othello quotes Flashcards
(79 cards)
“arithmetician” “bookish theoric” “mere prattle without practice”
Iago- disparaging and emasculating Cassio, military honour and strength is attractive qualities in a man
“i am not what i am”
Iago- reveals his duplicity and his deception, this quote means the audience never fully trust Iago but some of what he says shapes how we view the characters in the play- primacy effect
“the Moor”
Iago- by not referring to Othello by his name, he shows blatant disrespect and racism- it is degrading and dehumanising
“look to your house, your daughter, and your bags”
Iago- Desdemona is included in the list of Brabantio’s possessions, indicative of Renaissance patriarchy- women can be owned and therefore logically they can be stolen
“even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe”
Iago- blatant sexual imagery, “black ram”= a rarity and imagery of an outcast, “black” vs “white”= colour imagery associated with purity (Eurocentric view), the repetition of “now”= urgency, manipulation of Iago and created an image that Othello cannot control his sexual deviancy associated with his race
“barbary horse” “beast with two backs”
Iago- animalistic and sexual imagery caused to provoke, imagery of cuckoldry and sense that Desdemona has betrayed her father
“barbary”- specific to a region of North Africa, specifically targeting Othello’s race
“gross clasps of a lascivious Moor”
Roderigo- mirrors the racist speech of Iago, portrays Othello as the villain and Desdemona as the passive victim
“I must show out a flag and sign of love”
Iago- he must appear loyal and dutiful, exploiting Othello’s trusting nature
“O treason of the blood”
Brabantio- his daughter should be loyal and submissive and obedient to him, the father typically choses a suitor based on the most benefits for the family
“keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them”
Othello- example of his composure and self-discipline
“enchanted her” “sooty bosom” “foul charms”
Brabantio- he cannot fathom why Desdemona has married a ‘Moor’
introduces a motif of witchcraft that would be associated with paganism- gives Othello an air of otherworldliness and exoticism
magic is not accepted by Christian Europe which ostracised Othello
also gives Desdemona a passive role- she is weak and powerless
“I won his daughter”
Othello- conveys his honour and ability despite the racial stereotypes
“won”- gives the man the active role, the woman is the prize and the reward for his courtly efforts
“to fall in love with what she feared to look on” “against all rules of nature”
Brabantio- a young white women should not engage in relations with an older black man, socially transgressive
“and sold to slavery of my redemption thence”
Othello- relating to his conversion to Christianity, underpins racial ideas and Eurocentric ideals around Christianity
Shakespeare draws on the popular genre of travel writing, during a period of increased exploration
“with a greedy ear devour up my discourse”
Othello- Desdemona was the active one in this relationship, she becomes infatuated with his stories of his exoticism
gives her the active role, but also she conforms to the stereotype of men are expected to be experienced in war and honourable
“divided duty” “bound for life” “but here’s my husband”
Desdemona- recognises the role of women to remain obedient and submissive to their male authority figures, women are ultimately possessions of men
“that I did love the Moor to live with him”
Desdemona- doesn’t want to leave Othello, intensity of her passion and lust for him, socially transgressive for a women to exhibit sexuality
generally a man would express sexual ideas but gender roles have reversed here
“look to her Moor, if thou hast eyes to see, she has deceived her father and may thee”
Brabantio-planting the seed of doubt, the rhyming couplet adds emphasis, and Iago exploits this final parting message
“why, thou silly gentleman”
Iago- emasculates Roderigo for loving Desdemona
demonstrates Iago’s lack of empathy
“when she is sated with his body”
Iago- attacks Desdemona’s honour and virtue, presents her as sexually driven because that has to be the only reason she loves Othello
“if thou canst cuckold him, thou dost thyself a pleasure, me a sport”
Iago- the threat of becoming a cuckold is the most humiliating thing for a Renaissance man of good reputation
demonstrates Iago’s sadism as he enjoys the suffering and humiliation of others
“abuse Othello’s ear”
Iago- he will use his position of trust to exploit Othello’s weaknesses, demonstrates his vindictive nature and his machinations are purely sadistic
“the riches of the ship is come on shore”
Cassio- effusive and sycophantic, Desdemona (and all women) are objectified and viewed as valuable objects
“wild-cats in your kitchen and saints in your injuries”
Iago- disparaging view of women, they are lustful and promiscuous, ironic as he claims women are duplicitous
note- Iago’s views are not reflective of the Renaissance patriarchy
