Notes created by an A-level English literature private tutor + A* student.
this document provides a table with all key quotes paired with their analysis and any relevant critics and context. These notes got me an A* at a level English literature
Othello quote bank organised into themes without analysis - all acts included
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A/AS Level
PEARSON (PEARSON)
English Literature 2015
Shakespeare
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ACT ONE
Character Quote Analysis Critics
SCENE ONE
IAGO We cannot all be masters, nor all Antimetabole ‘Is not simply a man of action; he is an
masters cannot truly be followed app vs reality artist/.. the intricate plot of drama and
Foreshadowing him taking Othello’s place as the in the conception and execution of it he
‘master’ experiences the tension and the joy of
artistic creation’ BRADLEY
IAGO I am not what I am Subversion of God’s words (appropriation) ‘I ‘Iago is a being who hates good simply
am that I am’ because it is good and loves evil purely
Aligning himself with the devil for itself’ (instead of Coleridge’s view)-
Motivation of pure evil BRADLEY
IAGO Thieves, thieves, thieves! Look to your Exclamatives BRADLEY- ‘Desdemona is helplessly
house, your daughter and your bags! Repetition passive’
Thieves, thieves! Imperative
Rule of three - Desdemona as a possession of
Brabantio
Language continuously used to commodify her
‘jewel’ rarely loose and is often ‘bound’ to
necklaces or rings which may be symbolic of her
ownership by Othello - further presenting her to
be bound by the shackles of her gender despite
her individuality ergo she is ‘helplessly passive’
Her embodied persona is cleverly contrasted
with the verb ‘bound’ connotations of her as an
object colluding with domestic stereotypes -
naturally furthered by this description being
delivered by a man: Othello
IAGO An old black ram is tupping your white Metaphor
ewe! Animalistic lang
Exclamative
Homophone ‘you/ewe’
,Character Quote Analysis Critics
BRABANTIO O treason of the blood! Exclamative - degradation of B’s language
(mirrors that of Othello
Blood as a tragic symbol
Possibly foreshadows D’s deception of
Othello
Alternatively betrayed her race ‘blood’
This marriage is at the heart of the con ict which
provokes the tragedy
SCENE TWO (en
media res)
OTHELLO I love the gentle Desdemona Contrasts animalistic language
OTHELLO My parts, my title, my perfect soul Metaphysical
Rule of three
Contrasts black stereotypes /physiognomy
Possessives
Contrasts later presentation of Othello
BRABANTIO My daughter damned as thou art, thou Possessive
hast enchanted her ‘Damned’ Othello as the devil - dramatic irony it
is Iago who is the devil
Alternatively foreshadows the damnation of
Othello and Desdemona’s tragic demise
Reference to black magic
SCENE THREE - set in
the court chamber
talking about the
private concerns of
the marriage
alongside public
concerns of the war
in Cyprus.
OTHELLO It is most true; true, that I have married Chiasmus
her Rhetoric - his sophistication contrasts his later
presentation and his assumed character
fl
, Character Quote Analysis Critics
OTHELLO Rude am i in my speech Rhetoric device
‘Rude’ suggests he is uneducated
Is there possible truth to this ?
OTHELLO I won his daughter Desdemona as a possession
Treated as a war to be won - possible military
connotations
OTHELLO She’d come again with a greedy ear Desdemina as active - alternatively this Othello behaves as if he found a
Devour up my discourse could be refuted by the fact that this di erent Desdemona from the one he
description is given by her husband expected it is as if the outburst of
synaesthesia sensuality in a girl who could not long
Animalistic ago listened to his tales with her eyes
Plosives lowered, amazed and horri ed him’ -
SPEAIGHT
‘Composed very largely of ignorance of
self as well as of her (Desdemona)’-
LEAVIS
OTHELLO She loved me for the dangers that I had Chiasmus
passed ‘Pity’ her passivity - infantilises her
And i loved that she did pity them ‘Loved’ past tense - foreshadows the
breakdown of their relationship (based in illusion)
This is the only witchcraft I have used Suggests the power of story telling - tool for
manipulation/ likened to black magic
DESDEMONA I do perceive here a divided duty Repetition of ‘duty’ throughout this speech Desdemona is helplessly passive. She
To you I am bound for life and Anadiplosis can do nothing whatever. She cannot
education: my life and eduction both do ‘Bound’ idea of being owned retaliate even in speech; not, not even in
learn me Plosives silent feeling’- BRADLEY
Uses the rhetoric- suggestion that she is
educated (masculine+ active)
ff fi
, Character Quote Analysis Critics
BRABANTIO But words are words: I never yet did Iconography of the ‘ear’
hear that the bruised heart was pierced Words do cause the demise of Othello- no ocular
through the ear proof
Rhyme - suggests the conclusion of Brabantio’s
appearance is imminent however also reinforces
his status
‘Pierced’ verb of intention and precision -
aligning Othello with the devil + foreshadows
his downfall
DESDEMONA I saw Othello’s visage in his mind Suggests the duality of Othello’s character Women and blacks exist as the other in
Idealises love - founded in illusion / story this play’ - LOOMBA
telling- she cannot see his mind therefore they
potentially don’t truly know each other - possible ‘She idealises Othello and cannot
she has been deceived recognise that he is as susceptible to
Past tense irrationality and evil as other men’-
GARDNER
BRABANTIO She has deceived her father and may Foreshadowing - acts as a warning
well deceive thee Brabantio’s last appearance
OTHELLO My life upon her faith Foreshadows his demise Othello had no life but in Desdemona-
the belief that she, his angel, had fallen
from the heaven of her narrative
innocence, wrought a civil war in his
heart’ - COLERIDGE
IAGO Our bodies are gardens to which our ‘Our will’ = Iagos’s will dictates Others, too, are only an instrument.
wills are gardeners Extended metaphor of Iago as a gardener - They can be moulded like clay’-
much like him as the playwright POTTER
Him as a gardener reinforces him as
manipulating the natural order
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