OTHELLO BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
THE CHARACTERS: HOW they are presented initially and WHY.
OTHELLO: A noble Moor in the service of Venice. He was initially a mercenary, climbing the ranks in the army because of his brilliance on the battlefield. He is calm and totally in control of his emotions and situation. He is also brave. He is derived from Moorish nobility and is able to demand and command respect. He has gained the respect of the Venetian senate despite the fact that he is a Moor. Note that he is also a devout
Christian.
IAGO: (ANTAGONIST / VILLAIN) Othello’s ancient and standard bearer : the man who carried the flag on the battlefield. Because the flag identified the location of the army in battle, it was crucial to allowing the soldiers to find their position. The ensign/ancient had to be extremely courageous and loyal, maintaining his position in the face of death. Iago resents his rank, which does not require intellectual skills like that of Cassio (trained in battle strategy). Iago is third in command to Othello, behind Cassio. He is immediately churlish and bitter and wants revenge without any real reason or plan. He displays no loyalty towards his General (Othello) ; he is formidable, deceitful, manipulative, brutal, selfish and Machiavellian ( Describes a person's tendency to be unemotional, and therefore able to detach him or herself from conventional morality and hence to deceive and manipulate others.)
N.B. Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance
DESDEMONA: Othello’s wife; daughter to Brabantio a Venetian senator. She is immediately presented as STRONG and LOVING. She is a wealthy, virtuous, principled and highly respected heiress. She is prepared to defy society and her father to stay with her ‘unsuitable’ husband.
BRABANTIO: Senator of Venice. Highly esteemed and has powerful ‘connections’ in Venetian society. Confused and acts hastily – he is very concerned about his daughter’s (only child) elopement to Othello. Extremely racist and derogatory towards Othello.
EMILIA:
CASSIO:
Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s attendant. She appears confident and feisty, witty and pragmatic (sensible). She lacks the social graces of Desdemona but is also intelligent. She is desperate to gain her husband’s approval and steals Desdemona’s handkerchief to appease him.
’
Othello’s lieutenant. He is respectful, charming and sociable; he comes from Florence a city know for its high culture; he is also educated (an ‘arithmetician’) and has fine manners. He is very popular with both genders and is seen as a ladies ’ man.
RODERIGO: Venetian gentleman. He owns land and is quite affluent (wealthy). Desperately in love with Desdemona, Iago exploits this knowledge in order to extract money from him by promising that he will ensure that Desdemona will look favourably on Roderigo. Very naïve, gullible and foolish. Gives Iago jewels to pass on to Desdemona in the hope of wooing her. Iago pockets these for his own gains.
MONTANO: Othello’s predecessor in the Cyprus Government. He does not mind Othello taking over his post as governor: he has great faith in Othello’s leadership ability. He also greatly admires Othello for his calm demeanour and skill as a soldier.
TEMPTATION SCENE
BROTHEL SCENE
IMPORTANT SCENES
HANDKERCHIEF SCENE
DEATH SCENE

IMPORTANT CONCEPTS TO UNDERSTAND:
The difference between betrayal and deception is that betrayal is an act of dishonesty or breaking of trust;
deception is the act of misleading someone or to make someone believe something which is actually false or not fully true.
Note: Othello is a tragic hero. It refers to someone of high position; in this time period, that meant royalty. He is 'universal,' meaning that everyone everywhere can relate to the kinds of problems or sufferings or emotions that the hero experiences. He has a 'tragic flaw' - this could be a personality trait (like greed, lust, ambition, jealousy, etc.) OR an error in judgement (a bad decision). This 'tragic flaw' leads to his downfall - usually ruins his career, reputation, power, etc. He is enlightened at the end of the story, meaning he realizes where he went wrong, he is humble, and he accepts the consequences.
THEMES:
Love
In Othello, love is a force that overcomes large obstacles and is tripped up by small ones. It provides Othello with intensity but not direction and gives Desdemona access to his heart but not his mind.
Iago often falsely professes love in friendship for Roderigo and Cassio and betrays them both. For Iago, love is leverage. Desdemona's love in friendship for Cassio is real but is misinterpreted by the jealous Othello as adulterous love.
Appearance and Reality OR Deception
Iago is deceptive by nature and he puts on an ‘honest’ face with the intention to deceive characters into trusting him implicitly and then he uses this information to betray them.
Jealousy
Jealousy is what appears to destroy Othello. Iago has noticed Othello's tendency to insecurity and overreaction. Jealousy contaminates Othello’s mind completely. The idea that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio, unhinges Othello whose very existence seems to be linked to his love for his wife. His jealousy eclipses Othello's reason, common sense and respect for justice.
Prejudice
Iago's scheme would not have worked without the underlying atmosphere of racial prejudice in Venetian society, a prejudice of which both Desdemona and Othello are very aware. Brabantio, Iago and Roderigo all display racist attitudes to Othello.
Betrayal
Othello is deceived and betrayed by Iago who lies to him about Desdemona’s affair with Iago. Brabantio is betrayed by his daughter who elopes with the Moor; Othello betrays Desdemona by listening to and allowing
Iago to manipulate him; Roderigo is betrayed by Iago who promises him that he will get Desdemona to love / marry Roderigo if the latter pays him for this service. Iago betrays Cassio by making him drunk and instructing
Roderigo to start a fight with him, knowing that the ensuing melee will infuriate Othello and lead to Cassio’s demotion; Emilia betrays Desdemona by giving the handkerchief to her ‘wayward husband’ – which ends up being the ‘ocular proof’ Othello needs to prove his wife’s infidelity; Emilia betrays her husband when she realises his role in the scheme; Iago betrays Emilia by killing her in the end – stabbing her from behind.

