Othello Quotes Act 3

I never knew a Florentine more kind and honest Act 3 Scene 1 Cassio: dramatic irony created at the extent thag Iago has been able to decieve the entire character list. He has fooled every, the audience watch helplessly incapable of stopping the inevitable events to come.
Well, my good lord, I’ll do’t Act 3 Scene 2 Iago: This is an extremely short Scene but rather humorous and comical. The audience have been accustomed to the powerful Iago as he has increasingly dominated the script with his soliloquies and dialogues, however here among other Venetians it is evident that in reality, Iago is incredibly subservient and below Othello. Highlights the advantage he is in being in a foreign country where no one will recognise his deceit and see through his plan.
“I’ll watch him tame and talk him out of patience His bed shall be his school, his board a shrift””I’ll intermingle everything he does with Cassio’s suit””Thy solicitor shall rather die than give away thy cause away””Why, then, tomorrow night, or Tuesday morn, On Tuesday noon, or night; on Wednesday morn.” Act 3 Scene 3 Desdemona: Desdemona is slowly unwittingly aiding towards her own tragic downfall through her continuous attempts to interrogate Othello over Cassio. The repeated use of the interrogatives and orders reveal the extent of Desdemona’s innocence, as she Is unaware of the distress and jealousy she could cause. Effectively, it is Desdemona’s flaws of trust and naivety that contribute to her death, flaws that were created in order to highlight how the traditional Elizabethan values relating to women were inappropriate in a real world situation.
“Ha! I like not that””Nothing my lord; or if – I know not what””No, sure I cannot think that he would steal away so guilty-like” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago: This is the turning point of the play, often known as the scene of temptation as well see Iago tease and taunt Othello with suggestions of Desdemona’s infidelity, tempting him into a state of jealous rage. The sneering tone of Iago’s “Ha! immediately garners interest from Othello as Iago’s use of the word “Guilty” and “steal” creates negative images of the behavior between Desdemona and Cassio. The seed of doubt has been planted with the deceptively short and simple opening line, their honesty is no match for his duplicity. His pauses and hesitations are expressions and feelings too powerful to be exposed.
“Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul But I do love thee, and when I love thee not, chaos is come again” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: Othello expresses his deep love for Desdemona in this exclamation. The word “perdition,” meaning Hell, comes from the Latin perdere ,which means “to put completely to destruction.” He is therefore expressing that he loves her boundlessly, even to the point where his love for her threatens his own soul. Throughout the play, there are many references to Hell and the Devil, incarnated in the character of Iago. He is able to manipulate Othello through his intense love of Desdemona, and indeed leads him and others to destruction by play’s end.Later in the quote, we see the word “chaos,” which is an interesting word. This is, in fact, what happens when Othello ceases to love Desdemona. Othello’s words are prophetic here, and they foreshadow what his life will become as he descends into the madness of jealousy. Iago is ultimately the catalyst that causes this chaos to erupt.
“Honest, my lord?” “Think, my lord?” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago: This scene could be portrayed as quite comedic as through merely the use of repetition he is able to create jealousy from Othello. The manipulation Iago deploys in this scene is so effective highlights his intelligence as a Machiavellian villain. The repetitions, use of hesitations and withholding information shown in the text through the use of caesuras show the extent of Iago’s villainy. This scene could be depicted in many ways. Othello could be seem as desperate to unveil Iago’s though however at the same time, he could be enacted as submissive towards the information that Iago is showing.
“My lord, you know I love you” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago: From this dialogue the reader can assume that Iago has Othello completely fooled on the nature of their relationship. Iago loathes Othello and only intends to manipulate him for selfish purposes, but has masked this hatred with superficial loyalty and adornment. He continues to strive for the effect of honesty.
“O beware my lord, of jealousy: it is the green eyed monster that doth mock the meat it feeds on” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago: This is one of the most incredibly important and haunting quotes in the entire play, as Shakespeare personifies jealousy with such destructive language to create evil imagery among the audience. The fact that this metaphor creates connotations of diseases and parasitical organisms that benefit by deriving nutrients at other’s expense highlights to an audience the corruption that is taking place in Othello’s mind, as his state of mind is tragically currently becoming infected by Iago’s lies. Furthermore, the fact that to a contemporary Shakespearean audience where dying from illnesses such as epidemics from the plague were increasingly common, highlights the destructive elements of this quote, as they would have ben well aware of the death and tragedy it could create. The phrase originated from the idea that when a person was sick, their skin turned a yellow or green color. In addition, unripe fruit (which will make you sick when you eat it) is also the color green.
“O misery!” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: This plaintive wail emphasis the inner turmoil of Othello’s state of mind as he is unsure of what to believe. The audience is soon losing sight of the self-assured and confident man and warrior they were aware of at the beginning of the play. The tragic loss of identity is starting to begin here.
