English - Othello

"In following him [Othello], I follow but myself. Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, but seeming so for my peculiar end."

Iago to Roderigo

1.1 - Iago tells Roderigo his plot against Othello to tells Brabantio of Othello and Desdemona's relationship.

“seeming” → performativity and deception

biblical allusion and dramatic irony of “Heaven is my judge” contrasts with not for “love and duty” and is ironic with “I follow but myself”

"O thou foul thief! Where hast thou stowed my daughter?… thou hast enchanted her… thou hast practiced on her with foul charms, abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals"

Brabantio to Othello

1.2 - Brabantio displays his disapproval after learning from Iago of Othello and Desdemona's marriage.

Diction of robbery which is a racial stereotype for black people in the Jacobean era.

Symbol of witchcraft/the supernatural which was seen as evil/wicked in the Jacobean era.

"If virtue no delighted beauty lack, your son-in-law is far more fair than black"

The Duke of Venice to Brabantio

1.3 - In front of the Venetian Duke and Senators discussing strategies to fend off the Turkish fleet, Brabantio accuses Othello of forcefully luring Desdemona into marriage, However, the Duke comes to Othello’s rescue.

The Chiaroscuro imagery suggests that “virtue” = white and “black” is the opposite.

"O curse of marriage, that we can call these delicate creatures ours and not their appetites!"

Othello

3.3 - After Othello removes Cassio’s lieutenant position, Iago warns Othello that Cassio is deceptive.

Symbol of witchcraft in comparing marriage to a “curse” connotes compulsion → suggests that Othello views marriage as confining for men.

“delicate” → weak

“creatures” → animals → dehumanizing

“ours” → suggests possession → objectifies women

"You rise to play and go to bed to work"

Iago to Desdemona

2.1 - With the Turkish fleet defeated and Othello still at sea, Iago makes provocative comments at Emilia and Desdemona.

Diction of Promiscuity seen in “go to bed to work”

rise to “play” infantilizes women, suggesting that they are unintelligent.

"some unhatched practise… hath puddled [Othello's] clear spirit"

Desdemona

3.4 - After Othello removes Cassio’s lieutenant position.

unhatched - diction of a plot → not Othello’s doing/fault

clear, connoting purity, contrasts with puddled → suggests that Othello’s goodness has been infiltrated by evilness/wickedness.

"The Moor is of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by th' nose as asses are."

Iago’s soliloquy

1.3 - Before Othello leaves to defend Cyprus from the Turkish fleet, he puts his trust in Iago to look after Desdemona.

animalistic imagery: “free and open nature” + “led by th’ nose” + simile to “asses” - draws upon the racial stereotype that black people are uncivilized while suggesting that Othello is subservient.

“tenderly” denotes weakness.

“Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne to tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught, for 'tis of aspics' tongues."

Othello

3.3 - Cassio pleads with Desdemona to help him get reinstated by Othello, while Iago warns Othello that Cassio is deceptive.

diction of power in “crown”, “throne”, and “yield” (an imperative command) → what Othello used to have/wants - Othello’s insecurity in his power leads to his jealousy

juxtaposition of “love” to “hate” demonstrates that jealousy completely opposes goodness.

“fraught” = burden → jealousy is weighing down on him

“aspic” = venomous snake → connotes evil, suggesting that jealousy is wicked

 "Arise black vengeance, from thy hollow cell."

Othello to Iago

3.3 - Cassio pleads with Desdemona to help him get reinstated by Othello, while Iago warns Othello that Cassio is deceptive.

The paradoxical language in imprisoned beings (hollow cell) being personified as strong (through “arise”) disrupts the natural order which foreshadows Othello’s consequences and demonstrates that his jealousy (denoted through “vengeance”) is the catalyst.

"This hand of yours requires a sequester from liberty, fasting and prayer"

Othello to Desdemona

3.4 - Othello questions Desdemona on where her handkerchief is, both not knowing that Iago orchestrated for Emilia to steal it and plant it in Cassio's bedroom.

Sequester = break

religious imagery in “fasting” and “prayer”, with ideas of purity, infer that Othello is suggesting that Desdemona lacks innocence.

“liberty” denotes freedom which Othello suggests that Desdemona should reject, inferring that he believes she should be controlled and non-autonomous.

"an old black ram is tupping your white ewe."

Iago to Brabantio

1.1 - Iago tells Rodrigo his plot against Othello, then tells Brabantio of Othello and Desdemona's relationship.

The animalistic imagery of a “ram”, connoting primitivity, is combined with the violent imagery of “tupping” which denotes aggression, demonstrating that Iago uses racial stereotypes of the Jacobean era to suggest that Othello is primal and malevolent.

Animalistic imagery is further present when Iago refers to Desdemona as an “ewe” which carries ideas of naivety to suggests that she is being influenced by Othello to reinforce the narrative that he is wicked.

The chiaroscuro imagery seen in describing the malevolent ram as “black” and the innocent “ewe” as white further demonstrates that Iago draws upon racial stereotypes to depict Othello as evil and an outcast in Venice.

[Desdemona has] "Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom of such a thing as thou."

Brabantio to Othello

1.2 - Brabantio displays his disapproval after learning from Iago of Othello and Desdemona's marriage.

The tainted imagery in “sooty” denotes a filthy black substance which Brabantio uses to demonstrate his stereotypical view of Othello as tainted due to his non-European race.

“guardage” denotes safety which Brabantio presents as the antonym of Othello to suggest that he is dangerous and malevolent.

"thou hast practised on her with foul charms, abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals that weakens motion."

Brabantio to Othello

1.2 - Brabantio displays his disapproval after learning from Iago of Othello and Desdemona's marriage.