ACT 1
SCENE 1 Iago uses others (Roderigo), makes lewd
(vulgar) suggestions but keeps his distance!
Iago persuades Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell him
Othello has eloped with his daughter and is now virtually raping his daughter! Shows his resentment
‘… an old black ram / Is tupping your white ewe
Sc.1). ‘ the devil will make a grandsire of you.
’
…(Act 1,
Iago shows his true colours IMMEDIATELY!
Brabantio is frantic – looks for Othello at the same as the duke’s men. Othello has been summoned to the senate, to lead a fleet to defend Cyprus against the Turks
(Ottoman threat).
SCENE 2
Brabantio accuses Othello of Witchcraft: a serious allegation! He cannot believe that his daughter would fall in love with Othello out of her own free will.
SCENE 3
“Follow him to serve my turn upon him”
“In following him I follow but myself’
“I am not what I am”
“I must show out a flag and sign of love”
Othello is very calm; it is not his first choice; refuses to fight Brabantio.
‘For nature so preposterously to err/
Being not deficient, blind or lame,/ Sans witchcraft could not.’
Othello defends himself eloquently and with much dignity against this lethal accusation.
He was welcomed into Braba ntio’s home; spent time with the family engaging them with tales of his life’s adventures.
His stories impressed Desdemona.
He impresses the senate with his sincerity and calm demeanour.
Desdemona defends her choice publically: very unusual for a woman of her time.
Brabantio is bitter and devastated. He also realises that the senate has been partial to Othello because of his skill on the battlefield.
Note: this is the last time that father and daughter will see each other.
Desdemona requests to accompany her husband to
Cyprus.
Iago persuades Roderigo to go too.
Iago ’s intentions become clear but his motives remain cloudy.
Iago uses Othello’s virtues against him.
Shows that he knows Othello very well.
‘She loved me for the dangers that had passed and I loved her that she did pity them.’
Proclaims her duty and loyalty towards her husband. She is confident and brave.
She defies societal conventions by marrying a black man, albeit a general.
Warns Othello of her duplicity towards her father.
‘Look to her Moor if thou hast eyes to see
She has deceived her father and may thee’
Othello will remember these words later in the play!
‘ Put but money in thy purse .’ (said 8 times)
‘ Twixt my sheets he’s done me office’
( Vague rumour of Othello and Emilia having an affair: allegation never referred to again in play.
‘He holds me will – the better shall my purpose work on him.’
‘Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light’(Truly evil)
Iago is BRILLIANT but EVIL, MALICIOUS, PREMEDITATED, SADISTIC and PERVERTED. Will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Enjoys watching others’ pain and agony; enjoys destroying unwitting souls. Like a chess master, Othello, Roderigo, Cassio, et al are merely his PAWNS.
They do not know what he plans BUT WE KNOW! (Dramatic irony)

