The food that to him now is as luscious as locusts, shall be to him shortly as bitter as coloquintida. She must change for youth: when she is sated with his body, she will find the error of her choice: she must have change, she must.
– William Shakespeare
Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. In a metaphor Iago compares Desdemona to food, and uses similes to say that while she is as delicious as locusts to Othello now she will soon taste like sour fruit to him. The unappealing fruit of the coloquintida plant was used as a purgative. Iago lets his misogynistic attitude show in his view of women as sexual food for consumption by men. He sees Othello and Desdemona’s love as merely lust, predicting that when she has had enough of his body she will seek a younger man.