AQA A Level English Literature:
Othello Quotes QUESTIONS AND
Mark Scheme UPDATED 2024/2025
WELL GRIDED
Iago: In following him I follow but myself - {ANSWER}-A1S1 - Iago
Exchange of pronouns - Deceptive subversion of duty and loyalty
Iago: Thus do I ever make my fool my purse - {ANSWER}-A1S3 - Iago
Acknowledges his intentional exploitation of Roderigo.
Cassio: Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation,
I have lost the immortal part of myself - and what remains is bestial. -
{ANSWER}-A2S3 - Cassio
Grief about the loss of his reputation.
Repetition + spiritual elevation - his identity is bound with his
reputation.
,Othello: Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whoree / Be sure of it,
give me the ocular proof - {ANSWER}-A3S3 - Othello
Othello's demand for actual evidence - initially has a strong faith in
Desdemona - this later subverted.
However - now looking to Iago for the truth about his wife, rather than
allowing her to speak for herself - contrasts w/ A1S3 - 'let her witness it'
Motif - sight.
Iago: He hath a daily beauty in his life / That makes me ugly -
{ANSWER}-A5S1 - Iago
Jealousy of Cassio.
Des: A guiltless death I die.
Des: Nobody, I myself. - {ANSWER}-A5S2 - Desdemona
In death, both maintains her innocence and exonerates Othello - dutiful
wife.
Iago: Demand me nothing. What you know, you know / From this time
forth I never will speak word. - {ANSWER}-A5S2 - Iago
Iago's defence - has simply fulfilled the expectations of the characters +
audience.
Emilia: They are not ever jealous for the cause, / Bur jealous for they're
jealous - {ANSWER}-A3S2 - Emilia.
,Male jealousy - irrational and unjustified.
Impossible situation for women.
Iago: It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He's done my office. I
know not if't be true. - {ANSWER}-A1S3 - Iago
Sexual jealousy as a motive.
Iago: O, beware my lord, of jealousy; / It is the green-eyed monster
which doth mock / The meat it feeds on. - {ANSWER}-A3S3 - Iago
Metaphor - warning Othello of jealousy - motif of consumption
Jealous personified - powerful, barbaric & bestial
Iago: I fear Cassio with my night-cap too - {ANSWER}-A2S1 - Iago
Sexual jealousy - Cassio
Othello: Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought / Perplexed in the
extreme - {ANSWER}-A5S2 - Othello
Final speech - doesn't take full responsibility - a victim of violent deceit
Iago: Your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two
backs. - {ANSWER}-A1S1 - Iago
Explicit and vulgar animalistic sexual imagery
, Iago speaks more sexually than O throughout the play - manipulates
audience to believe they're having a grotesque intimate relationship,
but this is never made clear
'Your' - patriarchal ownership
Brabantio: A maiden never bold / Of spirit so still and quiet. -
{ANSWER}-A1S3 - Brabantio
His description of Desdemona contradicts her transgressive marriage to
Othello.
His portrayal of her as quiet + passive contrasts with how O portrays
her: as active and joint leader in their romance
Brabantio: She has deceived her father, and may thee - {ANSWER}-A1S3
- Brabantio
Parting warning - reflects patriarchal expectation that a woman is a
possession owned by her father then husband - a transaction.
Foreshadowing - anticipates Othello's conviction in Desdemona's
deception.
Iago echoes this line in Act 3
Iago: You rise to play, and go to bed to work. - {ANSWER}-A2S1 - Iago
Misogyny - belittles women - frivolous + promiscuous.
Cassio: And think it no addition, nor my wish, To have him see me
womaned - {ANSWER}-A3S4 - Cassio
Othello Quotes QUESTIONS AND
Mark Scheme UPDATED 2024/2025
WELL GRIDED
Iago: In following him I follow but myself - {ANSWER}-A1S1 - Iago
Exchange of pronouns - Deceptive subversion of duty and loyalty
Iago: Thus do I ever make my fool my purse - {ANSWER}-A1S3 - Iago
Acknowledges his intentional exploitation of Roderigo.
Cassio: Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation,
I have lost the immortal part of myself - and what remains is bestial. -
{ANSWER}-A2S3 - Cassio
Grief about the loss of his reputation.
Repetition + spiritual elevation - his identity is bound with his
reputation.
,Othello: Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whoree / Be sure of it,
give me the ocular proof - {ANSWER}-A3S3 - Othello
Othello's demand for actual evidence - initially has a strong faith in
Desdemona - this later subverted.
However - now looking to Iago for the truth about his wife, rather than
allowing her to speak for herself - contrasts w/ A1S3 - 'let her witness it'
Motif - sight.
Iago: He hath a daily beauty in his life / That makes me ugly -
{ANSWER}-A5S1 - Iago
Jealousy of Cassio.
Des: A guiltless death I die.
Des: Nobody, I myself. - {ANSWER}-A5S2 - Desdemona
In death, both maintains her innocence and exonerates Othello - dutiful
wife.
Iago: Demand me nothing. What you know, you know / From this time
forth I never will speak word. - {ANSWER}-A5S2 - Iago
Iago's defence - has simply fulfilled the expectations of the characters +
audience.
Emilia: They are not ever jealous for the cause, / Bur jealous for they're
jealous - {ANSWER}-A3S2 - Emilia.
,Male jealousy - irrational and unjustified.
Impossible situation for women.
Iago: It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He's done my office. I
know not if't be true. - {ANSWER}-A1S3 - Iago
Sexual jealousy as a motive.
Iago: O, beware my lord, of jealousy; / It is the green-eyed monster
which doth mock / The meat it feeds on. - {ANSWER}-A3S3 - Iago
Metaphor - warning Othello of jealousy - motif of consumption
Jealous personified - powerful, barbaric & bestial
Iago: I fear Cassio with my night-cap too - {ANSWER}-A2S1 - Iago
Sexual jealousy - Cassio
Othello: Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought / Perplexed in the
extreme - {ANSWER}-A5S2 - Othello
Final speech - doesn't take full responsibility - a victim of violent deceit
Iago: Your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two
backs. - {ANSWER}-A1S1 - Iago
Explicit and vulgar animalistic sexual imagery
, Iago speaks more sexually than O throughout the play - manipulates
audience to believe they're having a grotesque intimate relationship,
but this is never made clear
'Your' - patriarchal ownership
Brabantio: A maiden never bold / Of spirit so still and quiet. -
{ANSWER}-A1S3 - Brabantio
His description of Desdemona contradicts her transgressive marriage to
Othello.
His portrayal of her as quiet + passive contrasts with how O portrays
her: as active and joint leader in their romance
Brabantio: She has deceived her father, and may thee - {ANSWER}-A1S3
- Brabantio
Parting warning - reflects patriarchal expectation that a woman is a
possession owned by her father then husband - a transaction.
Foreshadowing - anticipates Othello's conviction in Desdemona's
deception.
Iago echoes this line in Act 3
Iago: You rise to play, and go to bed to work. - {ANSWER}-A2S1 - Iago
Misogyny - belittles women - frivolous + promiscuous.
Cassio: And think it no addition, nor my wish, To have him see me
womaned - {ANSWER}-A3S4 - Cassio