ACT 2: Note the STORM at beginning of the play f oreshadows ‘stormy’ events which occur later in this act and in the play viz. Othello waging war against himself, Cassio and Desdemona. The storm also heralds the unleashing of Iago’s evil plans.
N.B. The setting moves from sophisticated Venice to barbaric and chaotic Cyprus.
Very loyal and respectful;
Will be DEVASTATED when demoted later.
SCENE 1 : Cassio arrives first on the island; he has been separated from Othello and is concerned about him.
Desdemona, Emilia, Roderigo and ‘honest’ Iago arrive.
Cassio is extremely attentive, polite and courteous towards Desdemona and kisses her hand in greeting.
Finally Othello arrives
WAR OVER: Cassio placed in charge of island while inhabitants rejoice.
Iago is ironically placed in charge of
Desdemona’s safety.
Iago sees this minor act as an opportunity to ‘give birth’ to his ‘ monstrous ’ plan viz. If he can arouse
Othello’s jealousy, he can take revenge on both
Othello and Cassio.
Makes a GRAND entrance. Receives a hero’s welcome; saviour to restore peace and order on island.
‘Iago is most honest,’ says Othello.
Othello and Desdemona retire: not to be disturbed. They are after all, on honeymoon!
“ If it were now to die, / Twere now to be most happy, for I fear / My soul hath her content so absolute.
” Foreshadows his torment.
Words ring very true: becomes tortured soul when he thinks Desdemona is unfaithful.
‘I have very poor and unhappy brains for drinking’
SCENE 3 : Iago makes Cassio drunk: knows imbibing alcohol transforms him into an aggressive, violent, abusive drunkard.
Iago suggests to Montano that Cassio is an alcoholic.
Roderigo provokes Cassio to start a fight.
Montano intervenes; Cassio attacks him.
Iago shouts loudly to rouse Othello and create more chaos.
Pretends he does not know cause of the incident.
(Dramatic Irony)
Othello admires Iago for ‘defending’ Cassio.
“ I do know Cassio well and would do / Much to cure him of this evil .”
Othello is disgusted and demotes Cassio.
Cassio is devastated.
Iago has just the SOLUTION: Ask Desdemona to plead Cassio’s case with Othello
Cassio thanks Iago for his ‘advice’.
“ Thy honesty and love doth mince this matter making It light to Cassio ” believes Othello.
“ Reputation, reputation, reputation- O I have lost
My reputation, I ha’ lost the immortal part of myself, / and what remains is bestial ”
‘..
the general’s wife is now the general ..’
Iago becomes MEANER.
He has no compunctions about destroying
Desdemona by using her virtues to serve his knavish purposes viz. her generosity and loyalty.
He will tell Othello that Desdemona is appealing
Cassio’s suit because they are having an affair.
Iago will ask Emilia to set up a meeting with
Desdemona and organise an occasion for Othello to witness their assignation.
“ Good night honest Iago,” Cassio naively says.
“Divinity of Hell, when devils will their blackest sins put on They do suggest at first with heavenly shows .”
“ I will turn her virtue into pitch”
“I will pour pestilence into his ear.”
“She repeals him for her body’s lust.”
“...by how much she strives to do him good/ she s hall undo her credit with the Moor.”
“ Myself a while to draw the Moor apart, /Bring him jump when he may Cassio find / Soliciting his wife.
”

