These quotes are directly taken from the play Othello and have been analysed. Prominent symbols have been highlighted. Examples have been included showing how to intersect direct quotes with analysis, this will help students with literature essay writing skills. Studying from quotes directly help g...
Act 5
Scene i Quotes:
“I’ll be at thy elbow. / It makes us or it mars us: think on that, / And fix most firm thy resolution.”
(Iago) - Iago tries to assure Roderigo that he will watch out for him, indicating his cowardly
nature as he will only stay behind Roderigo. This action is important because it will either make
or destroy them.
“I have no great devotion to the deed.” (Roderigo) - Reveals he is not completely ready or
wanting to kill Cassio.
[Aside] “Every way makes my gain.” (Iago) - Every possible outcome of the situation will result in
his favour.
“If Cassio do remain, / He hath a daily beauty in his life.” (Iago) - His jealousy towards Cassio as
he holds a higher rank and is better looking than them.
[Iago wounds Cassio in the leg and exit] - This occurs completely in the dark.
[Aside] “The voice of Cassio: Iago keeps his word.” (Othello) - He can hear Cassio shouting in
the distance. This reveals that Othello and Iago have plotted together to kill both Cassio and
Desdemona.
“O help, ho! Light! A surgeon!” (Cassio) - The darkness of the night suggests deception and
confusion.
“Forth of my heart those charms, thine eyes are blotted; / Thy bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s
blood be spotted.” (Othello) - In reference to their wedding night sheets. The blood of her
innocence and virginity will be stained by Othells’s actions.
“O murderous slave! O villain!” (Iago) - Iago acts as if he does not know Roderigo and pretends
to defend Cassio by killing him.
“Gentlemen all, I do suspect this trash / To be a party in this injury.” (Iago) - He places the blame
on Bianca.
“Signior Gratiano! I cry your gentle pardon. / These bloody accidents must excuse my manners /
That so neglected you.” (Iago) - In all the chaos, Iago apologises for not properly greeting them,
in an attempt to make the whole incident appear unplanned.
“Look you pale, mistress? / Do you perceive the gastness of her eye?” (Iago) - Iago forces
Bianca to take responsibility because she appears guilty. But the look in her eye was actually
shock.
“This is the fruits of whoring.” (Iago) - Cassio’s injury is a result of being with a sex worker.
, “But of life as honest / As you that thus abuse me.” (Bianca) - Telling Emilia they are one in the
same, they are both honest about who they are.
“Emilia, run you to the citadel.” (Iago) - Iago strategically sends Emilia to convey the news of the
incident so that she will witness Othello killing Desdemona.
[Aside] “This is the night that either makes me, or fordoes me quite.” (Iago) - This begins to build
the suspense of what might happen.
Scene ii Quotes:
“Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee / And love thee after.” (Othello) - He will continue
to love her after he kills her.
“But they are cruel tears: this sorrow’s heavenly - / It strikes where it doth love.” (Othello) - He
brings up paradoxical images: dark and light. He believes that he will be saving her from her
sins. Equivocate - to tell half truths.
“If you bethink yourself of any crime / Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace, / Solicit for it
straight.” (Othello) - He tells Desdemona to confess and be transparent about her sins. If her
sins are left “unreconciled” she will not get into heaven.
“When your eyes roll so. Why I should fear I know not, / Since guiltless I know not, but yet I feel
fear.” (Desdemona) - Othello begins to appear possessed which brings in devilish imagery. This
suggests that he is non-Christian and thus against god. She fears for her life but not going to
hell for her sins - she has not committed any.
“That death’s unnatural that kills for loving. / Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip? / Some
bloody passion shakes your very frame.” (Desdemona) - His passions have completely
consumed him. Suggest the disruption of the natural order of life - to kill someone out of love is
unnatural and in contrast to god.
“Take heed of perjury: thou art on thy death-bed.” (Othello) - If she does not confess she will go
to hell.
“That I do groan withal. Thou art to die.” (Othello) - She will die regardless of whether she
confesses or not. “Groan” becomes a metaphor for his desire to kill her.
“And have you mercy too! I never did / Offend you in my life; never loved Cassio.” (Desdemona)
- She only ever loved Cassio platonically.
“A murder, which I thought a sacrifice. / I saw the handkerchief.” (Othello) - He sees her death
as a sacrifice but she is making him think differently. “Saw” links back to Othello demanding foo
ocular proof and the theme of reality and deception.
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