Othello

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Quote Bank

The treatment of women

Quote Act/Scene Analysis
“She has deceived her father, and may thee” (Brabantio to Othello) Act 1 Scene 3 Dramatic irony
“Foul thief, where has thou stowed my daughter?” (Brabantio to Othello) Act 1 Scene 3 Accusing tone; women treated as the property of men; likening of women to objects that can be ‘stolen’ or claimed by other men
“You are... devils being offended, players in housewifery, and hussies in your beds” (Iago) Act 2 Scene 1 Metaphor; plural nouns that suggest this applies to all women
“When I love thee not,/ Chaos is come again” (Othello) Act 3 Scene 3 Foreshadowing when Othello becomes so angry towards Desdemona, that chaos and death occurs – a weakness Iago exploits
“They are all but stomachs, and we all but food” (Emilia) Act 3 Scene 4 Metaphor
“Subtle whore... and yet she’ll kneel and pray” (Othello) Act 4 Scene 2 Contrast of whoredom and religion to signify Desdemona’s appearance of purity; adoption of Iago’s derogatory language emblematic of how he has corrupted the play itself
“Are you not a strumpet?... I took you for that cunning whore of Venice / that married with Othello” (Othello) Act 4 Scene 2 Third person voice to further distance himself from Desdemona; harsh pejorative attacks on Desdemona’s virtue
“I have not deserved this” (Desdemona) Act 4 Scene 1 Defiant tone
“Whate’ver you be, I am obedient” (Desdemona) Act 4 Scene 3 Definitive statement about the true nature of women in the play.
“It is their husbands’ faults / If wives do fall” (Emilia) Act 4 Scene 3 Reinforcing the dichotomy between roles of men and women
“This is the fruit of whoring” (Iago) Act 5 Scene 1 Pejorative language

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