Diction of poison in “minerals that weaken motion” carries ideas of being dangerous and harmful which Brabantio uses to suggest that Othello is malevolent.

"Her name, that was as fresh as Dian's visage, is now begrimed and black as mine own face."

Othello

3.3 - Cassio pleads with Desdemona to help him get reinstated by Othello, while Iago warns Othello that Cassio is deceptive.

visage = face

The classical allusion to “Dian”, the Roman goddess with connotations of purity, is presented by Othello as the antonym of Desdemona to suggest that she is impure.

This idea of innocence and purity is also presented as the antonym of “black” to reinforce the racial stereotype that African people are malevolent and impure.

The tainted/dirty imagery of “begrimed”, denoting ideas of being unclean, is used to represent Othello’s “face” which represents his skin colour and outward image as perceived by others to demonstrate that the racial stereotypes of African people have reached his own perception of himself.

"The Moor already changes with my poison: dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons. Which at the first are scarce found to distaste, but with a little act upon the blood."

Iago’s Soliloquy

3.3 - Cassio pleads with Desdemona to help him get reinstated by Othello, while Iago warns Othello that Cassio is deceptive.

“poison”, referring to Othello’s jealousy as induced by Iago, connotes harmful effects to suggest that jealousy has consequences.

The fact that this poison acts “upon the blood” carries ideas of mutating the body to suggest that jealousy takes over and has harmful effects.

"O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains. That we should with joy… transform ourselves into beasts."

Cassio to Iago

2.3 - At a party celebrating the destruction of the Turkish fleet, Iago convinces Cassio to drink and become disorderly so that Othello removes his lieutenant position.

Animalistic imagery of “beasts” suggests that Othello’s jealousy has turned him evil.

The stealing of the “brain” - a critical body part for making individual decisions - suggests that jealousy is a dangerous tool that can be used to control.

"O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial."

Cassio to Iago

2.3 - At a party celebrating the destruction of the Turkish fleet, Iago convinces Cassio to drink and become disorderly so that Othello removes his lieutenant position.

Cassio describes his reputation as the “immortal” part of himself, which connotes ideas of carrying a legacy to suggest that he values glory and the performativity of a good reputation rather than his relationship with Othello.

Animalistic imagery is present when Cassio states that without his reputation, he is '“bestial”, with connotations of savagery and malevolence, to demonstrate that underneath the facade of his once powerful reputation, he is wicked and power-hungry.

"I had rather be a toad and live upon the vapor of a dungeon than keep a corner in the thing I love for other's uses. Yet 'tis the plague of great ones."

Othello

3.3 - Cassio pleads with Desdemona to help him get reinstated by Othello, while Iago warns Othello that Cassio is deceptive.

Bestial imagery of “toad”, carrying ideas of unpleasantness, and a “dungeon”, connoting evilness and punishment, demonstrates that Othello’s jealousy causes him to choose to be wicked rather than supposedly share Desdemona with another.

Diction of disease in “plague”, denoting a sickness that weakens the body, contrasts with “great ones”, connoting ideas of strength, to infer that jealousy revokes benevolence.

"The Moor's abused by some villainous knave… some scurvy fellow. O heaven, that such companions thou'dst unfold, and put in every honest hand a whip."

Emilia

4.2 - As Emillia insists that Desdemona is innocent, Othello displays his view of both women as promiscuous.

Diction of disease in “scurvy”, connotes negativity and a malevolent sickness, to demonstrate that Othello’s jealousy is a wickedness induced upon him by Iago.

Oxymoron of “honest”, denoting benevolence and strength of character, contrasting against “whip”, denoting a violent weapon, demonstrates that jealousy turns goodness into malevolence.

"Her eye must be fed. And what delight shall she have to look upon the devil."

Iago

2.1 - With the Turkish fleet defeated and Othello still at sea, Iago makes provocative comments at Emilia and Desdemona.

Religious imagery compares Othello to the “devil”, carrying ideas of evilness.

Diction of greed in “fed”, connotes an appetite, which is used to suggest that Desdemona is lustful.

"She is abused, stolen from me, and corrupted by spells and medicines bought of mountebanks"

Brabantio

1.3 - In front of the Venetian Duke and Senators discussing strategies to fend off the Turkish fleet, Brabantio accuses Othello of forcefully luring Desdemona into marriage.

Supernatural diction in “spells” connotes ideas of forcefulness.

“stolen”, connoting the loss of possessions, objectifies Desdemona.

"Let [Desdemona] speak of me before her father. If you do find me foul in her report… let your sentence even fall upon my life."

Othello

1.3 - In front of the Venetian Duke and Senators discussing strategies to fend off the Turkish fleet, Brabantio accuses Othello of forcefully luring Desdemona into marriage.

The diction of voice in “report”, denoting the spreading of information, demonstrates that Othello initially rejects gender stereotypes of the Jacobean era that women cannot share opinions as he insists that she speak.

Diction of malady in “foul”, connoting negativity and malevolence, demonstrates that Othello trusts that Desdemona doesn’t think inferiorly of him.

This is reinforced by the diction of punishment in “sentence”, carrying ideas of danger, to emphasize the trust that Othello has in Desdemona to risk his life by her words.

"Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw the smallest fear or doubt of her revolt. For she had eyes and chose me. No Iago, I'll see before I doubt"

Othello

3.3 - Cassio pleads with Desdemona to help him get reinstated by Othello, while Iago warns Othello that Cassio is deceptive.

Diction of sickness in “revolt”, denoting repulsion, which Othello doesn’t believe Desdemona feels demonstrates his security in his relationship with her.

The repetition of “doubt”, denoting mistrust, which Othello rejects, emphasizes his initial trust in Desdemona.