Othello Loyalty Treachery and Betrayal Quotes

‘Tis the curse of service,
Preferment goes by letter and affection,
And not by old gradation, where each second
Stood heir to the first. Now, sir, be judge yourself,
Whether I in any just term am affined
To love the Moor.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago tells Roderigo that army promotions are decided on the basis of recommendation and favoritism, not by seniority or experience. Showing his jealousy, Iago believes that Cassio got the officer’s position he coveted because of his connections. He makes clear that he is not following Othello out of any loyalty or love for him.

Others there are
Who, trimm’d in forms and visages of duty,
Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves,
And, throwing but shows of service on their lords,
Do well thrive by them and when they have lined their coats
Do themselves homage: these fellows have some soul;
And such a one do I profess myself.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago provides us with a glimpse into his own parasitic soul and duplicitous nature in this revealing speech to Roderigo. He admits to being the kind of servant who puts on a false show of loyalty and duty to his master, so that he can thrive on the coattails of Othello’s power, success and prestige. And when the two-faced Iago has taken what he wants from the master-servant relationship, he will use it to further his own self-interest. Iago has a perverted view of what homage or honor is, arguing that it an honorable to be dishonorable to your master if it personally benefits you.

It is too true an evil: gone she is;
And what’s to come of my despised time
Is nought but bitterness. Now, Roderigo,
Where didst thou see her? O unhappy girl!
With the Moor, say’st thou? Who would be a father!
How didst thou know ’twas she? O she deceives me
Past thought! What said she to you? Get more tapers:
Raise all my kindred. Are they married, think you?

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. A bitter, shocked and betrayed father is how Brabantio describes himself after discovering Desdemona missing from the house. For him it is confirmation of his worst fear of the secret romance between her and Othello, revealed to him earlier by Roderigo and Iago. In his speech to Roderigo he accuses his daughter of deceiving him. He also displays his racial prejudice against Othello by describing Desdemona’s relationship with "the Moor" as "too true an evil." He asks Roderigo if the pair are married, and Roderigo says that he believes they are.
Desdemona: I am hitherto your daughter: but here's my husband

I do perceive here a divided duty:
To you I am bound for life and education;
My life and education both do learn me
How to respect you; you are the lord of duty;
I am hitherto your daughter: but here’s my husband,
And so much duty as my mother show’d
To you, preferring you before her father,
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor my lord.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Desdemona’s first words in the play introduce her as a supremely independent and articulate person. Her speech, before the Venetian Senate, father Brabantio and husband Othello, makes clear where her present loyalty lies. She speaks of her "divided" duty, voicing gratitude to her father for giving her a life and education while she was his daughter. But now she is married and her loyalty is to her husband, just as her mother’s duty was to her father. Desdemona shows great bravery here in the way she stands up to her father.

I here do give thee that with all my heart
Which, but thou hast already, with all my heart
I would keep from thee. For your sake, jewel,
I am glad at soul I have no other child:
For thy escape would teach me tyranny,
To hang clogs on them.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Reluctantly Brabantio gives his blessing to Othello on the marriage to his daughter. Brabantio doesn’t like it, but Desdemona has consented to Othello as her husband before the Duke and Senate of Venice. So Brabantio vents his anger over what he sees as his daughter’s betrayal. Showing disapproval of the marriage, he says that if he had other children he would lock them up to stop them making bad decisions. In a metaphor he refers to Desdemona as a "jewel." This would ordinarily be seen as a compliment from a father. But Brabantio has already spoken of his daughter as if she were a piece of property. So he is in effect bemoaning the loss of a prized possession, as well as a daughter.

Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see:
She has deceived her father, and may thee.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Brabantio warns Othello that Desdemona has deceived her father and will likely betray Othello as well. Brabantio is unfairly painting his daughter as a deceiver, and perpetuating the stereotype of women in general as deceivers of men. He is also planting a seed of doubt in Othello’s mind about his wife’s trustworthiness, foreshadowing later tragic events when Iago uses Brabantio’s words to persuade Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful to him.

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.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Soliloquies can reveal a lot about the character of the person who speaks them. In Iago’s first he sneeringly refers to Roderigo as a fool, having just convinced him to sell all his land, so Iago can further enrich himself. Using metaphors he compares Roderigo to "my purse" and "a snipe," admitting that he only spends time with this idiot to use him as a cash cow and for his amusement. Iago’s deceptive and treacherous nature is on full show here, as he manipulates Roderigo into handing over large sums of money, supposedly to purchase gifts for and win the affections of Desdemona, but instead it is pocketed by Iago.

Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. In the final lines of Iago’s soliloquy that ends Act 1, he revels in his evil plan to betray and destroy Othello. His sinister rhyming couplet uses metaphorical imagery of hell and monster, night and day, and childbirth, to describe bringing to life his nefarious plot. The passage is also an example of the animal imagery – "monstrous birth" – Shakespeare employs throughout the play.

Make the Moor thank me, love me and reward me.
For making him egregiously an ass
And practising upon his peace and quiet
Even to madness. ‘Tis here, but yet confused:
Knavery’s plain face is never seen till used.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. In Iago’s second soliloquy he reveals his scheme to revenge himself on Othello. He will do this by pretending to be Othello’s friend to gain his love, so that he can destroy Othello’s peace of mind and drive him to madness. Foreshadowed here are Othello’s jealousy-driven descent into madness and the tragic events and deaths that follow. The important theme of appearance vs reality is captured here, as Iago removes his mask to show the "plain face" of his knavery, but only to us the audience. Themes of deception and treachery also feature strongly in Iago’s plotting to destroy his master. He dehumanizes Othello by using an animal metaphor to compare him to "an ass."

