Appearance vs. reality

Quote

Act/Scene

Analysis

“I am not what I am” (Iago)

Act 1 Scene 1

Oxymoron; biblical allusion (Exodus and the Devil being deceiving)

“Thou has practised on her with foul charms” (Brabantio)

Act 1 Scene 2

Characterisation; presumption

“With as little web as this / will I ensnare as great a fly as Cassio” (Iago)

Act 2 Scene 1

Metaphor; animal imagery; motif of predator/ prey relationship

“good Iago” and “honest Iago” (Desdemona, Cassio, Othello)

Throughout the play

Paradoxical if his actions are compared to his false façade of friendship; epithets talking of Iago in a better light than he deserves

“As I am an honest man” (Iago)

Act 2 Scene 3

Dramatic irony

“Turn virtue into pitch” (Iago)

Act 2 Scene 3

Soliloquy; motif of blackness; associations with evil and corrupting purity

“Men should be what they seem” (Iago)

Act 3 Scene 3

Irony; deception

“She loved thee cruel Moor” (Emilia)

Act 5 Scene 2

Revelation in the denouement