In the quote “Thou, told’st me, thou didst hold him in thy hate” Roderigo portrays his feeling towards Othello as “him”. This tells the reader that Roderigo is angry with Othello as by using a harsh pronoun it conveys his anger as if he cannot mention Othello’s name directly as fury is building up inside of him just by thinking of Othello.
We find out more about Iago and what he is capable of in the next few lines “Three great ones in personal suit to him; and by the faith of man, I know my price; I am worth no worse a place. But he, as loving his own pride and purposed, evades them with a bombast circumstance, horrible stuffed with epithets of war.” Iago is talking about Othello and suggests that Othello is not a very agreeable man, as he will not accept any advice given to him due to his pride and selfishness. When Iago mentions the “three great ones” he is talking about three senators whom he bribed to try and ‘persuade’ Othello to elect him as second in command as he thinks he is “worth no worse a place”. Iago also makes fun of Othello’s speech by saying that he is “horribly stuffed with epithets of war” therefore, we get the impression that Iago is quite pompous.
Othello is usually the victim of racial remarks even though he does not know it. “This counter-caster, he, in good time, must his lieutenant be, and I - God bless the mark! - his Moorship’s ancient.” This racial slur is spoken by Iago and refuses to call Othello by his birth name but dubs him with vile insults of racial influence. The word “ancient” makes it seem like that Iago is making fun of Othello just because he has had more experience in life.
Iago again comments on Othello’s racial differences to differentiate him between the Venetians in the phrase “be judge yourself, whether I in any just term am affined to love the Moor.” These insults start to slowly dehumanize Othello and imply the severe ferocity of his hatred towards Othello. By this point, the audience have speculated that Iago’s hatred spawned by the fact that Iago had been passed up for promotion, which went to a less experienced man in the eyes of Iago. Othello being a higher rank than Iago made this decision and Iago obviously disagrees.
Racial abuse towards Othello does not always come from Iago. Roderigo names Othello “thick-lips” to put emphasis on his physical differences that might tend to stand out and become more prominent.
In the phrase, “an old black ram is tupping your white ewe” Iago using animal imagery that successfully dehumanizes Othello even more and focuses on his bestial sexuality. This implies that Othello has a concentrated sexual charge that overrides him therefore becoming a wild beast by nature.
Animal imagery is again used by Iago in the phrase “you‘ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse”. A Barbary horse is an African horse/stallion which Iago claims Othello is. By saying this, Iago has accidentally emphasized Othello’s sexual prowess but in doing so has used a vulgar insult to call him nothing more than an unworthy animal. This negative comment suggests that Iago thinks that Othello is only a piece of equipment that can be toyed with. He thinks that Othello can be tamed and used to his advantage if he can just act courteously towards him. The animal imagery also implies that Othello is only concerned with the sexual relationship between himself and Desdemona and is exploiting her.
Othello has again been named “Moor” by Roderigo in the phrase “to the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor”. Harsh alliteration has been used of the letter “s” to accentuate the sharpness of the words that Roderigo says. This tells the audience that Roderigo does harbour anger towards Othello by listening to the criticalness of the words. The constant use of the word “Moor” used as a name or label for Othello suggests that Iago and Roderigo think that he is not worthy of having a Christian name, so therefore they strip him of this and use a racist term to define him. I think that as racial terms are used only behind Othello’s back that the characters using them are in some way scared of Othello. As Othello is a General, he houses more power than both Iago and Othello and maybe they think that he would exploit his position to strip them from their employment.
Roderigo implies that Othello is an outsider compared to the people of Venice in and has different characteristics in the phrase “an extravagant and wheeling stranger”. He says this to Brabantio and tries to manipulate his thoughts into thinking that Othello is a treacherous man who should not be trusted. I suspect that the reason for Roderigo’s anger towards Othello has become frequently more vicious is that fact that overall, Othello is more successful than he is. While Othello is quite manly and has fought in wars, Roderigo is effeminate who tends to wear fancy clothing and physically weak. They both do share one distinctive similarity that is that they both love Desdemona. Desdemona however, only loves Othello, which I think angers Roderigo more than anything does because generally, females would be attracted to young males but in this case, Desdemona loves someone who is much older than Roderigo. The fact that Othello is black might also enrage Roderigo, as he would probably think that someone like him does not deserve the love of someone so radiant like Desdemona yet she chooses him over Roderigo.
