Othello quotes Y11

“I’ll tear her to pieces”

Violent tonality - Othello is portrayed as a savage animal, he has been taken over by the green-eyed monster

Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, reputation i have lost my reputation! I lost the immortal part of myself

Repetition - How important and valued reputation is considered in society.

Reputation is often given without merit and I got without deserving

Repetition - connotations of racism. In the sense that Iago is a white male and was born with a positive reputation while Othello as a moor had to earn it 

“Her name, that was as fresh as Dians visage is now begrimed and black as mine own face

Trust and racism 0+D

“O, my souls joy” to “O, curse of marriage”

D+O’s marriage change

“this is a subtle whore, a closet lock and key of villainous secrets”

Metaphor - gender roles,, Othello metaphorically refers to Desdemona and as “a closet lock and key of villainous secrets” suggesting that she’s hiding her true nature and keeping her supposed infidelity locked away, emphasises Jacobean era’s perception of women as deceptive and secretive.

“she did deceive her father, marrying you”

Foreshadowing: Manipulation + gender roles, plants seeds of doubt in Othello’s mind, suggesting that just as Desdemona deceived her father to marry Othello, she might be capable of deceit again.

“O cursèd, cursèd slave”

Repetition (emphasises Othello’s emotional turmoil) - Manipulation Othello recognises at the end of the play that he had been enslaved by Iago’s manipulations

“O beware, my lord, of jealousy: it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on”

Dramatic Irony, foreshadowing, metaphor - jealousy. The metaphor “green- eyed monster” portrays jealousy as a destructive force that consumes and mocks its victims.

“then you must speak of one that loved not wisely but too well.

Sense of regret + reflective tone - jealousy + violence occurred because he loved Desdemona too much.

“they are never jealous for the cause but jealous because they’re jealous”

Repition - jealousy, emphasis human tendencies to be inherently jealous.

“the moor already changes with my poison” + “my medication works”

Motif - poison

“I am not what i am” + “men should be what they seem”

Contradicting statements, dramatic irony, biblical allusion (biblical phrase god declares “I am that I am” - declares Iago as evil, devil)

“I nothing but to please his fantasy”

Gender roles - obedient wife,patriarchal society

“I am bound to you for life and education”

Metaphor - patriarchal society, family relationships

“ I won his daughter”

Objectifying tone, treating women as a possession, mentality that she belongs to him now.

“I’ll tear her to pieces”

Violent tonality - Jealousy, Othello is a savage animal, he has been taken over by the green- eyed monster