“Nor from my weak merits will I draw The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt. For she had eyes and chose me” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: Although on the outside it seems as if Othello is rising above the feelings of jealousy that Iago is trying to corrupt him with, his statement is incredibly absurd because it seems unrealistic, the fact that Othello speaks these words out loud to Iago strongly undermines the points he is trying to make.
“She did deceive her father marrying you” “And so she did” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago and Othello respectively: Iago subtly gives the concrete proof the he obviously desires, that she has deceived before and thus may deceive again. Othello’s jealousy has been awakened by suggestions and word play such as this, conveying to the audience his deep rooted insecurities.
“I am bound to thee forever” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: By using the word “bound”, a past participle of the very “bind”, it emphasizes to the audience the restricted and confined nature that Othello is in. He has increasingly become tied to Iago to such an extent that he greatly relies on his thoughts, convictions and judgements. Once again this highlights Othello’s loss of identity as the independent and confident war hero that the audience were introduced to at the beginning of the play is lost.
“Haply for I am black, And have not those soft parts of conversation” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: As soon as doubt of Desdemona’s infidelity begins, Othello loses his sense of manhood and begins to be affected by the racial prejudices he had previously shrugged off. His feelings reflect the racist society that he lives in and the audience is left to feel pathos towards the pitiful Othello.
“She’s gone. I am abused and my relief must be to loathe her” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: This statement should be written in the model or conditional tense, however here Shakespeare uses a clear declarative to portray Othello’s distress. Hence, this further cements to the audience that in Othello’s mind, Desdemona is already guilty. Although he demands “ocular proof”, the insecurities he feels from the racial prejudices at the time result in him immediately casting Desdemona as the “_____ of Venice”.
“I nothing but to please his fantasy” Act 3 Scene 3 Emilia: This quote again further emphasizes the stereotype of females to please their husbands despite Emilia knowing that what she does his wrong. Her subservience reflect the obedience of all women in the play to their male counterparts.
“I will in Cassio’s lodging lose this napkin and let him find it””The Moor already changes with my poison” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago: Snatching the handkerchief Iago regains an excusive control over directing the unfolding jealousy of Othello. By directly revealing his intentions to the audience again, they one again become explicit to the tragi downfall of Othello. This awareness of the scheme he is concocting shows once again the calculated nature of Iago. The destructive language and references to “poison” again reveal the corruption that Iago is creating in Othello’s mind. He has used references to diseases and medicines throughout the play, highlighting the admiring nature of his intelligence as even linguistically Iago is able to manipulate the language to his own advantage.
“O now for ever Farewell the tranquil mind!””Farewell” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: Othello is now raving angry, and his anger can be portrayed on stage through him erratically pacing around the stage. The exclamatives, interrogatives as well as his use of rhetorical questions does highlight his hamartia of having such a quick temper and perhaps, jumping to such quick conclusions of jealousy. Furthermore, the repetition of “Farewell” highlights the continuing loss of identity for Othello.
“Give me the ocular proof” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: Othello’s demand for ocular proof, that is, tangible evidence of his wife’s adultery, is the turning point in the play. It places Iago in a perilous position. He has to produce physical evidence to support all his false accusations or die. More ironically still, what follows is not physically ‘ocular’ at all, but a play on Othello’s fevered imagination.
“I think my wife be honest, and think she is not; I think that thou are just, and think thou art not” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: The structure of the speech here is expressing God Janus: the two faced God. Othello does not know what to believe as two different versions of reality lie before him. Othello has quickly fallen into a state of great disturbance, confusion and uncertainty shown through is anxious and uneasy speech. Would be played in a staccato manner on stage.
“In sleep I heard him say sweet Desdemona, let us be wary, let us hide our love” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago: Iago responds to Othello’s demand for visible proof with the most circumstantial, unverifiable evidence. And Othello, overcome by jealousy, accepts it. Notice also that Othello immediately thinks of killing Desdemona. He believes that she has robbed him of his manhood, so he feels he must destroy her. Iago’s explanation is an echo of Iago’s line at the end of Act 2 where he exclaimed that he would “tear the moor apart”
“O monstrous, monstrous!””I’ll tear her all to pieces” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: Very brutal and destructive language is being used here by Othello, as it can be seen to mirror Iago’s own destructive language that we have seen previously in the play. The use of the word “tear” highlights Othello’s own aggression and violence, as it insinuates the sheer physical force that he is going to use to forcibly injure Desdemona, seen through his “Strike” and hence later death.
“Arise black vengeance from thy hollow cell””O blood blood blood” Act 3 Scene 3 Othello: Othello is resented as angry, his love towards Desdemona having truly been destroyed by Iago. The fact that he characterizes himself as “black” reveals the extent of his loss of identity, the man the Duke had previously referred to as “far more fair than black” has been destroyed. Once again, the eloquence and poetic language that the audience associated with the previous Othello has disappeared, his broken speech adds to the dramatic effect as his confusion vibrates around the stage and the audience can physically hear and see the consequences of his jealousy.
