Othello Section B

AQA A Level 7717 English Literature quotes for Othello!

Othello + Hamartia + Tragic Irony

Initial view vs contradiction of how good natured and well-spoken he is:

• "very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe." (Act 1, Scene 1) - Iago

• "If virtue no delighted beauty lack, / Your son-in-law is far more fair than black." (Act 1, Scene 3) - Duke

• "My parts, my title, and my perfect soul / Shall manifest me rightly." (Act 1, Scene 2) - self confident king Othello

Gullibility and trusting nature (mandatory in the military world) - Hamartia

• “That thinks men honest that but seem to be so, / And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose / As asses are." (Act 1, Scene 3)

• "O beware, my Lord, of jealousy! / It is the green eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on." (Act 3, Scene 3) - tragic irony, Iago is instigating Othello’s downfall

Iago’s impact on Othello - transformation and rage, he falls a victim to racial stereotypes (Iago and Othello card)

“poison” used frequently in his dialogue. - Iago

• "'Think, my lord?' By heaven, thou echo’st me / As if there were some monster in thy thought..." (Act 3, Scene 3) - Othello “green eyed monster”

• "How shall I murder him, Iago?" (Act 4, Scene 1) - Othello, blunt and out of character, shows the extent and Iago’s power.

• "let her rot and perish and be damned tonight... my heart is turned / to stone." (Act 4, Scene 1) - Othello

• "Is this the noble Moor, whom our full senate / Call all in all sufficient?” (Act 4, scene 1) - Lodivico, outsider shock after Othello slaps Desdemona

Anagnorisis + Dignity/Reputation (military world)

"It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul." (Act 5, Scene 2) - Othello justifying his honour killing of Desdemona

"O fool, fool, fool!" (Act 5, Scene 2) - When Emilia reveals the truth too late of Iago’s manipulation

"I have done the state some service, and they know't..." (Act 5, Scene 2, his final speech) - Othello, he tries to redefine his reputation and legacy before his death, to show he has done more good to make him a good man.

"Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial." - Cassio Act 2 scene 3

Iago’s manipulative capability using animalistic and religious imagery

• "very now, an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe." (Act 1, Scene 1) - animal imagery, prejudice, derogatory language

• “I am not what I am.” (Act 1, Scene 1), deception, contrast with God’s line “I am what I am.” Implies he is the devil, a traitor. A “modern” parallel with Judas. Appearance vs Reality

• “I follow him to serve my turn upon him.” (Act 1, scene 1) two faced nature, his motivation of power for revenge, not loyalty.

• "By Janus, I think no." (Act 1, Scene 2) - Duplicity by telling Othello he hates Roderigo, even though he said he hated Othello to Roderigo. Janus is a two faced god.

• "Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, / As salt as wolves in pride..." (Act 3, Scene 3) - animal imagery to depict infidelity, not just as racial slurs. → he has no bounds on who is excluded from being degraded.

• "O beware, my Lord, of jealousy! / It is the green eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on." (Act 3, Scene 3) - tragic irony, Iago is instigating Othello’s downfall.

• “Honest Iago”

Important: Iago constantly slips between verse and prose depending on who he talks to, he speaks in verse to Roderigo, but speaks prose to Othello and Cassio.

• He makes Othello watch Cassio talk passionately about Bianca. He understands the power of suggestion and manufactured "proof", Handkerchief etc.

• “Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light." - soliloquies to reveal his true plans

Catharsis

Everything being revealed, and order is somewhat restored.

"Demand me nothing. What you know, you know. / From this time forth I never will speak word." (Act 5, Scene 2) - Iago, refusal to admit his wrongdoings and true intentions on why he is evil. He just is. He is the necessary evil.

"O fool, fool, fool!" (Act 5, Scene 2) - When Emilia reveals the truth too late of Iago’s manipulation

"I have done the state some service, and they know't..." (Act 5, Scene 2, his final speech) - Othello, he tries to redefine his reputation and legacy before his death, to show he has done more good to make him a good man.

Desdemona - victimhood and objectification

• "To you I am bound for life and education... But here’s my / husband... So much I challenge that I may profess / Due to the Moor my lord" - Maturity in choosing Othello over her father because of race. - loyalty and maturity (big downfall)

• "A maid / That paragons description and wild fame... The divine Desdemona" - Cassio praising Desdemona before her arrival. - Objectified, physical appearance but never her actual personality.

• "My dear Othello!" - Desdemona greets him with this, and is met with, “O, my fair warrior!” and "Excellent wretch!”

• "Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do / All my abilities in thy behalf" - She is good natured and naive.

• Even in despair, she maintains her devotion. She tells Emilia, "Prithee, tonight / Lay on my bed my wedding sheets." - reinforces and highlights her innocence and devotion to Othello + Foreshadows death (symbolic). Laying someone down associated with death.

Desdemona is NOT a victim, she is a powerful woman that stands her ground and stays rooted in her good believes. She isn’t poisoned or corrupted by Iago, she just followed what was right.

"Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do / All my abilities in thy behalf" - deep commitment to helping Cassio.

“My lord?” “What, is he angry?” "Why, sweet Othello!" - After her strikes her, she stands her ground still. she states simply, "I have not deserved this"

"Your wife, my lord, your true and loyal wife" and "By heaven, you do me wrong!" - stands her ground and fights back for her own injustice, not conventionally.

She is bewildered by the source of Othello's anger, asking, "Alas, what ignorant sin have I committed?

"Prithee, tonight / Lay on my bed my wedding sheets." - symbolically trying to renew and strengthen the marriage and remind Othello that he too has duties of love.

Emilia is cynical but she has a point. She sports modern critique on gender roles.

She voices a pragmatic, somewhat cynical view on jealousy, which foreshadows Othello's irrational behaviour: "jealous souls will not be answered so. / They are not ever jealous for the cause, / But jealous for they’re jealous. It is a monster”

Expressing shock at Othello's language. She asks Iago and Desdemona: "Alas, Iago, my lord hath so bewhored her... / As true hearts cannot bear" - She is a mother figure to Desdemona and is pained by Othello’s treatment of her.

"She said so. I must needs report the truth” - she confirmed Desdemona’s last words.

Important: She took her handkerchief and gave it to Iago because he kept on slandering her, and mistreating her, making her victim.

• Emilia finds the handkerchief after Desdemona drops it, she states, "I am glad I have found this napkin"

• Emilia notes that her husband, Iago, had asked her to steal it multiple times. She says, "My wayward husband hath a hundred times / Wooed me to steal it" - wayward implies Iago’s behaviour is unpredictable hinting at his cruelty and manipulative behaviour at home to her.

Bianca sidelined, but supports female characters getting objectified and antagonised

"O, my dear Cassio, / My sweet Cassio! O Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!" - she is a lover girl for Cassio.

Cassio's reluctance to be seen with her when he is seeking Othello shows the societal view of her status, and she picks up on his dismissiveness + He gave her a handkerchief to replicate, and she thinks its from another woman: He tells her "it no addition, nor my wish, / To have him see me womaned"

Bianca expressing her frustration: "What did you mean by this / That you gave me this napkin? This was some token from a newer friend,”