Othello Puns Quotes

He, in good time, must his lieutenant be,
And I – God bless the mark! – his Moorship’s ancient.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 1. Iago’s jealousy is on full display in his remarks about Cassio being promoted to Othello’s lieutenant, while Iago merely has the rank of "ancient" or flag-bearer. The racist attitude of Iago towards the black Moor Othello is evident in how he sarcastically and mockingly refers to him as "his Moorship," highlighting his race. This phrase is a pun on "his worship."

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.

If virtue no delighted beauty lack,
Your son-in-law is far more fair than black.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 1, Scene 3. In this rhyming couplet the Duke of Venice imparts these words of wisdom to Brabantio, using color imagery and a double pun. The word black has a double meaning here, it refers to Othello’s skin color and also means ugly. The Duke is telling Brabantio that if virtue can be beautiful, then Othello is "fair" or beautiful. This of course is a backhanded compliment loaded with racial prejudice. It implies that others of Othello’s race are not virtuous like him and he is the exception.

Why masters, have your instruments been in Naples, that they speak i’ th’ nose thus?

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 1. The humorous exchange between the Clown and musicians in this scene is for the purpose of providing some light-hearted relief, while Iago plots to sow seeds of deceit and discord. The Clown comments on the musicians’ instruments sounding so nasal and wonders have they been to Naples. As well as making a sexual pun on the word instruments, the Clown is referring to the reputation Naples had as a hotbed of venereal disease and syphilis, which attack the mucous membranes in the nose and cause nasal damage.

CLOWN: Are these, I pray you, wind instruments?
MUSICIAN: Ay, marry, are they, sir.
CLOWN: O, thereby hangs a tail.
MUSICIAN: Whereby hangs a tale, sir?

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 1. The Clown provides comic relief in what is otherwise a very serious and tragic drama. During his banter with the musicians the Clown is talking about the wind instruments and makes a fart joke. Punning on tale (meaning story) and tail (meaning anus), he suggests that their music stinks and the instruments they play sound like they are producing flatulence.

Marry, sir, by many a wind instrument that I know. But, masters, here’s money for you; and the General so likes your music that he desires you, for love’s sake, to make no more noise with it.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 1. As the Clown pays the musicians, he insults them. He sarcastically tells them that Othello likes their music so much that he desires them to stop. He also puns on wind instrument to make a joke about flatulence. The humorous dialogue between the Clown and musicians provides well deserved comic relief for the audience as the plot of deceit and manipulations by Machiavellian villain Iago thickens.

DESDEMONA: Do you know, sirrah, where Lieutenant Cassio lies?
CLOWN: I dare not say he lies anywhere….He’s a soldier, and for me to say a soldier lies, ’tis stabbing.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 3, Scene 4. This humorous exchange between Desdemona and the Clown centers around a pun on the word lie – meaning to speak falsely or physically lie. Responding to Desdemona, who asks where Cassio lies, the Clown says that he dares not say he lies, as to accuse a soldier of lying would be like stabbing him. Here he is hinting at the dishonesty of Iago.

IAGO: Faith, that he did – I know not what he did.
OTHELLO: What? what?
IAGO: Lie –
OTHELLO: With her?
IAGO: With her, on her; what you will.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 4, Scene 1. From this exchange it’s clear that Iago has succeeded in completely hooking his fish, the gullible Othello. The master manipulator has been working up Othello into a frenzy of jealousy. Here he skilfully baits, deceives and provokes. He drops hints and suggestions of an illicit relationship between Cassio and Desdemona to fire up Othello’s imagination and send it into overdrive. The word "lie" is cleverly used to mean both telling a lie and Cassio lying with Desdemona and having sex with her.

Put out the light, and then put out the light:
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore,
Should I repent me: but once put out thy light,
Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat.
That can thy light relume.

– William Shakespeare

Othello, Act 5, Scene 2. In the play’s final startling and tragic scene, dark eclipses light as Othello goes over completely to the dark side with his decision to murder the innocent Desdemona. Using pun and metaphor, he speaks of putting out the room light, then extinguishing the life of his wife, who is asleep in her bedroom. Again using light as a metaphor, he compares her to a candle – "flaming minister" – which if he puts out he can light again if he changes his mind. But once he puts out Desdemona’s light he knows that there is no miraculous fire to restore her life. This quote shows a seeming reluctance on the part of Othello to kill Desdemona.
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