Othello Key Quotes and Motifs

Vocabulary practice flashcards based on key quotes, figurative language, and character lines from Shakespeare's Othello.

The green-eyed monster

The metaphor for jealousy introduced in Act 3, Scene 3 that "doth mock The meat it feeds on."

Jealousy (Act 3, Scene 4 description)

A creature characterized as "a monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself."

Trifles light as air

Insignificant matters that are described in Act 3, Scene 3 as being "to the jealous confirmations strong / As proofs of holy writ."

A horned man

Described in the text as "a monster and a beast."

Heart turned to stone

A description spoken by Othello in Act 4, Scene 1: "No, my heart is turned to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand."

Tranquil mind

The peaceful state of consciousness renounced in Act 3, Scene 3: "Farewell the tranquil mind! Farewell content!"

Loved not wisely, but too well

A characterization from Act 5, Scene 2 describing one who was "not easily jealous, but, being wrought, Perplexed in the extreme…"

Web and fly metaphor

The scheming imagery expressed in Act 2, Scene 1: "With as little a web as this will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio."

Price and worth (Iago)

A declaration of self-worth stated in Act 1, Scene 1: "I know my price, I am worth no worse a place."

Soft parts of conversation

The conversational graces attributed to chamberers that Othello reflects he lacks in Act 3, Scene 3: "Haply, for I am black / And have not those soft parts of conversation / That chamberers have…"

Accumulation (Act 1, Scene 3)

The rhetorical listing used to describe how Desdemona was taken: "She is abused, stol'n from me, and corrupted / By spells and medicines bought off mountebanks."

Black vengeance

The dark force invoked in the command: "Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell!"

The cause

The rationale repeatedly cited in Act 5, Scene 2: "It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul."

Done my office

The suspicion cited in Act 1, Scene 3: "I hate the Moor, / And it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office."

Reputation

The quality lamented in the exclamation: "Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation!"

Stomachs and food metaphor

The characterization of men and women's relations: "They are all but stomachs, and we all but food."

Desdemona's dying words

The final statement taking blame and showing loyalty: "Nobody; I myself. Farewell./ Commend me to my kind lord."

Strumpet accusation response

The defense of honesty given against abuse: "I am no strumpet;but of life as honest / As you that thus abuse me."

Watch him tame

The persistent approach vowed in Act 3, Scene 3: "I’ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience; / His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift…"

Bianca's supper condition

The ultimatum delivered in Act 4, Scene 1: "If you’ll come to supper tonight you may; if you will not, come when you are next prepared for."