Othello Metaphors and Similes Quotes

Tush! never tell me; I take it much unkindly
That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse
As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. The opening lines of the play are spoken by the gullible simpleton Roderigo, who has more money than brains. This wealthy young man allows himself to become an instrument in the sinister villain Iago’s plan to bring about the downfall of Venice’s black army general Othello. Roderigo loves Desdemona and has been giving Iago large sums of money to buy expensive gifts for her so that Roderigo can win her love. But Roderigo is a disappointed suitor, the "this" he refers to is the news that Othello has eloped with Desdemona. From the very opening of the play, we see Iago’s evil manipulation at work. In a simile, Roderigo says that Iago has control of his money as if the drawstrings on his purse were Iago’s.

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.

For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In complement extern, ’tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago reveals his deceitful nature to Roderigo. Confessing he is not the man he pretends to be, he never openly displays his true emotions for others to see. Otherwise he would leave his heart vulnerable for "daws" (foolish jackdaws or humans) to pick at. A fascinating and sinister character and the villain of the play, what you see is not what you get with Iago. Ironically when Iago speaks about his dishonest nature – "I am not what I am" – he is speaking the truth. This line is an allusion to a quote from Exodus 3:14, where Moses asks God is name and Gods says: "I am that I am." What is suggested here is that Iago is something of a diabolical figure and the opposite of God. Iago also provides us with the idiom "wear my heart upon my sleeve," a metaphor for openly showing your true feelings and emotions This is something he prefers to keep hidden from others. Iago remains one of Shakespeare’s most interesting villains.

Call up her father,
Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight,
Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen,
And, though he in a fertile climate dwell,
Plague him with flies: though that his joy be joy,
Yet throw such changes of vexation on ‘t,
As it may lose some colour.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. In his bid to ruin Othello, a vindictive Iago hatches a malevolent plan to recruit the easily manipulable Roderigo to do his dirty work for him. He incites Roderigo to wake up Desdemona’s father in order to destroy Othello’s marital bliss and enrage her family by shouting in the streets about the pair’s secret marriage. Iago’s use of poison and plague imagery and metaphor associates him with corruption and disease and foreshadows how he will poison Othello’s mind in Act 3. His racism is also suggested in his wish that the black Othello’s joy will "lose some colour."

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.
Iago old black ram quote about Othello

Even now, now, very now, an old black ram
Is tupping your white ewe.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Shakespeare’s most notorious villains Iago is a manipulative, sinister and destructive character. He uses an inflammatory animal and racist metaphor to compare Othello to a "black ram," and another metaphor to describe Desdemona as a "white ewe." Iago is shouting this to Desdemona’s father Brabantio in order to incite his rage against Othello. He dehumanizes the black Othello and portrays the match between him and the white or pure Desdemona as something unnatural. “Tupping” is an old English slang word for having sex, and Iago uses it here to convey something dirty and vulgar. Iago also sees Desdemona as Brabantio’s property – "your white ewe" – which is in keeping with Iago’s sexism and low regard for women. Iago’s hatred of Othello is evident here.

Arise, arise;
Awake the snorting citizens with the bell,
Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago shouts this out in the street at night in front of Brabantio’s house. Using a metaphor, he suggests to Brabantio that the "devil" Othello will make his daughter Desdemona pregnant, so that Brabantio will be grandfather to an evil devil child. The malevolent Iago is displaying his racial prejudice here, as he attempts to whip up a father’s anger against his daughter’s elopement with the black Othello.

Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not serve God, if the devil bid you. Because we come to do you service and you think we are ruffians, you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse; you’ll have your nephews neigh to you; you’ll have coursers for cousins and gennets for germans.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Brabantio appears at his window to hear a voice shouting up to him from the dark below. It is Iago, hidden in the shadows, using racist language and a vulgar and insulting animal metaphor to tell him that his daughter Desdemona is being ravished by a "Barbary horse" – Othello. The Barbary horse is a North Africal breed of horse. Master maniplator Iago, in his bid to set Brabantio against Othello, warns that Brabantio’s grandsons will be beasts too.

Though I do hate him as I do hell-pains.
Yet, for necessity of present life,
I must show out a flag and sign of love,
Which is indeed but sign.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago is quite open to Roderigo about his hatred of Othello, the black Moor hired by Venice as a general for its army. The play’s heinous and intriguing villain reveals his flair for deception. He plans to metaphorically display a “flag” of love for his boss Othello, in order to conceal his true feelings of loathing for him.

But that I love the gentle Desdemona,
I would not my unhoused free condition
Put into circumscription and confine
For the sea’s worth.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 2. After Iago tells Othello that Brabantio may try to divorce him and Desdemona, Othello declares his deep love for Brabantio’s daughter. In a metaphor Othello compares the value of his freedom as a single man and love for Desdemona to all the treasures of the sea. He would not have given up this freedom for the sea’s riches, except that he loves Desdemona, he says.

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.

Good Brabantio,
Take up this mangled matter at the best:
Men do their broken weapons rather use
Than their bare hands.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. The Duke of Venice employs a military metaphor to describe Brabantio’s poor handling of the situation regarding Desdemona and Othello’s elopement. Having claimed that his daughter was seduced by Othello using witchcraft, Brabantio loses the wrr of words to Othello in the hearing before the Duke. The Duke advises Brabantio to make the best of a bad situation and use his hands instead of "broken weapons."

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.