ACT 3
SCENE 3
Cassio is brought before Desdemona and she promises to do everything in her power to plead his case. Emilia is present at the meeting.
Desdemona encourages Cassio to speak to
Othello; he is too embarrassed and slinks away.
Iago sees Cassio leaving Desdemona’s rooms; suggests Cassio’s behaviour is suspicious.
Desdemona plies Othello for Cassio’s reinstatement. She is extremely persistent and unwittingly plays into Iago’s hands.
“ I’ll intermingle everything he does with Cassio’s suit.’
Iago keeps characters apart.
“ I’ll at ease / Unfit for mine own purpose”
A grave mistake: it seems as if he is hiding a secret affair.
“ ha! I like not that !” Perfect innuendo.
“I cannot think why he would steal away so guiltylike.
” Note Iago’s word choice.
Her playful manner and persistence is
MISINTERPRETED. His jealousy, fears and insecurities are highlighted.
‘he (Cassio)hath left part of his grief with me’
TEMPTATION SCENE
Suggests that Cassio had used his position as intermediary between Othello and Desdemona, to woo her for himself.
TORN between his LOVE for Desdemona;
Belief in HONEST Iago his ensign.
“Did Cassio know of your love/” Suggestive
“ Indeed!”
“Honest? For aught I know.”
“O,beware my lord of jealousy./ It is the greeneyed monster which doth mock / The meet it feeds on.”
Othello plays into Iago’s hands and shows him the way of his mind.
“ No, to be o nce in doubts to be resolved.”
“I’ll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove:
And on the proof, there is no more than this.
Away at once with love or jealousy!” He will act decisively because
‘JUSTICE’ must be done!
Othello’s words resonate well with Iago who uses his guile to torture Othello. Plays on his insecurities!
‘Look to your wife. Observe her well with Cassio.”
He makes Othello feel non-Venetian
Reminds him of her father’s remarks:
“I do know our country disposition well. / In Venice they do let God see their pranks/ They dare not show their husbands.
“She did deceive her father, marrying you.”
This increases Othello’s suspicion.
Othello is ensnared! “ I am bound to thee forever” sounds menacing.
“ Why did I marry? This honest creature
/doubtless/Sees and knows more, than he unfolds ”
Irony and Dramatic Irony: The audience is aware of the truth in Othello’s comments.
“ If she be false, O then heaven moc ks itself! I’ll not believe’t.”
Othello has internalised his own insecurities: “ Haply, for I am black
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have, or for I am declined
Into the vale of years ”

EMILIA picks up Desdemona’s handkerchief and gives it to Iago: unaware of his nefarious intentions. She seems desperate to please him and win over his affections.
Iago has PLANS for this precious gift.
Othello wants OCULAR proof of his wife’s affair.
Grabs Iago by the throat.
Othello changes with Iago’s poison
Iago inflames Othello’s suspicions with an invented story of Cassio’s ‘dream’
Claims he saw Cassio with Desdemona’s handkerchief.
Othello instructs Iago to kill Cassio
Othello promotes Iago to the position of lieutenant. Iago pledges allegiance to his general.
Desdemona does not tell Othello handkerchief is lost; she rather begs him to reinstate Cassio.
Infuriates Othello ‘proving’ her infidelity
(imagined) once again when she once again pleads Cassio’s suit. Storms off!
Desdemona cannot understand Othello’s changed demeanour: assumes it is matters of state which have unsettled him.
Emilia mentions prospect of jealousy.
Is Othello’s jealousy innate or has it been bred and nurtured by Iago?
Cassio once again importunes her to fight for his cause; and she promises to do her best. Asks
Cassio to be patient: her husband “is in humour altered”.
Note: the audience is aware that her pleas will further enrage her husband and hasten her impending death.
Bianca accuses Cassio of neglect; he gives her the handkerchief that he found in his chamber.
‘
“ I am glad I have found this napkin. / This was her first remembrance from the Moor. / My wayward husband hath a hundred times / Wooed me to steal it.”
“ I nothing, but to please his fantasy .”
“I will in Cassio’s lodging lose this napkin / and will let him find it./ Trifles light as air / Are to the jealous confirmations strong/ As proofs of holy writ.”
“ Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore. / Be sure of it./ give me the ocular proof ”
Note how his language and imagery is similar to
Iago’s.
“Farewell the tranquil mind, farewell content”
“ O that the slave had forty thousand lives! / One is too poor, too weak for my revenge. “
“Arise black vengeance, from thy hollow cell./
Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted crown / To tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, swell, with thy fraught, / For ‘tis of aspics’ tongues .”
“ My friend is dead./
‘Tis done at your request; but let her live’
Notice how Iago cleverly spurs Othello on to killing
Desdemona.
‘Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her, damn her!”
“I am your own forever ”
Othello warnes: To lose't or give't away were such perdition /’As nothing else could match .’
“But jealous souls will not be answered so. / they are not ever jealous for the cause, / But jealous for they’re jealous. It is a monster. / Begot upon itself, born on itself”
“I f I do find him fit, I’ll move your suit /
And seek to effect it to my utmost”
O Cassio, whence came this?
This is some token from a newer friend’

