SYMBOLS AND MOTIFS: Animal Imagery

Question 1

“An old black ram/ Is tupping your white ewe”

Answer 1

• IAGO 1:1:89-90
• Firstly, at the time, the Great Chain of Being was an established view among Christians, and humans were always above animals. Therefore, the use of animal imagery towards both Desdemona is derogatory.
• The use of white ewe is a large contrast to the “black ram”. “Ewe” may link to this idea of perhaps the Parable of Sheep and Goats, and Desdemona being a believer and innocent. But also, it goes back to the idea of sheep being followers and foolish. This comparison to animals also shows the view that women were inferior.
• Ewes were commonly used for religious sacrifice, so later, when Othello is killing Desdemona, this can be interpreted not only as an honour killing, but a religious sacrifice (heightening the tragedy as Desdemona associates her purity with her faith).
• The use of “white” has strong connotations of purity, and also, it is the colour worn at weddings, perhaps emphasising Othello’s action of marrying her.
• Also, the use of “your”, a possessive adjective, reinforcing the idea that women are owned by their fathers or husbands, and they are inferior to men, as this was a time of powerful patriarchy. Once again, this is shown by “tupping” as it suggests Desdemona had no say and is being controlled by Othello.
• “Tupping” - creates a crude sexual image. Iago weaponises the need for purity and chastity of women in the Jacobean era. He uses this idea of loss of chastity for his manipulations, even further emphasising how men use women for their own means.
• Great Chain of Being - animals were a derogatory comparison, as they fell below humans on the scale that all life was measured by.
• “Black” - a blatant reference to Othello’s race, used in a particularly negative context, which ties this idea of “blackness” to evil and domineering nature. It is also contrasted with “white”, suggesting one is pure while the other is evil.
• “Old black ram” - rams are associated with the devil (e.g. with the horns. Horns are also a sign that a person has been cuckolded: “A horned man’s a monster and a beast.”-OTHELLO). Perhaps ironic as Iago is the devil in this play. Not only this, but within paganism, goats have been presented as malevolent spirits (e.g. the deity Baphomet). Also, they are considered the “unbelievers” in the Bible, perhaps an allusion to Othello’s un-Christian upbringing.

Question 2

“You’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse”

Answer 2

• IAGO 1:1:113
• Back to the Great Chain of Being.
• Again, a use of a crude sexual image for Iago’s manipulations.
  Barbary also may refer to the Barbary slave trade, once again emphasising the focus on Othello’s race, and coupling it with animalistic tendencies.
• Barbary was seen as a primitive, animalistic place.
• ‘Covered’: sexually crude, but can also imply that Desdemona’s eyes have been covered, which may suggest the use of magic and charms in order to bewitch her. This feeds into the stereotype of the Moor, and implies that Desdemona had no choice in the matter.

Question 3

“But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve/ For daws to peck at”

Answer 3

• IAGO 1:1:65-66
• “Daws” - symbolic of all of the other characters which “peck at” his manipulations. Link to Great Chain of Being, as this comparison degrades these characters, making Iago the superior character, at least by his own perception. This may also even link to how jackdaws are associated with vainess in folklore.
• “Peck” - may be polysemic, in the sense that “peck” can also be seen as a kiss, an affectionate action. Perhaps this is the idea again that all of the

Question 4

“Reputation, reputation, reputation! Oh, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself and what remains is bestial. My reputation, Iago, my reputation!”

Answer 4

• CASSIO 2:3:245-248
• “What remains is bestial” - Great Chain of Being. Suggests his reputation is what makes him human. Shows how low his self-esteem is for himself, as he only values the picture he has created for himself.

Question 5

“I will play the swan/ And die in music: [She sings] ‘Willow, willow, willow.’

Answer 5

• EMILIA 5:2:245-246
• Goes to the legend that mute swans only sing when they die. This idea that Emilia was silenced until her death, reminiscent of how women can never be outspoken in the patriarchal society of the Jacobean era.
• Swans are also symbolic of unwavering loyalty, which Emilia had to Desdemona, even choosing to defend her over her husband (a major deal for the patriarchal era). Also, gives us a taste of what Othello should have been but wasn’t.
• Swans are symbolic of purity and innocence, emphasising how Emilia did not deserve this, which accentuates the tragedy.
• Swans are associated with the sun (for example, they are associated with Apollo in Greek myth). In the Willow Scene (4:3), Emilia talks about being free of Iago in the dark (“Nor I neither by this heavenly light;/ I might do’t as well i’th’dark” - 64-65). However, now she is the sun, so she no longer needs to do this in secret as Iago’s villainy has been revealed.
• Also, this sun symbolism may have a link to Desdemona being the moon (she is referred to as “Dian’s visage”), and how the moon needs the sun to shine. This is similar to how Desdemona needed Emilia to bring justice, as Emilia is the one who reveals Iago and Othello’s villainy. Emilia also being sun shatters the darkness that Iago would work under metaphorically and literally such as with Act 1 Scene 1.

Question 6

“I am one, sir, that comes to tell you your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.”

Answer 6

• IAGO 1:1:116-17