Imagery / Motifs / Symbols
Note: Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
1. Sight and Blindness
Desdemona has the power to see Othello for what he is in a way that even Othello himself cannot. She is unconcerned with his blackness – she is not blinded by it as other characters appear to be.
There are many references to different kinds of sight and blindness in the play:
Sight:
Othello, though he demands “ocular proof”, is frequently convinced by things he does not see: i) he demotes Cassio as lieutenant based on the story Iago tells; ii) he relies on Iago’s story of seeing Cassio wipe his beard with Desdemona’s handkerchief; and iii) he believes Cassio to be dead simply because he hears him scream.
Blindness:
The action of the play depends heavily on characters not seeing things: i) Othello accuses his wife although he never sees her infidelity, and ii) Emilia, although she watches Othello erupt into a rage about the missing handkerchief, does not “see” what her husband has done.
2. Plants
Iago is strangely preoccupied with plants. His speeches to Roderigo in particular make extensive and elaborate use of vegetable metaphors and conceits. Some examples are:
i) Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme . . . the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills (A1,S3)
ii) Though other things grow fair against the sun, / Yet fruits that blossom first will first be ripe (A2,S3)
iii) And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, / Cry ‘O sweet creature!’, then kiss me hard, / As if he plucked kisses up by the roots, / That grew upon my lips (A3,S3).
Characters in this play seem to be the product of certain inevitable, natural forces, which, if left unchecked, will grow wild. Iago understands these natural forces particularly well: he is, according to his own metaphor, a good “gardener,” both of himself and of others.
Many of Iago’s botanical references concern poison:
i) I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear (A2,S3)
ii) The Moor already changes with my poison. / Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons (A3,S3).
Iago cultivates his notions so that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic way in which Iago’s plots consume the other characters and determine their behaviour makes his conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago’s efforts.
3. Animals
Like the repeated references to plants, references to animals convey a sense that the laws of nature, rather than those of society, are the primary forces governing the characters in this play. When animal references are used with regard to Othello, as they frequently are, they reflect the racism both of characters in the play and of Shakespeare’s audience.
Some examples:
Iago calls Othello a Barbary horse, an old black ram, and also tells Brabanzio that his daughter and Othello are making the beast with two backs (A1,S1). Iago introduces the animalistic imagery. According to Iago, there is something bestial and animalistic about Othello whom he believes is beastly, and somehow beneath everyone else in Venice because of his North African heritage.
In A1,S3, Iago tells Roderigo, Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon. He then remarks that drowning is for cats and blind puppies.
Cassio laments that, when drunk, he is by and by a fool, and presently a beast! (A2,S3).
Othello tells Iago, Exchange me for a goat / When I shall turn the business of my soul / To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises (A3,S3). He later says that a horned man’s a monster and a beast (A4,S1).
Even Emilia, in the final scene, says that she will play the swan, / And die in music (A5,S2).
The animal imagery permeates the play, often referring to Othello's "otherness."
4. Hell, Demons, and Monsters
Iago tells Othello to beware of jealousy, the green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on (A3,S3).
Likewise, Emilia describes jealousy as a monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself (A3,S4).
Imagery of hell and damnation also recurs throughout Othello, especially toward the end of the play, when Othello becomes preoccupied with the religious and moral judgment of Desdemona and himself. After he has learned the truth about Iago, Othello calls Iago a devil and a demon several times in A5,S2.
Likewise, his vision of Desdemona’s betrayal is monstrous, monstrous! (A3,S3).
Shortly before he kills himself, Othello wishes for eternal spiritual and physical torture in hell, crying out, Whip me, ye devils, / . . . roast me in sulphur, / Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire! (A5,S2).
The imagery of the monstrous and diabolical takes over where the imagery of animals can go no further, presenting the jealousy-crazed characters not simply as brutish, but as grotesque, deformed, and demonic.
