Othello Jealousy Quotes

It comes o’er my memory,
As doth the raven o’er the infected house,
Boding to all – he had my handkerchief.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. When Iago torments Othello about the handkerchief he gave to Desdemona, Othello wishes he could forget it, but he cannot. Obsessed with it, his mind has been so poisoned with jealousy by Iago that his peace of mind is being destroyed. The memory of Cassio with his handkerchief is driving him to the point of madness. A simile using apocalyptic language compares this memory to the ill omen of a raven flying over a sick household to prophesy death. This is foreshadowing of the tragic deaths to come.

Let the devil and his dam haunt you! What did you mean by that same handkerchief you gave me even now? I was a fine fool to take it. I must take out the work? – A likely piece of work, that you should find it in your chamber, and not know who left it there!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. Bianca enters with the handkerchief in hand that Cassio told her he found in his chamber and asked her to copy. In an outburst of jealousy, she curses him and doesn’t believe his story of how he came by the handkerchief. Neither she nor Cassio are aware that this is Desdemona’s handkerchief.

If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent to offend; for, if it touch not you, it comes near nobody.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. As Othello’s emotions oscillate between love for Desdemona and hatred for her treachery, Iago provokes his jealousy further. He tells Othello that if he loves his wife after her sinfulness and it doesn’t bother him, he should give her permission to cheat. Iago’s sarcasm and manipulation works – Iago tips over the edge into a violent rage.

DESDEMONA: Why, sweet Othello, –
OTHELLO: [Striking her] Devil!
DESDEMONA: I have not deserved this.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4. Scene 1. A shocking moment in this scene comes when Othello hits his new bride Desdemona in front of the other horrified soldiers, labeling her the "devil" in a metaphor. It is Othello’s first act of violence in the play. In this moment of jealous madness he loses self-control and becomes a wife-beater. Having been completely brainwashed by Iago into believing Desdemona is a cheat, Othello has reached the point of no return. While she protests her innocence, her plea for justice from her mad husband is destined to fall on deaf ears. We see Othello in a new light compared to the loving husband of earlier on, being transformed into the dominant male and an example of toxic masculinity.

I have heard it said so. O, these men, these men!
Dost thou in conscience think, – tell me, Emilia, –
That there be women do abuse their husbands
In such gross kind?

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 3. Desdemona talks to Emilia about jealous men. She asks Emilia if she believes that there are really women who would be unfaithful to their husbands in such a disgusting manner as to give them cause for jealousy. The loyal and faithful Desdemona holds an image of all women being pure and she cannot understand why any woman would commit adultery. Her incredible naivety and innocence are shown here.

But I do think it is their husbands’ faults
If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties,
And pour our treasures into foreign laps,
Or else break out in peevish jealousies,
Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us,
Or scant our former having in despite;
Why, we have galls, and though we have some grace,
Yet have we some revenge.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 3. Emilia refuses to condemn a wife for being unfaithful, but instead blames the husband for driving her to promiscuity. Using "treasures" as a metaphor for lovemaking, she says that unfaithful men neglect wives sexual needs and pour the seed that is rightfully theirs into other women. Or they impose restrains on wives out of jealousy, or physically abuse them. So women seek revenge by cheating too. Emilia is speaking about the role of women to Desdemona, whose husband Othello is consumed with jealousy and hit her in an earlier scene. Believing strongly in female equality,she is highlighting the double standard women face in male-female sexual relations.

Then, must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well;
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
Perplex’d in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. The veil of blindness is finally lifted from Othello’s eyes as he realizes he has been manipulated and duped by Iago. But the terrible truth dawns on him too late and only after he has smothered his innocent wife. In his final suicide speech, he takes responsibility for his actions, putting them down to his too passionate a love for Desdemona and being tricked into extreme jealousy. A metaphor compares Desdemona and her purity and preciousness to a white pearl, which Othello acknowledges he threw away by killing her. Using derogatory and racist language, he likens himself in a simile to a low-class savage, viewing himself as very much the outsider from a different race. In Shakespeare’s Folio version of the play "base Indian" reads "base Judean," sometimes taken as a reference to Judas who betrayed Jesus. Othello is attempting to salvage some of his good name and reputation here.
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