Iago has become straighter forward with Othello as instead of just insulting Othello behind his back, Iago actually tries to provoke Othello in the quote “are you fast married?” Iago is suggesting the idea that Othello and Desdemona’s marriage could be annulled, as the couple have not participated in the act of sexual reproduction.
The following quote is Othello speaking to Iago “Let him do his spite… I fetch my being from men of royal siege” This is a quote said by Othello to Iago. As Othello talks to Iago, he shows he’s not afraid and stands up for himself as he strongly believes that he is no different from the Venetians and is prepared to fight to earn the respect he deserves. He mentions that he is born from royal blood but he still thinks that he is equal to other Venetians and not superior just because of his heritage. This shows the audience how civil and good-natured Othello really is as he not self-righteous or pompous but treats everyone like an equal.
We find out that Othello is willing to give up everything for Desdemona in the quote “but that I love the gently Desdemona I would not my unhoused free condition put into circumspection and confine for the seas’s worth”. Othello has used imagery in this quote with contrasting images of being within a domestic life in Venice which to him, seems like he’s a prisoner, the sea image he talks about implies to the audience the immense freedom he once had while he was a soldier. However, though he did love the adventurous life he once was engulfed in, he is willing to give it all up just to be with Desdemona for the rest of his love proving that he is extremely committed.
Brabantio’s quote “look to her Moor, if thou hast eyes to see she has deceived her father, and may thee” have dramatic irony that place stress onto Desdemona’s dimension to be able to deceive since she has already proven to Othello that she can do this to her father. These words have a massive impact on Othello as he wonders if she has already deceived him. The imagery of ‘seeing’ and being ‘blind’ is drawn-out throughout the remainder of the play which aids the audience to think about what Othello does and does not identify. An example of this is that later in the play, Othello is blind to his wife’s innocence and Iago’s malevolence.
The phrases "Put money in thy purse" and "if sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian and a supersubtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits" are Iago’s words to describe Othello and Desdemona’s relationship as a mistake, which he thinks, has been made upon a “frail vow”. Iago calls Othello a “barbarian” as he thinks that Othello has no respect for the Venetian culture and behaves quite uncivilised just because he is from South Africa.
The phrase “Thus do I ever make my fool my purse; For I mine own gain'd knowledge should profane If I would time expend with such a snipe But for my sport and profit. I hate the Moor” is said by Iago who is comparing Roderigo to a purse. The connotations of this image imply that Iago only considers Roderigo to be a source of money. Iago is able to swindle jewels and money from Roderigo, thus making himself an abundant profit. Iago does however also use Roderigo to advance his other devious goals. This dehumanizes Roderigo as Iago sees him not as a person but as an object of use, something he can manipulate to carry out his malicious deeds. Iago has also used animal imager as he is comparing Roderigo to a snipe, which is an imprudent bird who unknowingly walks into traps. The audience should take note on how Iago only sees Roderigo as a means of deteriorating Othello’ mentality. Again, Iago uses the word “Moor” to label Othello. As Iago says “the Moor”, this strongly suggests that Othello is the only foreign person living in Venice so therefore he truly is an outsider in the eyes of Iago.
In the quote “I hate the Moor; and it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets He has done my office” Iago suspects Othello has slept with his wife Emilia. I think that the constant manipulation caused by Iago has corrupted his mind and has become paranoid into thinking that Othello has actually slept with Emilia.
In conclusion, Shakespeare has presented the theme of the outsider continuously throughout the play and we get a deep feeling of loss and sorrow for Othello as after all the negative attitudes toward him and the manipulation, Iago had successfully damaged Othello, but with the severe result of Othello murdering Desdemona. There were more consequences because of the actions from Iago, for example, Cassio resulted in injury due to an attempt of murder by Othello and Iago killed Emilia because she revealed his evil shenanigans. Othello slew Desdemona because of the idea that Brabantio placed into his mind of Desdemona deceiving him - “She has deceived her father, and may thee”. When Othello finds out the evil tricks played by Iago, his love for Desdemona is restored, however a little too late. The audience can empathise with Othello when he takes his own life as he let himself be deceived by Iago played right into his hands.
By
Ben Williams Year 10