Othello Gender Misogyny and Sexism Quotes

Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
A fellow almost damn’d in a fair wife;
That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle knows
More than a spinster.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. The play’s main antagonist and arch-villain Iago shows his intense jealousy of army rival Cassio. He rubbishes Cassio’s theoretical knowledge of war and belittles his lack of battle experience equalling it in a metaphor to that of a spinster. Iago’s sexism is evident here, as he mocks Cassio for being cursed with a beautiful wife, suggesting attractive wives are a source of trouble for husbands and may be unfaithful.

Awake! what, ho, Brabantio! thieves! thieves! thieves!
Look to your house, your daughter and your bags!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago, accompanied by Roderigo, shouts from the street outside Brabantio’s house to awaken the Venetian Senator to the fact that he has been robbed. Using a metaphor, he likens Othello to a thief who has stolen Brabantio’s daughter Desdemona. Iago describes Desdemona like she were some sort of possession or item of property owned by Brabantio. This reflects the lack of respect that Iago has for women in general.

Faith, he to-night hath boarded a land carack:
If it prove lawful prize, he’s made for ever.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 2. Iago makes a crude joke when he likens the sexual union of Othello and Desdemona to him boarding a large merchant ship to seize his prize. This coarse metaphor paints Othello as some kind of pirate who has stolen Desdemona, like she were some kind of valuable property or treasure. "Land carack" also has a double meaning and was a slang term for prostitute.

O thou foul thief, where hast thou stow’d my daughter?
Damned as thou art, thou hast enchanted her!
For I’ll refer me to all things of sense,
If she in chains of magic were not bound,
Whether a maid so tender, fair, and happy,
So opposite to marriage that she shunned
The wealthy curlèd darlings of our nation,
Would ever have, t’ incur a general mock,
Run from her guardage to the sooty bosom
Of such a thing as thou – to fear, not to delight!
Judge me the world, if ’tis not gross in sense
That thou hast practiced on her with foul charms,
Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals
That weakens motion.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 2. Brabantio, in his first encounter with Othello in the play, claims that Othello must have used witchcraft to manipulate Desdemona and get her to elope with him. In a metaphor, he likens Othello’s spell to chains used to enshare his daughter. Brabantio shows racial prejudice and hatred towards Othello. He remarks that a beautiful and fair-skinned virgin girl who shunned Venice’s wealthy handsome men would never risk her reputation to run to Othello’s "sooty bosom" unless he used "foul charms" on her. He dehumanizes Othello by calling him a "thing" rather than a person. Gender roles of the time are also reinforced, as Brabantio speaks of Desdemona as a possession, "stow’d" somewhere by the "foul thief" Othello.

She is abused, stol’n from me, and corrupted
By spells and medicines bought of mountebanks;
For nature so preposterously to err,
Being not deficient, blind, or lame of sense,
Sans witchcraft could not.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Brabantio lays charges against Othello before the Duke of Venice of using potions and black magic to seduce and steal Desdemona away from him. He demands justice from the Duke who is in council with the Senators. The racial overtones are clear in Brabantio’s pleadings as he associates the black Moor’s race with witchcraft. He uses sexist language in comparing his daughter to a piece of property that has been "stol’n" from him.

A maiden never bold;
Of spirit so still and quiet, that her motion
Blush’d at herself.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Brabantio describes daughter Desdemona as conforming to his idea of what the perfect Elizabethan woman was expected to be by men like him. That means having a virtuous reputation, being a virgin, pure and innocent, weak and submissive. But Brabantio’s idealization of his daughter in this way does not correspondent with reality. The real Desdemona proves to be an assertive woman willing to go against what her father wants and what is socially expected of her when choosing a husband.

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.

That I did love the Moor to live with him,
My downright violence and storm of fortunes
May trumpet to the world.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Desdemona portrays herself as a fiercely independent woman and breaker of social norms in this speech to the Senate. This is shown in her "downright violence" against custom by eloping with Othello and denying her father any say in her choice of husband. This passage shows the warrior in Desdemona taking her fortune by "storm" and asserting her right to be with the man she loves.

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.

Ere I would say, I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Love is a concept that is alien to Iago. This is seen in his cynical and misogynistic response to Roderigo, who has threatened suicide over Desdemona’s marriage to Othello. Iago uses crude animal imagery, saying that he would rather be a baboon than drown himself for the sake of a woman. Guinea hen in Shakespearean times was another term for a prostitute, which is how Iago sees women in general.

Come, be a man. Drown thyself! drown cats and blind puppies. I have professed me thy friend and I confess me knit to thy deserving with cables of perdurable toughness; I could never better stead thee than now. Put money in thy purse.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Iago appears to care for Roderigo and be his friend. He offers advice after Roderigo’s talk of drowning himself over his unrequited love for Desdemona. He urges Roderigo to be a man and says that drowning is for cats and blind puppies, not for a man like him. Iago in a metaphor compares their bond of friendship to indestructable cables that knit them together. He advises Roderigo to get some money and follow the army to Cyprus, forecasting that the love between Othello and Desdemona will not last long. The reality is that masterful manipulator Iago is using Roderigo as part of his plan to exact revenge on Othello and also to get Roderigo’s money for himself.