5. The Handkerchief
The handkerchief symbolises different things to different characters:
i) Since the handkerchief was the first gift Desdemona received from Othello, she keeps it about her constantly as a symbol of Othello’s love.
ii) Iago manipulates the handkerchief so that Othello comes to see it as a symbol of Desdemona herself – her faith and chastity. By taking possession of it, he is able to convert it into evidence of her infidelity.
iii) But the handkerchief’s importance to Iago and Desdemona derives from its importance to Othello himself. He tells Desdemona that it was woven by a 200-year-old sibyl, or female prophet, using silk from sacred worms and dye extracted from the hearts of mummified virgins. Othello claims that his mother used it to keep his father faithful to her, so, to him, the handkerchief represents marital fidelity.
The significance of red is love, red strawberries like red hearts on the love token handkerchief, and like the red stains from Othello and Desdemona's first night of love on the marriage sheets. Such red on white is private and dear to the heart of Othello, and he expects it to be similarly dear to his wife. It is the belief that Desdemona gave away his handkerchief, and the sexually implications of the gift, that drives him to kill her.
6. The Song “Willow”
As she prepares for bed in A5, Desdemona sings a song about a woman who is betrayed by her lover. She was taught the song by her mother’s maid, Barbary, who suffered a misfortune similar to that of the woman in the song; she even died singing “Willow.”
The song’s lyrics suggest that both men and women are unfaithful to one another. To Desdemona, the song seems to represent a sad and resigned acceptance of her alienation from Othello’s affections, and singing it leads her to question Emilia about the nature and practice of infidelity.
7. Candle
The candle Othello blows out just before he murders Desdemona symbolises him extinguishing her life.
8. Setting / Location
Shakespeare often uses different locations to represent mindsets. In Othello, Venice represents civilisation, while Cyprus symbolises the wilderness. The idea is that what happened in the Cyprus never would happen in the civilised city of Venice.
Protected by military fortifications as well as by the forces of nature, Cyprus faces little threat from external forces. Once Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, and Roderigo have come to Cyprus, they have nothing to do but prey upon one another.
Note: Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colours used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.
1. Sight and Blindness
Desdemona has the power to see Othello for what he is in a way that even Othello himself cannot. She is unconcerned with his blackness – she is not blinded by it as other characters appear to be.
There are many references to different kinds of sight and blindness in the play:
Sight:
Othello, though he demands “ocular proof”, is frequently convinced by things he does not see: i) he demotes Cassio as lieutenant based on the story Iago tells; ii) he relies on Iago’s story of seeing Cassio wipe his beard with Desdemona’s handkerchief; and iii) he believes Cassio to be dead simply because he hears him scream.
Blindness:
The action of the play depends heavily on characters not seeing things: i) Othello accuses his wife although he never sees her infidelity, and ii) Emilia, although she watches Othello erupt into a rage about the missing handkerchief, does not “see” what her husband has done.
2. Plants
Iago is strangely preoccupied with plants. His speeches to Roderigo in particular make extensive and elaborate use of vegetable metaphors and conceits. Some examples are:
i) Our bodies are our gardens, to which our wills are gardeners; so that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set hyssop and weed up thyme . . . the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills (A1,S3)
ii) Though other things grow fair against the sun, / Yet fruits that blossom first will first be ripe (A2,S3)
iii) And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand, / Cry ‘O sweet creature!’, then kiss me hard, / As if he plucked kisses up by the roots, / That grew upon my lips (A3,S3).
Characters in this play seem to be the product of certain inevitable, natural forces, which, if left unchecked, will grow wild. Iago understands these natural forces particularly well: he is, according to his own metaphor, a good “gardener,” both of himself and of others.
Many of Iago’s botanical references concern poison:
i) I’ll pour this pestilence into his ear (A2,S3)
ii) The Moor already changes with my poison. / Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons (A3,S3).
Iago cultivates his notions so that they become lethal poisons and then plants their seeds in the minds of others. The organic way in which Iago’s plots consume the other characters and determine their behaviour makes his conniving, human evil seem like a force of nature. That organic growth also indicates that the minds of the other characters are fertile ground for Iago’s efforts.
