, base language used to create unwanted images of D in O’s mind, provoking him
- prevents him from considering the lack of evidence supporting Iago’s claims
marriage scene
- perverted, corrupted, demonic
- O vows to kill his wife to get revenge on her and Cassio
- we see O’s loss of nobility here but he does not
- his path of bloodshed now feels inevitable and unstoppable
“but let her live”
- first presentation of the idea of killing D, something that had not occurred to O until this point
- this also presents the opportunity for O to turn back and not kill her, however he decides to continue, meaning he is now past the point of no return down this path of bloodshed
“O monstrous, monstrous! I will tear her all to pieces!”
- shows O’s wrathful nature, which he is losing control of as a result of his suspicions about his wife and Cassio
- represents how his language shifts as he loses control of himself, he stops using fancy (?) language and begins using more base, violent language
“I kissed thee, ere I killed thee: no way but this, killing myself, to die upon a kiss”
- accepts he has done wrong, feels remorse, believes he deserves punishment - feels only solution is too kill himself - cowardly?
“beware my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on”
- first time Iago mentions jealousy to O - plants a seed of doubt in his mind about his wife
“villainous whore”
- directed at Emilia by Iago before he kills her - shows his misogyny/hatred towards women he is supposed to care about (wife), emphasises general lack of respect held at the time for women
“I understand a fury in your words but not the words”
- illustrates how tragic D’s death was - she never understands why O is acting the way he is towards her - she’s been kept in the dark, revealing how the feelings of women often fail to be considered
- victim of the consequences of societal misogyny - downfall caused by being too loving and trusting - feminine traits
“I will in Cassio’s lodging lose this napkin and let him find it”
- Iago planning how to convince O of D’s infidelity
Desdemona
“I would rather have lost my purse”
- handkerchief is very important to D - she would rather lose all of her money than it
- suggests she would never be careless enough leave it anywhere
“I do think it is their husbands’ fault if wives do fall: say that they slack their duties […] or say they strike us”
- saying that men are unfaithful, become jealous, imprison/constrict/confine their wives, beat them
“what is it that they do when they change us for others? Is it sport? I think it is”
- references the fact men treat women like objects and feel it is acceptable to ‘trade’ them
- shows she can see men in a way other women do not or are too afraid to point out