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.

Make all the money thou canst: if sanctimony and a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian and a supersubtle Venetian not too hard for my wits and all the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her; therefore make money.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Iago offers this advice to Roderigo on how to win Desdemona. He urges him to gather all the money he can so that he can effectively buy her. He uses racist language when he speaks of the frailty of the marriage vows between her and "barbarian" Othello. His sexist view of women as men’s sexual playthings is shown when he predicts that Roderigo will "enjoy her" – have sex with Desdemona. In this passage Iago identifies himself with "all the tribe of hell," practically admitting that he is demonic.

He hath achieved a maid
That paragons description and wild fame;
One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens,
And in the essential vesture of creation
Does tire the ingener.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. Cassio shows himself to be quite the romantic as he describes Othello’s wife to Montano and waxes lyrical about her. He says that Desdemona has been perfectly made by God, suggesting that the words of poets are not adequate to describe her level of perfection. The way Othello is said to have "achieved" such a maid objectifies Desdemona as a kind of trophy wife, which speaks to the theme of gender and male attitudes towards women. Cassio obviously likes and admires Desdemona very much, something Iago will use against him. Foreshadowed here is Cassio being falsely put in the frame for having an affair with Desdemona.

‘Tis my breeding
That gives me this bold show of courtesy.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. The courteous and mannerly Cassio makes this comment to Iago after he greets Iago’s wife Emilia with a kiss. The likable and friendly Florentine establishes his credentials as a charmer with the ladies. But his "show of courtesy" to them can be open to misrepresentation as flirtation. This is an important quote, because the perhaps too gallant Cassio’s behavior towards women is used later by Iago to suggest an improper relationship with Desdemona.

You are pictures out of doors,
Bells in your parlors, wild-cats in your kitchens,
Saints in your injuries, devils being offended,
Players in your housewifery, and housewives’ in your beds.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. Here we have one of the many examples of Iago’s misogyny, as he expresses his cynical view of all women. In public they act like perfect people, but behind closed doors they are anything but perfect, he claims. Using metaphorical language, he compares them to pictures, noisy bells, animals, saints and devils. He criticizes their performance both as housewives and in the bedroom.

She that was ever fair and never proud,
Had tongue at will and yet was never loud,
Never lack’d gold and yet went never gay,
Fled from her wish and yet said "Now I may,"
She that being anger’d, her revenge being nigh,
Bade her wrong stay and her displeasure fly.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. Iago has quite a lot to say about women, much of it uncomplimentary and chauvinistic. Here he presents his idea of the perfect woman to Desdemona. She is beautiful but not proud. Quiet and modest. Doesn’t lack gold but is not extravagant in dress. Supresses her desires even when she can have them. When angry and can get revenge, she just puts up with and suffers her misfortune. Iago has unrealistic expectations of women and this is probably the reason why he is not loved.

Besides, the knave is handsome, young, and hath all those requisites in him that folly and green minds look after: a pestilent complete knave; and the woman hath found him already.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. Iago is trying to convince Roderigo that Desdemona will soon leave Othello and may be having an affair with Cassio. The charming Cassio, he claims, has all the bad boy qualities that foolish young ladies look for in a man and Desdemona already likes him. Iago is trying to manipulate Roderigo, who is infatuated with Desdemona, and use him for his own purposes.

And nothing can or shall content my soul
Till I am even’d with him, wife for wife,
Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor
At least into a jealousy so strong
That judgment cannot cure.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. Iago vows revenge on Othello and believes that the way to do this is through Desdemona. Suspecting that Othello has slept with Emilia, he demands "wife for wife." This suggests that Iago is thinking of revenge sex with Desdemona, or getting another man to sleep with her. Failing that, he will drive Othello to such a fit of jealousy that nothing will cure it. Ruled by sexual jealousy, Iago is a prime example of toxic masculinity.

IAGO: He hath not yet made wanton the night with her; and she is sport for Jove.
CASSIO: She’s a most exquisite lady.
IAGO: And, I’ll warrant her, fun of game.
CASSIO: Indeed, she’s a most fresh and delicate creature.
IAGO: What an eye she has! methinks it sounds a parley of provocation.
CASSIO: An inviting eye; and yet methinks right modest.
IAGO: And when she speaks, is it not an alarum to love?
CASSIO: She is indeed perfection.
IAGO: Well, happiness to their sheets! Come, lieutenant, I have a stoup of wine; and here without are a brace of Cyprus gallants that would fain have a measure to the health of black Othello.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 3. Iago attempts to manipulate Cassio into making sexual advances towards Desdemona. Ever the misogynist, Iago suggests that she is great in bed, looks provocatively at men and is full of game. But Cassio, always the gentleman, shows his respect for women by not rising to the bait. Instead he says that Desdemona has a "modest" eye, is "most exquisite" and "indeed perfection." He refuses to rise to Iago’s bait and speak of her as a sexual object. Iago then proceeds with his plan to get Cassio drunk on wine, by inviting him to toast his boss Othello.
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