ACT 4
SCENE 1
Iago works Othello until he has an epileptic fit. He bombards him with images of Desdemona and
Cassio lying naked in bed. Notice the pun on ‘lie’
– how Othello’s mind runs rampant!
He tells Othello to listen in on a conversation between Cassio and himself. He tells Othello that he will ask Cassio questions about his affair with Desdemona: when, where, how often and when they will have sexual relations again.
Othello misinterprets Cassio’s responses, thinking that he is making fun of Desdemona.
Lie with her! lie on her! We say lie on her, when /they belie her. Lie with her! that's fulsome .
Iago speaks to Cassio of Bianca.
Note: the idea of the WHORE is introduces.
‘ As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad with his unbookish (unsophisticated) jealousy.’
Othello sees Desdemona in the same light as
Bianca: a woman who easily dispenses of her virtue.
Iago taunts Othello with Cassio’s having the handkerchief.
Reminds him of Cassio’s ‘dream’ – which he had made up.
Bianca arrives with the handkerchief – for
Othello, the handkerchief is a symbol of
Desdemona’s virtue and her body which she has cheaply given away.
Lodovico arrives with news: Othello has been recalled to Venice.
Desdemona is still trying to pursue Cassio’s suite; this irritates and gnaws at Othello.
In anger he slaps her; humiliating her publicly.
Montana is shocked to see the radical change in
Othello’s personality and demeanour and comments on it to Iago.
Iago implies that Othello has become unhinged and is out of control.
‘She gave it to him and he hath given it to his whore.’
‘Let her rot and perish and be damned tonight, for she shall not live!’
Iago: ‘ Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated.’
‘And for Cassio, let me be his undertaker .’
‘
You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus.--Goats and monkeys!’
Othello sees Cyprus as a place of moral declined and sexual depravity.
‘
Is this the noble Moor whom our full senate
Call all in all sufficient? Is this the nature
Whom passion could not shake ?’
‘It is not honesty in me to speak
What I have seen and known. You shall observe him,
And his own courses will denote him so’
SCENE 2: BROTHEL SCENE
Described by critics as ‘Cruel, nightmarish scene, more painful than a murder scene.’
He is cold, ruthless and vengeful.
Othello interrogates Emilia about Desdemona’s whereabouts and meetings with Cassio. She reassu res him of Desdemona’s faithfulness: no evidence of infidelity.
He treats Desdemona as if she is a prostitute and debases her in the presence of Emilia.
Desdemona confides in Iago and asks him to find out what ails Othello.
Emilia suggests that he has been influenced by
‘
But then I saw no harm, and then I heard
Each syllable that breath made up between them.’
‘ This is a subtle whore / a closet lock and key of villainous secrets.’
‘I took you for that cunning whore of Venice
That married with Othello.’
‘ The Moor's abused by some most villanous knave,/ Some base notorious knave, some scurvy fellow.’ an unscrupulous person.
Roderigo persuaded that the only way to keep Othello in Cyprus is to kill Cassio IF he still wants
Desdemona

ACT 5
SCENE 1
Iago’s plan comes to fruition. Roderigo makes a sword pass at Cassio. Cassio wounds Roderigo.
Iago wounds Cassio from behind and he falls.
Roderigo calls for help and is silenced by Iago.
Iago orders that Cassio’s wounds be tended to.
He instructs Emilia to tell Othello of these events.
Iago is aware that he is close to success.
SCENE 2
Othello justifies the act of murder. Desdemona pleads her innocence; tells Othello not to do anything he will regret. Othello is deaf to her pleas of innocence. Refuses to stop.
Othello tells Desdemona that Cassio is dead and she weeps. He takes it as a sign of guilt and smothers her with the pillow: he cannot look in her face lest his resolve crumbles.
While Desdemona is in the throes of death,
Emilia rushes in to inform Othello of Cassio’s injury and Roderigo’s death.
Before Desdemona dies she says that she has not been murdered but has killed herself.
Othello tells Emilia that why he killed Desdemona and tells her that Iago ‘knew it all’.
Emilia is devastated and furious. She calls
Othello ‘a devil’ and ‘as rash as fire’.
She realises Iago’s role in events and questions him when he enters. Othello is still ignorant.
Montano, Gratiano, Iago and others come in;
Emilia pounces on Iago demanding the truth.
Iago tries to silence Emilia
She tells Othello that she had found the ‘ocular proof’ the handkerchief and given it to Iago. Calls
Othello a ‘murderous fool’.
Othello realises what Iago has done and tries to stab him but is stopped. Montano disarms Othello but Othello has a hidden dagger.
Iago stabs Emilia from behind and she dies a heroin. He runs off.
Iago (prisoner) and an injured Cassio is brought in. Othello is bewildered and wants answers.
Iago refuses and painfully there is no closure for
Othello.
Othello asks to be remembered as one who
‘ loved not too wisely but too well .’
Othello stabs himself with the hidden dagger.
Realises that he has nowhere to go except to die: when he had killed Desdemona, he had also
‘killed’ himself. Tries to redeem himself with this final act of bravery.
Roderigo realises Iago’s deceit:
‘ O damn'd Iago! O inhuman dog!’
‘..live Roderigo,
He calls me to a restitution large
Of gold and jewels that I bobb'd from him,
As gifts to Desdemona .’
"This is the night
That either makes me or fordoes me quite."
‘ Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men /
Put out the light, and then put out the light’
‘Out, strumpet! weep'st thou for him to my face?’
She's, like a liar, gone to burning hell:
'Twas I that kill'd her.
O, the more angel she,
And you the blacker devil !
‘
My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago.
’
‘ You have done well / That men must lay their murders on your neck.’
‘What, are you mad? … get you home.’
‘Be wise, and get you home.’
‘What should such a fool do/ With so good a woman.’
Moor, she was chaste; she loved thee, cruel Moor; /So come my soul to bliss, as I speak true;/So speaking as
I think, I die, I die.’
‘ Demand that demi-devil why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body’’
‘Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.
From this time forth I will never s peak a word.’
Cassio says, ‘ he (Othello) was great of heart.’

