Othello Quotes

Jealousy monster quote + techniques “Beware my lord of jealousy. It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds upon.” – IagoIrony, monstrous imagery, personification. Makes a very detailed and memorable description of jealousy, and is ironic as jealousy is what fuels Iago’s actions.
Tupping quote + techniques “An old black ram is tupping you white ewe.” – IagoBestial imagery.Iago is addressing Desdemona’s father about Othello and Desdemona’s marriage and trying to put them down by using racist terms and belittling their love for each other.
Man stomachs quote + techniques “‘Tis not a year or two which shows us a man. They are all but stomachs, and we all but food; They eat us hungerly, and when they are full, they belch us.” – EmiliaMetaphor.Shows how love is represented in so many lights in the play. Emilia thinks of love as a take take scenario, Desdemona sees it as a fairy-tale ideal, Othello sees it as something he is not equipped for and Iago says what everyone wants to hear, so his opinion is not known.
Dotes quote + techniques “Dotes, yet doubts, suspects yet strongly loves.” – IagoChiasmus (cross patterned parallelism).Quote is used to combine love and jealousy in Othello’s mind. Shows how deception has been used to intertwine the two emotions.
Alabaster quote + techniques “… whiter skin of hers than snow/And smooth as monumental alabaster – Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men” – OthelloIronic juxtaposition of murderous intention expressed with the language of love. Shows the confusion of love and hatred in Othello’s mind. He loves her yet hates her for something that he was manipulated into believing.
Kiss kill quote + techniques “I kissed thee ere I killed thee: no way but this, Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.” – Othello Othello believes it is fitting to die upon a kiss as he kissed her before he killed her. Seems as if he feels he deserves to die peacefully as the full weight of what he has done hasn’t quite registered in his mind.
Not what quote + techniques “I am not what I am.” – Iago.Soliloquy, AntithesisIago states that he is not what he seems and his intentions must be questioned. Nothing can be taken at face value.
Eyes father quote + techniques “Look to her Moor, if thou hast eyes to see She has deceived her father and may thee” – IagoRhyming couplet, foreshadowingUsed to remind Othello of Desdemona’s capability of deception as she deceived her father so she could marry Othello.
Janus quote + techniques “By Janus, I think no.” – IagoClassical allusion Iago swears upon the two-faced Roman God, subtly indicating the duality of his nature.
Honest quote + techniques “Honest Iago.” – said by manyDramatic ironyUsed to exaggerate how Iago is anything but honest.
Two reputation quotes + techniques “Reputation is an idle and false imposition.” – Iago Reputation is “the immediate jewel of (one’s) soul” – IagoShows the deceptive nature of Iago’s personality as he will say what he knows people want to hear.
Price vice quote + techniques “The world’s a huge thing; it’s a great price for a small vice.” – Emilia Juxtaposition, diminution.Emilia talks about how being deceptive for the right reasons isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and that she would make her husband a cuckold (man who has been cheated on) for the wealth of the whole world.
July 19, 2019