“He kneels” “They rise””Heaven” “Vow” “Engage” During this scene, Shakespeare uses a semantic field of marriage in order to cement Othello’s and Iago’s unification together, an almost parody to a marriage of sorts. To a Jacobean audience, marriage was a sacred ceremony to be vowed till death, hence to see the tragic hero and tragic villain kneeling before one another, vowing to join forces cements the inability of Othello’s tragic down fall as there is no way back for him especially due to the fact that for a contemporary audience to whom divorce was not a legal choice, it foreshadows the demolition and destruction that slowly unravels towards the end of the play. This formal recognition of love that has now been turned into a promise of bloodshed and revenge highlights the dark and destructive nature of Iago’s malevolent plan.
“My friend is dead””I am your own for ever” Act 3 Scene 3 Iago: It is disquieting to note how Iago and Othello finish each other’s lines at the end of the scene; further proof that the master is drawing horribly close to the evil servant and moving further away from his innocent wife. We might even argue that Iago has begun to replace Desdemona in Othello’s affections, and that Iago’s devotion must now be what Othello relies on instead of marital harmony. This is suggested by these serious oaths taking at the end of the scene.
“It hath yet felt no age or known no sorrow” Act 3 Scene 4 Desdemona: Desdemona is a young, innocent girl who has had a privileged and protected upbringing as the governor’s daughter. With a generous spirit and full of vitality, although socially sophisticated she is essentially innocent. Such innocence and sacrificial love and forgiveness which she shows at the end makes her all the more underserving of the cruelty that is wreaked upon her.
“Twoud make her amiable and subdue my father” “After new fancies” “There’s magic in the web of it”” Act 3 Scene 4: The handkerchief is one of the most dominant props in the play, and Shakespeare highlights its significance by continually circulating its presence to the audience on stage whilst mentioning it over 30 times in the text. Here Othello cements the fact that it represents Desdemona’s infidelity, but it also seems to function as a representation of Othello’s exotic past. Ironically, the qualities that attract Desdemona towards Othello are the “charms” that eventually propel the tragic deterioration of their relationship. The fact that such small objects have such an enormous weight in the play intensifies the jealousy of sensitive minds, and the way that small incidents can be magnified into proofs of love and betrayal. Furthermore, this backstory imbues the handkerchief with added meaning and symbolic value, rendering it more like a precious artefact than a mere piece of cloth.
“Fetch me the handkerchief!” “The handkerchief!” “Zounds!” Act 3 Scene 4 Othello: These short interjections, clouded judgment and fragmentation in his speech reveal the extent that Othello has lost his moral compass. His aggressive repetition of the word “Handkerchief” can be seen as highly comical, as his reaction highly contrasts the try meaning of the object. Furthermore, the fact that their language does not align with each others and in general their speech together is extremely incompatible in this dialogue highlights the inevitability of the tragic denouement of their relationship in the final scene. The incompatibility in their speech parallels the incompatibility the their relationship together.
“They are all but stomachs and we are all but food They eat us hungrily and when they are full, they belch us” Act 3 Scene 4 Emilia: This image of vomiting suggests the danger that Desdemona is in; she will be eaten up and destroyed. Furthermore it reveals a negative depiction of men, compared to Desdemona Emilia does not idolize the power that men have and well aware of the destruction they can cause. She uses the stomach as a metaphor to illustrate her idea of men. This, of course, is not very complimentary at all. The implication is that men often exhibit inscrutable behaviors that seem very arbitrary to a woman. When they find reason to, they often “belch” (vomit) or expel women from their lives. In other words, men can’t be trusted to be discerning or even rational. Emilia’s words are actually full of foreboding here. Recall that previously, in Act III, Scene III, Othello’s suspicions about Desdemona’s supposed infidelity had already been summarily inflamed by Iago’s wily suggestions. Emilia’s words are prophetic to the final scene.
“Alas the day I never gave him the cause” Act 3 Scene 4 Desdemona: Once again Desdemona’s innocence is demonstrated here by Shakespeare, as the references to the “cause” are prophetic to Othello’s later use of the same term to cement his conviction of brutally murdering her. The continuous lack of concrete evidence of what the cause is heightens the futility of Othello’s quest to kill her, there is no substance behind these lies.
“Got to, woman! Throw your vile guesses into the devil’s teeth!” Act 3 Scene 4 Cassio: The powerlessness of women is continually shown throughout the play as all three of the female characters have been shown to either be physically or verbally abused by their male counterparts. Here, Cassio is depicted as cruelly attacking Bianca for merely voicing her opinion on a truly justified concern. His anger at this shown through his imperative “Go to” reflects the common belief in 17th century England that women must be seen but not heard. Furthermore, Shakespeare’s use of the name ‘Bianca’, meaning ‘white’ and thus signifying purity and decency, appears ironic, given her role as a courtesan. However, Bianca is not the typical corrupt courtesan of Renaissance drama; her love for Cassio is genuine and honest, so in fact her name is well matched to her role.