| “Get you to bed on th’instant” – Othello | Othello is very possessive of Desdemona at this point, doesn’t like her being around any men even Lodovico who is well trusted. He thinks she will be promiscuous with anyone. |
| “My love doth so approve him” – Desdemona | Desdemona shows her hamartia of caring too much again as she cannot let go of Othello despite what he has done to her, she is still madly in love with her. |
| “If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me in one of those same sheets” – Desdemona | This foreshadows Desdemona’s death before Emilia’s own, she wishes to be wrapped in her wedding sheets, this shows just how committed to her marriage she is. |
| “It is a great price for such a small vice” – Emilia”Who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch?” – Emilia | A sin is such a good price for cheating on your husband, the contrast between Emilia and Desdemona is clear with Emilia saying she would cheat on Iago if it made him a royal. |
| “Beshrew me, if I would so such a wrong for the whole world” – Desdemona | Desdemona admits that she would not cheat on Othello even if her reward was to be gifted the whole world, this shows how she really is his ‘loyal and true wife’ as she says in 4.2. |
| “But I do think it is their husbands’ fault if wives to fall” – Emilia | Emilia shows her view of men and how she thinks it is their fault if their wives are promiscuous, this shows the lack of love between Iago and Emilia. |
| “Then let them use us well else let them know the ills we do, their ills instruct us so” – Emilia | We learn their sins from them, suggests again that if you are ever promiscuous then it is your husband’s fault for showing you the way in which to do it. This might be true of Emilia and Iago but this isn’t the case for the true love of Othello and Desdemona. Like her husband, she also doesn’t seem to understand love. |
Othello – Key quotations for Act 4 scene 3
August 22, 2019