RODERIGO
O damn'd Iago! O inhuman dog!

IMPORTANT QUOTES TO REMEMBER:
"We cannot all be masters, nor all masters
Cannot be truly followed." —Iago, 1.1.42-3
“ I am not what I am." —Iago, 1.1.60-4
"Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her!
For I'll refer me to all things of sense,
If she in chains of magic were not bound,
Whether a maid, so tender, fair, and happy,
So opposite to marriage that she shunned
The wealthy curled darlings of our nation,
Would ever have, t'incur a general mock,
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thou—to fear, not to delight." —Brabantio, 1.2.62-71
"Rude am I in my speech,
And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace:
For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith,
Till now some nine moons wasted, they have used
Their dearest action in the tented field,
And little of this great world can I speak,
More than pertains to feats of broil and battle,
And therefore little shall I grace my cause
In speaking for myself. Yet, by your gracious patience,
I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver
Of my whole course of love." —Othello, 1.3.81-91
"I do perceive here a divided duty." —Desdemona, 1.3.181
"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, 1.3.391-4

Act 2 Quotes
"If I were now to die,
Twere now to be most happy, for I fear
My soul hath her content so absolute
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate." —Othello, 2.1.188–91
"I'll [...] make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward me
For making him egregiously an ass." —Iago, 2.1.302-6
"Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial." —Cassio, 2.3.251-3
"How poor are they that have not patience!
Act 3 Quotes
"Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul
But I do love thee! And when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again." —Othello, 3.3.90-2
"By heaven, thou echo'st me
As if there were some monster in thy thought
Too hideous to be shown." —Othello, 3.3.106-8
"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; tis something, nothing;
Twas mine, tis his, and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed" —Iago, 3.3.155–61
"O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!
It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock
The meat it feeds on." —Iago, 3.3.165-7
"This honest creature doubtless
Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds."
—Othello, 3.3.242-3
"This fellow's of exceeding honesty,
And knows all qualities, with a learned spirit
Of human dealings." —Othello, 3.3.258–60

"Haply, for I am black
And have not those soft parts of conversation
That chamberers have, or for I am declined
Into the vale of years – yet that's not much –
She's gone." —Othello, 3.3.263-7
"Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof." —Othello, 3.3.360
"On horror's head horrors accumulate." —Othello, 3.3.370
"I am your own forever." —Iago, 3.3.480
Act 4 Quotes
"Upon my knee, what doth your speech import?
I understand a fury in your words
But not the words." —Desdemona, 4.2.31-3
Act 5 Quotes
"This is the night
That either makes me or fordoes me quite." —Iago, 5.1.129–30
"Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore,
Should I repent me;—Othello, 5.2.7-15
"Had she been true,
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite
I'd not have sold her for it." —Othello, 5.2.144-7
""Demand me nothing. What you know, you know.
From this time forth I never will speak word." —Iago, 5.2.303-4
"When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am... Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely, but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe —Othello, 5.2.341–56