If I be left behind,
A moth of peace, and he go to the war,
The rites for which I love him are bereft me,
And I a heavy interim shall support
By his dear absence. Let me go with him.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Desdemona so loves Othello that she doesn’t want to be separated, even in war. Here she pleads with the Duke and his court to allow her to accompany Othello to Cyprus. In a metaphor she compares herself to a "moth of peace" if she is left behind. This demonstrates Desdemona’s strength of character, But just as moths fly towards light and flame, this also foreshadows how Desdemona is flying towards danger and death.

Virtue? A fig!…Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners: so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme, supply it with one gender of herbs, or distract it with many, either to have it sterile with idleness, or manured with industry, why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Iago is dismissive and disapproving of virtue. He doesn’t believe that the character qualities of a person are inherent. Using a garden metaphor, he explains that our will controls our emotions and behavior. He is giving advice to a lovelorn Roderigo, who thinks that suicide may be the solution to his unanswered love for Desdemona. In Iago’s speech on self-control, he is telling Roderigo that he has power over his emotions and not to let them get the better of him.

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.

Thou art sure of me: – go, make money: – I have told thee often, and I re-tell thee again and again, I hate the Moor: my cause is hearted; thine hath no less reason. Let us be conjunctive in our revenge against him: if thou canst cuckold him, thou dost thyself a pleasure, me a sport. There are many events in the womb of time which will be delivered.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Iago responds to Roderigo’s question as to whether he can trust him. Assuring him that he can, he reiterates his hatred for Othello. Like a puppet master Iago pulls Roderigo’s strings to entice him to be his partner in crime in his revenge plot against Othello and Cassio. He grooms the weak and simple-minded Roderigo, luring him with promises of a future and sexual fulfillment with his heart’s desire Desdemona. In a metaphor, Iago compares time to a womb which will deliver these promises.

Thus do I ever make my fool my purse:
For I mine own gain’d knowledge should profane,
If I would time expend with such a snipe.
But for my sport and profit.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Soliloquies can reveal a lot about the character of the person who speaks them. In Iago’s first he sneeringly refers to Roderigo as a fool, having just convinced him to sell all his land, so Iago can further enrich himself. Using metaphors he compares Roderigo to "my purse" and "a snipe," admitting that he only spends time with this idiot to use him as a cash cow and for his amusement. Iago’s deceptive and treacherous nature is on full show here, as he manipulates Roderigo into handing over large sums of money, supposedly to purchase gifts for and win the affections of Desdemona, but instead it is pocketed by Iago.

I hate the Moor:
And it is thought abroad, that ‘twixt my sheets
He has done my office. I know not if ‘t be true,
But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
Will do as if for surety.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. Iago has heard rumors that his wife Emilia has slept with Othello. This gives him the additional motivation to want to destroy Othello, who he hates and is intensely jealous of. However, there is no evidence that Emilia has been unfaithful to Iago. But Iago is by nature an insecure, bitter and suspicious person. In this soliloquy he admits to not knowing if the rumors are true, but intends to act as if they are and punish Othello anyway. Iago uses a metaphor to let us know what it is said Othello has been up to with Emilia – "’twixt my sheets He has done my office."

The Moor is of a free and open nature
That thinks men honest that but seem to be so,
And will as tenderly be led by th’ nose
As asses are.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. In his first soliloquy, Iago reveals how he likes to take advantage of people’s good nature to use it against them. He admits that Othello is a trusting person who thinks that those who appear to be honest, like Iago, are indeed so. Iago declares his intention to use Othello’s gullible nature to manipulate him and he contemptuously compares him in a simile to an ass that can be led by the hose. Iago’s hatred of Othello is on full display here.

Hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. In the final lines of Iago’s soliloquy that ends Act 1, he revels in his evil plan to betray and destroy Othello. His sinister rhyming couplet uses metaphorical imagery of hell and monster, night and day, and childbirth, to describe bringing to life his nefarious plot. The passage is also an example of the animal imagery – "monstrous birth" – Shakespeare employs throughout the play.

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.

The chidden billow seems to pelt the clouds;
The wind-shaked surge, with high and monstrous mane,
Seems to cast water on the burning bear,
And quench the guards of the ever-fixed pole:
I never did like molestation view
On the enchafed flood.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. A huge sea storm off the shores of Cyprus that scatters the invading Turkish fleet prompts this metaphor from the Second Gentleman. He compares the tempest to an attack by the sea on the sky, with waves rising up to quench the constellation Ursa Minor ("burning bear") and North Star ("ever-fixed pole"). This is a good example of pathetic fallacy, the tempest symbolizing and foreshadowing the coming domestic storm in Othello and Desdemona’s lives.

O, behold,
The riches of the ship is come on shore!
Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees.
Hail to thee, lady! and the grace of heaven,
Before, behind thee, and on every hand,
Enwheel thee round!

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 2, Scene 1. Does Cassio unintentionally help set himself up for Iago’s plot against him with claims that he is having a love affair with Desdemona? Cassio’s very public and effusive praise for Othello’s wife certainly provides ammunition for that. His gallantry and courtesy are open to misinterpretation and make him vulnerable to accusations of flirtation and worse. Announcing Desdemona’s arrival in Cyprus, Cassio kneels to greet her and demands that the men of Cyprus do the same. In a metaphor he compares her to "the riches of the ship." He seems to worship her as a Virgin Mary-like figure in his use of heavenly imagery – "grace of heaven" – in his welcome speech. Future events are foreshadowed by Cassio’s words.

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.
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