Othello Justice Quotes

Mine’s not an idle cause: the duke himself,
Or any of my brothers of the state,
Cannot but feel this wrong as ’twere their own;
For if such actions may have passage free,
Bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 2. Determined to undo his daughter’s marriage to the black Moor Othello, a furious Brabantio has ordered Othello’s arrest and that he be hauled before the Duke and council. He believes that he has just cause to make a case that Othello bewitched Desdemona into eloping with him. Brabantio’s racial prejudice is very evident as he warns that if Othello gets away with this, "bond-slaves and pagans shall our statesmen be."

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.

Whoe’er he be that in this foul proceeding
Hath thus beguiled your daughter of herself
And you of her, the bloody book of law
You shall yourself read in the bitter letter,
After your own sense.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. The Duke of Venice promises Brabantio justice, declaring that whoever has beguiled his daughter with witchcraft will pay the price. Brabantio can choose the penalty, he says, even if the Duke’s own son is the perpetrator. This is a good example of dramatic irony, the Duke and Senators being unaware that the person they are talking about is the "valiant Othello", appointed by the Duke to lead the army against the Turks.

To vouch this, is no proof,
Without more wider and more overt test
Than these thin habits and poor likelihoods
Of modern seeming do prefer against him.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. A skeptical Duke of Venice, the official authority in the city, is not prepared to accept Brabantio’s allegation of witchcraft against his favorite general Othello just on face value. Evidence is needed, simply making an accusation and relying on current prejudices is no proof, he tells Brabantio.

I do beseech you,
Send for the lady to the Sagittary,
And let her speak of me before her father:
If you do find me foul in her report,
The trust, the office I do hold of you,
Not only take away, but let your sentence
Even fall upon my life.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Othello, taken before the Duke and Senators for questioning, stakes his life on Desdemona’s love for him. He asks that she be sent for to address her father’s charge that she was seduced by Othello’s witchcraft. If she speaks badly of him, Othello invites the Duke to take away his office and even sentence him to death. Othello puts his life on the line here, confident that Desdemona will provide proof that her father’s allegation is false.

To mourn a mischief that is past and gone
Is the next way to draw new mischief on.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. In the dispute between Brabandio and son-in-law Othello over Othello’s elopement with Desdemona, the Duke of Venice offers this wise counsel. As the authority figure in Venice, he urges Brabantio not to hold onto a grudge. He cautions him that if you dwell on a wrong from the past you are just inviting more new wrongs to come along. Initially appearing to take Brabantio’s side, the Duke listens to both parties and is persuaded by Othello’s tale of how true and genuine love grew between him and Desdemona.

For she had eyes, and chose me. No, Iago;
I’ll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;
And on the proof, there is no more but this, –
Away at once with love or jealousy!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Othello reassures himself that he has no need for jealousy of Desdemona since she saw him for who he was and chose him for a husband. But when he talks of needing evidence of Desdemona’s cheating before he no longer loves her, he appears to consider the possibility of being wrong about her fidelity. Is Othello already on the way to believing Iago’s lies? He certainly seems to be.

Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore,
Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof:
Or by the worth of man’s eternal soul,
Thou hadst been better have been born a dog
Than answer my waked wrath!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Othello demands that Iago gives him visual proof of his wife’s supposed adultery. As far as Othello is concerned, at least at this stage, the alleged crime has to be seen before he will believe it. Iago of course offers no proof but continues to use insinuation, innuendo and the handkerchief given to Desdemona to plant suspicion into Othello’s mind.

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.

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.

The Moor’s abused by some most villanous knave,
Some base notorious knave, some scurvy fellow.
O heaven, that such companions thou’ldst unfold,
And put in every honest hand a whip,
To lash the rascals naked through the world!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 2. Emilia is a very perceptive woman who is convinced that some evil person has poisoned Othello’s mind against Desdemona. She calls on heaven to give whips to the honest people to punish the evildoers and serve justice on them. It is ironical that while Emilia correctly voices her suspicions that some villain is plotting the entire thing, the culprit and puppet master Iago is standing right beside her.

It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul,
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars!
It is the cause.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Othello enters Desdemona’s bed chamber with the intention of killing her, insisting to himself that his cause is right and he is delivering justice. Her crime is so terrible that he cannot even name it to the stars, which he personifies as "chaste." Othello is in serious denial here, unable to accept that he is murdering his wife not out of any just cause but because of his extreme jealousy.

Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Othello justifies his killing of Desdemona, by arguing that he will be saving other men from being betrayed by her. His motivation that he is defending male society from the scourge of female infidelity, and not simply seeking retribution for the hurt she caused him, rings hollow. He has managed to convince himself that the blame for Desdemona’s death lies with her, and not him. Othello sounds more like a shyster lawyer trying to conjure up a dubious legal justification for murder. He speaks with the mind of a man who is not thinking clearly and has been taken over completely by self-deception.

O perjured woman! thou dost stone my heart,
And makest me call what I intend to do
A murder, which I thought a sacrifice.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Othello accuses Desdemona of perjury after she denies giving her handkerchief to Cassio, explaining that Cassio must have found it. Othello prefers to believe that she was unfaithful because he saw the handkerchief in Cassio’s hand. He dismisses his wife’s plea to send for Cassio to find out the truth. The blinded Othello proceeds to act as judge, jury and executioner. He believes that he is not a murderer but a deliverer of justice. Metaphors play a big part in the play, with Othello using one to say that his wife has turned his heart to stone.

I care not for thy sword. I’ll make thee known,
Though I lost twenty lives. – Help! help, ho! help!
The Moor hath kill’d my mistress! Murder! murder!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Emilia shows great courage after Othello’s murder of Desdemona, when Othello draws his sword to silence Emilia. Despite the danger to herself, she declares that she will bring Othello to justice by outing him and his crime. Even if he kills her twenty times she will speak the truth about him, she vows.

I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak:
My mistress here lies murder’d in her bed.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. After Iago warns Emilia to "charm" or hold her tongue, she bravely defies her husband and refuses to be silenced. No longer loyal to Iago, Emilia is intent on exposing his plot and role in the murder of Desdemona. Demonstrating her assertiveness, Emilia shows herself to be an early feminist willing to disobey the patriarchy and the social norms and be the voice of justice and the truth.

EMILIA: ‘Twill out, ’twill out: I peace!
No, I will speak as liberal as the north:
Let heaven and men and devils, let them all,
All, all, cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak.
IAGO: Be wise, and get you home. [He draws his sword]
…Gratiano: Fie, your sword upon a woman!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. Here Emilia determines to tell the truth despite Iago’s threats and command to her to be quiet. In a simile she vows that she will speak as freely as the north wind blows. The loyalty shown by Emilia to her husband earlier in the play has now completedly transferred to Desdemona. This is after she realizes Iago’s role in her mistress’s death and Othello’s ruin. We see a complete change in gender roles and power dynamics in the Emilia-Iago relationship. This woman shows phenomenal courage by becoming the voice of truth and justice in this final scene to stop her husband’s evil. Sadly she will pay the ultimate price for it.

To you, lord governor,
Remains the censure of this hellish villain;
The time, the place, the torture: O, enforce it!
Myself will straight aboard: and to the state
This heavy act with heavy heart relate.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. These last words by Lodovico to Cassio about the villain from hell Iago and his fate are the final lines of the tragedy. Cassio, now Governor of Cyprus, is given the task of punishing Iago for the crimes he has committed. Justice will finally be served on the character viewed by many as the worst of Shakespeare’s villains.
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