IAGO - Act 1, Scene
1: "In following him,
I follow but myself,"
"I am not what I
am"
Religious Imagery: Iago is here
admitting his evil nature directly
to the audience and Roderigo. In
a vague biblical reference to
God's declaration to Moses 'I am
what I am', Iago is declaring his
duplicity by stating the opposite.
IAGO - Act 1, Scene 3:
"And [he] will be
tenderly led by the nose,
as asses are,"
Animal Imagery: Iago is
referring to Cassio's
stupidity and gullibility
using the analogy 'ass'
who will be easily 'led'
i.e. manipulated or
decieved.
Act 2, Sc 1 – Line 291-3
“…practising upon his [Othello’s]
peace and quiet / even to
madness / Knavery’s plain face
is never seen till used,”
Juxtaposition: Iago is again admitting his evil
duplicity through the juxtaposition of 'peace
and quiet' and 'madness'.
"Knavery's plain face is never seen till used,"
Trickery is never seen until it's been done.
Act 2, Sc 1 – Line 164 “With as
little web as this will I
ensnare as great a fly as
Cassio,”
Animal imagery: Iago is again referring
to Cassio as a animal which he will
ensnare or trap.
Metaphor: The use of
the metaphor casts Iago
as someone who is in
control of the situation.
Act 2, Sc 3 – Line 297
(Iago to Cassio) “I
protest in the sincerity
of love and honest
kindness,”
The lexical chain created by
'sincerity' 'love' 'honest'
'kindness' highlights Iago's
lying nature as it is a strikingly
arrogant and false statement.
Act 5, Sc 2 – Line 339-40 “Then
must you speak / Of one that
loved not wisely, but too well,”
Othello is recognising a fatal
flaw in himself towards the
end of the play - he is
recognising he loved
Desdemona almost too much.
This could also be seen as
Othello obsessing over his
reputation - even to the final
minutes of his life.
Act 3, Sc 3 – Line 280-1 “If she be false, O then
heaven mocks itself; I’ll not believe it,”
Biblical imagery: this is
another example of
Desdemona being
correlated with heaven or
perfection.
These two quotes when together show the
dramatic change Othello undergoes in a
very short amount of time.
Act 3, Sc 3 – Line 427-33 “O
monstrous, monstrous …I’ll tear her
all to pieces!”
The violence in Othello's words
when he talks about
Desdemona shows the
audience he now fully believes
Iago.
Act 3, Sc 3 – Line 167-9 “O beware, my lord, of
jealousy: / It is the green eyed monster which doth
mock the meat it feeds on,”
The metaphor of comparing
jealousy to a monster makes
evident the inevitability of Iago's
plan: it adds to a sense of fate
through implying that it eats up
it's victims.
It is therefore
foreshadowing events in
the play as Iago is
ironically making Othello
jealous throughout this
scene.
Act 3, Sc 4 – Lines 155-6 “[Jealousy] is a
monster, begot upon itself, born on itself,”
Demonstrates the unstoppable
force of jealousy once it has
begun. Adds to a feeling of
inevitability or fate.
Act 1 “Old black ram,” “Far
more fair than black,” “The
Moor,” “Thick lips,”
Repetition of Othello being identified by racist
epithets in Act 1 and throughout the play.
Act 1, Sc 3 –
Line 381-2
“The Moor is
of a free and
open nature,
That thinks
men honest
that but
seem to be
so,”
Iago's bold statement
proves his awareness of
Othello's naivety and
gullibility.
Repeated
use of the
epithets of
‘valiant’ and
‘noble’ to
describe
Othello.
Validates his
noble status,
widely respected
as a noble
general.