Montano Quotes

Methinks the wind hath spoke aloud at land;
A fuller blast ne’er shook our battlements:
If it hath ruffian’d so upon the sea,
What ribs of oak, when mountains melt on them,
Can hold the mortise?

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. This act opens at a sea port in Cyprus, where Montano, the island’s Governor, is watching a fierce storm raging across the sea. He uses personification to describe how the wind "spoke aloud." In a metaphor, he compares the huge waves to "mountains" that "melt" and threaten the enemy Turkish ships, putting paid to their invasion plans. Montano’s description builds up a sense of pathetic fallacy, suggesting the chaos and conflict in the characters’ lives. Othello and Desdemona’s ships are still at sea. While they survive this storm, foreshadowed here is the fierce domestic storm that awaits them in Cyprus.

It were well
The general were put in mind of it.
Perhaps he sees it not; or his good nature
Prizes the virtue that appears in Cassio,
And looks not on his evils.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 3. After Iago manipulates Cassio into drinking too much wine, Montano believes that Othello must be informed of his drunken behavior. The theme of appearance vs reality is in evidence here, as Montano says that Othello may be blinded to Cassio’s excessive drinking by his good nature and Cassio’s virtue. This passage illustrates the motifs of sight and blindness. Ironically it’s not Othello’s failure to see Cassio’s flaws that Montano should worry about, but rather those of the devious Iago. One of Othello’s biggest flaws is that he is a poor judge of character and he has a huge blind spot where Iago is concerned.
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