3. Animals
Like the repeated references to plants, references to animals convey a sense that the laws of nature, rather than those of society, are the primary forces governing the characters in this play. When animal references are used with regard to Othello, as they frequently are, they reflect the racism both of characters in the play and of Shakespeare’s audience.
Some examples:
Iago calls Othello a Barbary horse, an old black ram, and also tells Brabanzio that his daughter and Othello are making the beast with two backs (A1,S1). Iago introduces the animalistic imagery. According to Iago, there is something bestial and animalistic about Othello whom he believes is beastly, and somehow beneath everyone else in Venice because of his North African heritage.
In A1,S3, Iago tells Roderigo, Ere I would say I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon. He then remarks that drowning is for cats and blind puppies.
Cassio laments that, when drunk, he is by and by a fool, and presently a beast! (A2,S3).
Othello tells Iago, Exchange me for a goat / When I shall turn the business of my soul / To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises (A3,S3). He later says that a horned man’s a monster and a beast (A4,S1).
Even Emilia, in the final scene, says that she will play the swan, / And die in music (A5,S2).
The animal imagery permeates the play, often referring to Othello's "otherness."
4. Hell, Demons, and Monsters
Iago tells Othello to beware of jealousy, the green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on (A3,S3).
Likewise, Emilia describes jealousy as a monster / Begot upon itself, born on itself (A3,S4).
Imagery of hell and damnation also recurs throughout Othello, especially toward the end of the play, when Othello becomes preoccupied with the religious and moral judgment of Desdemona and himself. After he has learned the truth about Iago, Othello calls Iago a devil and a demon several times in A5,S2.
Likewise, his vision of Desdemona’s betrayal is monstrous, monstrous! (A3,S3).
Shortly before he kills himself, Othello wishes for eternal spiritual and physical torture in hell, crying out, Whip me, ye devils, / . . . roast me in sulphur, / Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire! (A5,S2).
The imagery of the monstrous and diabolical takes over where the imagery of animals can go no further, presenting the jealousy-crazed characters not simply as brutish, but as grotesque, deformed, and demonic.
5. The Handkerchief
The handkerchief symbolises different things to different characters:
i) Since the handkerchief was the first gift Desdemona received from Othello, she keeps it about her constantly as a symbol of Othello’s love.
ii) Iago manipulates the handkerchief so that Othello comes to see it as a symbol of Desdemona herself – her faith and chastity. By taking possession of it, he is able to convert it into evidence of her infidelity.
iii) But the handkerchief’s importance to Iago and Desdemona derives from its importance to Othello himself. He tells Desdemona that it was woven by a 200-year-old sibyl, or female prophet, using silk from sacred worms and dye extracted from the hearts of mummified virgins. Othello claims that his mother used it to keep his father faithful to her, so, to him, the handkerchief represents marital fidelity.
The significance of red is love, red strawberries like red hearts on the love token handkerchief, and like the red stains from Othello and Desdemona's first night of love on the marriage sheets. Such red on white is private and dear to the heart of Othello, and he expects it to be similarly dear to his wife. It is the belief that Desdemona gave away his handkerchief, and the sexually implications of the gift, that drives him to kill her.
6. The Song “Willow”
As she prepares for bed in A5, Desdemona sings a song about a woman who is betrayed by her lover. She was taught the song by her mother’s maid, Barbary, who suffered a misfortune similar to that of the woman in the song; she even died singing “Willow.”
The song’s lyrics suggest that both men and women are unfaithful to one another. To Desdemona, the song seems to represent a sad and resigned acceptance of her alienation from Othello’s affections, and singing it leads her to question Emilia about the nature and practice of infidelity.
7. Candle
The candle Othello blows out just before he murders Desdemona symbolises him extinguishing her life.
8. Setting / Location
Shakespeare often uses different locations to represent mindsets. In Othello, Venice represents civilisation, while Cyprus symbolises the wilderness. The idea is that what happened in the Cyprus never would happen in the civilised city of Venice.
Protected by military fortifications as well as by the forces of nature, Cyprus faces little threat from external forces. Once Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Emilia, and Roderigo have come to Cyprus, they have nothing to do but prey upon one another.