Othello Madness Quotes

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."

O! now, for ever
Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!
Farewell the plumed troop and the big wars
That make ambition virtue! O, farewell!
Farewell the neighing steed and the shrill trump,
The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
The royal banner, and all quality,
Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. As Othello loses all hope of happiness with Desdemona and plunges into depression, he appears on the brink of madness. Irrational and driven by insane jealousy, he laments the loss of his reputation as a military man and wounding of his soldierly pride. Because he mistakingly believes that Desdemona has cheated on him, he no longer feels manly and thinks he cannot be a soldier or lead men in battle anymore. His speech, recalling his glory days in wars and conflict, echoes Cassio’s earlier speech about his good reputation being destroyed.

O monstrous! monstrous!…I’ll tear her all to pieces.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Othello has become so brainwashed by Iago that he has becoming like him, losing his own mind and self and using destructive and ferocious language. Consumed by rage, he says that he will destroy Desdemona. His bestial animal imagery shows how his love for her has has been replaced by pure hatred. Murderous revenge is being suggested here, foreshadowing the violence to come. Othello’s ugly threat is also an example of the abuse of male power and toxic masculinity found in the play.

Like to the Pontic sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne’er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
Shall ne’er look back, ne’er ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable and wide revenge
Swallow them up.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 3. Othello lays his tortured soul bare as he sinks deeper into madness. In an epic or extended simile, he compares his violent urges and bloody thoughts to the relentlessness of the Pontic Sea, or Black Sea. He will not stop until he has his revenge. At this point Othello hates Desdemona and says that he will never look back on love. He is convinced that his wife has betrayed him.

Jealous souls will not be answer’d so;
They are not ever jealous for the cause,
But jealous for they are jealous: ’tis a monster
Begot upon itself, born on itself.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 4. Emilia is more cynical than the trusting Desdemona and believes that Othello is so consumed by the "monster" jealousy he will never accept his wife’s innocence. Emilia talks about jealousy as a form of madness. The "monster" metaphor for jealousy echoes Iago’s warning that it is the "green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on."

It comes o’er my memory,
As doth the raven o’er the infected house,
Boding to all – he had my handkerchief.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. When Iago torments Othello about the handkerchief he gave to Desdemona, Othello wishes he could forget it, but he cannot. Obsessed with it, his mind has been so poisoned with jealousy by Iago that his peace of mind is being destroyed. The memory of Cassio with his handkerchief is driving him to the point of madness. A simile using apocalyptic language compares this memory to the ill omen of a raven flying over a sick household to prophesy death. This is foreshadowing of the tragic deaths to come.

Lie with her! lie on her! We say lie on her, when they belie her. Lie with her! that’s fulsome. – Handkerchief – confessions – handkerchief! – To confess, and be hanged for his labour; – first, to be hanged, and then to confess. – I tremble at it. Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion without some instruction. It is not words that shake me thus. Pish! Noses, ears, and lips. – Is ‘t possible? – Confess – handkerchief! – O devil!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. An agitated and rambling Othello says this and falls down in an epileptic fit at Iago’s feet. Speaking in disjointed prose, he seems to have lost control of language. Just like he has lost control of his mind. The passage shows the hero’s degeneration and deteriorating mental state. He obsesses about the handkerchief, lies, Cassio lying with Desdemona and confession – the handkerchief is the one "proof" Othello has of Desdemona’s infidelity, but she hasn’t confessed. There is a sad and tragic irony in Othello saying, "It is not words that shake me thus." For it is Iago’s words that have driven Othello to this fever of jealousy and destroyed him.

Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned to-night; for she shall not live: no, my heart is turned to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand. O, the world hath not a sweeter creature: she might lie by an emperor’s side and command him tasks.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. Othello is losing control and his mind is filled with hatred and thoughts of violence at the idea of Desdemona cheating with Cassio. Using a metaphor he compares his heart to stone, since he has to harden it to be able to kill his wife. However, he is deeply conflicted about what he has to do. Despite his violent intent, he is a reluctant murderer. He still loves Desdemona, describing her as so sweet she could be the wife of an emperor who would obey her commands.

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.

OTHELLO: O devil, devil!
If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears,
Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
Out of my sight!
DESDEMONA: I will not stay to offend you.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. After hitting Desdemona in the presence of Lodovico and Iago, Othello humiliates and hurls abuse at his crying wife. He shouts demented nonsense metaphorically comparing her to the devil and accusing her of crying false "crocodile" tears. An ancient belief was that crocodiles shed tears for the victims they ate. A passive and obedient Desdemona does what Othello commands her and leaves. She is perhaps suffering the trauma of battered woman syndrome, commonly found in victims of domestic physical and emotional abuse like her.

Ay, you did wish that I would make her turn:
Sir, she can turn, and turn, and yet go on,
And turn again; and she can weep, sir, weep;
And she’s obedient, as you say, obedient,
Very obedient. Proceed you in your tears.
Concerning this, sir, – O well-painted passion!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. When Lodovico protests that Othello should call Desdemona back to apologize after hitting and dismissing her, we get this muddled speech in response. Othello’s deteriorating mental state is reflected in his disjointed language. He doesn’t seem to be able to properly articulate why he is so upset. He appears to suggest that Desdemona is available for sex to any man, including Lodovico. He dismisses his wife’s weeping as "well-painted passion" or fake tears. He is speaking here to Lodovico, while also talking to Desdemona, and not making a great deal of sense.

My mother had a maid call’d Barbary:
She was in love, and he she loved proved mad
And did forsake her: she had a song of "willow;"
An old thing ’twas, but it express’d her fortune,
And she died singing it: that song to-night
Will not go from my mind.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 3. Desdemona tells the tragic story of her mother’s maid Barbary, forsaken by her lover who went mad. The maid died while singing "The Willow Song" about her lost love. There are parallels between Desdemona and Barbary and much foreshadowing in this passage of Desdemona’s terrible fate. Othello will be driven to madness by jealousy and Desdemona will die by her husband’s hands soon after singing this song.

My wife! my wife! what wife? I have no wife.
O insupportable! O heavy hour!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. The enormity of what Othello has done is dawning upon him, as Emilia appears and brings about a sense of panic in him. Having killed Desdemona, he is shocked at the finality of his actions. No longer having a wife, a psychologically tormented Othello is overwhelmed by a great sense of loss. His great cry of pain, with its disjointed language and short phrases and questions, shows his confusion and mental deterioration.

It is the very error of the moon;
She comes more nearer earth than she was wont,
And makes men mad.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. A self-justifying Othello deflects responsibility from himself for Desdemona’s murder by blaming it on madness caused by the full moon. The moon is personified as feminine and is seen here as symbolizing women. Their changing minds and seductive ways as they orbit around a man with their beautiful white light can drive him to a dark insanity. This is in keeping with the patriarchal idea of men being the center of power with women and their lives revolving around them.
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