I had rather have this tongue cut from my mouth
Than it should do offence to Michael Cassio;
Yet, I persuade myself, to speak the truth
Shall nothing wrong him.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 3. This is Iago’s response when Montano warns him to give a truthful account of the brawl and not one that favors Cassio. Lying comes so naturally to Iago. He pretends to be a loyal friend to Cassio, when in fact Iago orchestrated the fight in which Cassio stabbed Montano. His motivation: to discredit Cassio and replace him as Othello’s lieutenant.

For whiles this honest fool
Plies Desdemona to repair his fortune,
And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor,
I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear,
That she repeals him for her body’s lust;
And by how much she strives to do him good,
She shall undo her credit with the Moor.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 3. Iago’s devious plan to bring down Cassio, Desdemona and Othello is revealed in one of the most important passages in the play. He uses a disease metaphor to describe how he will whisper poisonous words into Othello’s ear as Desdemona pleads Cassio’s case to her husband. The treacherous Iago aims to use Cassio’s honesty and Desdemona’s good nature to cast her as an adulteress with Othello’s sacked lieutenant. In this soliloquy Iago is delighted with his own badness.

So will I turn her virtue into pitch,
And out of her own goodness make the net
That shall enmesh them all.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 3. Iago in the final lines of his soliloquy uses metaphors of pitch and net to describe how he will bring about Othello’s downfall. He will turn Desdemona’s goodness in helping Cassio against her and ensnare them all in his diabolical revenge plan. The symbolism of light and dark appears here as Iago speaks of turning Desdemona’s shining virtue into pitch, or sticky black tar.

Ay, but, lady,
That policy may either last so long,
Or feed upon such nice and waterish diet,
Or breed itself so out of circumstance,
That, I being absent and my place supplied,
My general will forget my love and service.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Cassio urges Desdemona to act quickly to plead his case with Othello. If he is not around to remind Othello of his loyalty and love then Othello might replace him, Cassio warns. This foreshadows that Othello will indeed forget Cassio’s love and appoint Iago as his lieutenant.

I am glad I have found this napkin:
This was her first remembrance from the Moor:
My wayward husband hath a hundred times
Woo’d me to steal it; but she so loves the token,
For he conjured her she should ever keep it,
That she reserves it evermore about her
To kiss and talk to. I’ll have the work ta’en out,
And give ‘t Iago: what he will do with it
Heaven knows, not I; I nothing but to please his fantasy.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Emilia shows blind loyalty to her husband Iago when she steals Desdemona’s handkerchief for him. But that will later change when she discovers Iago’s treachery and she abandons her loyalty to him for the sake of truth and justice. Emilia’s speech to the audience marks the beginning of the important handkerchief plot, in which a seemingly harmless item will be used by Iago to bring about the demise of both Desdemona and Othello.

I think my wife be honest and think she is not;
I think that thou art just and think thou art not.
I’ll have some proof.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Othello’s mind is plunged into conflict. He doesn’t know what to believe or who to trust regarding his wife’s fidelity, or lack thereof. Iago, with his talent for manipulation, has Othello doubting that Desdemona has remained true. Othello, wanting to believe that she is loyal, tells Iago that he needs proof that she is untrustworthy.

OTHELLO: Give me a living reason she’s disloyal.
IAGO: I lay with Cassio lately;
And, being troubled with a raging tooth,
I could not sleep. There are a kind of men
So loose of soul that in their sleeps will mutter
Their affairs. One of this kind is Cassio.
In sleep I heard him say "Sweet Desdemona,
Let us be wary, let us hide our loves."

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Iago invents a lie to inflame Othello’s jealousy over Desdemona, when Othello asks for proof of her disloyalty. Iago falsely claims that as he and Cassio shared a bed one night, Cassio called out in his sleep, addressed his "sweet Desdemona" and pleaded with her to keep their love affair a secret.

OTHELLO: [Kneels] Now, by yond marble heaven,
In the due reverence of a sacred vow
I here engage my words.
IAGO: Do not rise yet.
[Kneels] Witness, you ever-burning lights above,
You elements that clip us round about,
Witness that here Iago doth give up
The execution of his wit, hands, heart,
To wrong’d Othello’s service! Let him command,
And to obey shall be in me remorse,
What bloody business ever.
[They rise]
OTHELLO: I greet thy love,
Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounteous,
And will upon the instant put thee to ‘t.
Within these three days let me hear thee say
That Cassio’s not alive.
IAGO: My friend is dead; ’tis done at your request.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Iago and Othello kneel together and exchange vows of evil in a perverse mock marriage ceremony. Othello forsakes his wife, goes over to the dark side and makes a diabolical pact with Iago. This is a turning point in the play, as Othello submits to Iago and is now completely under his devilish power. Iago, having persuaded Othello of his innocent wife’s infidelity, pledges fealty to Othello. He promises to deliver on Othello’s request to murder the innocent Cassio. The "ever-burning lights above" is a metaphor for the stars, as Othello and Iago blasphemously address the heavens as if talking and praying to God, while declaring their "love" union based on evil and hatred. Othello has succumbed to Iago’s relentless manipulation and is now completely controlled by him. This passage represents the "marriage" of Othello and Iago. We have dramatic irony in Iago’s vow to serve Othello, when we know that Iago is simply serving himself.

OTHELLO: I will withdraw,
To furnish me with some swift means of death
For the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant.
IAGO: I am your own forever.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. The murder of Desdemona is foreshadowed here, as Othello plots to kill his innocent wife. He promotes Iago to his lieutenant, while Iago pledges loyalty to his master. This is a false loyalty, a manipulation tool used by Iago to control Othello, now completely under Iago’s power. There is irony in Othello’s use of the metaphor "fair devil" to describe Desdemona. For it is he who has joined in a pact with the devilish Iago when they kneel and exchange vows of evil.
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