Megan+H+Othello

egan H Thesis: In William Shakespeare’s play __Othello__, Shakespeare utilizes the animal motif to emphasize hate and cruelty because when an animal is reference, human characteristics are taken away dehumanizing the person and making it easier to hate them.

Once Iago starts to tell Othello that there might be something he has to worry about, he suddenly tries to warn Othello to avoid becoming jealous. He warns him the dangers of being jealous. Othello claims he is not, nor never will be the jealous type. “Exchange me for a goat when I shall turn the business of my soul to such exsufflicate and blown surmises, matching thy inference.” Iago 3.3 (211-214) Othello claims that he would rather be made a fool before he gets caught being jealous for the things that Iago is telling him. The animal, the goat, is used by Othello to give Iago an example of something a un-humanlike. It makes a bigger impact to what Othello is saying when he compares himself to an animal. A goat is mostly known for being a dumb, unintelligent animal and that is why Othello compares his emotions of jealousy to that. This comparison makes the passage seem more drastic, and makes the idea seem more foolish.



Othello begins to become afraid that what he is hearing may be the truth. Not only is he starting to actually become jealous, but he is becoming very short tempered and aggressive. While he is talking to Iago he begins to demand more and more evidence. Othello is beginning to rely on Iagos’ evidence to have the ability to make a decision on the affair. “Give me the ocular proof, or, by the worth of mine eternal soul, thou hadst been better have been born a dog than answer my waked wrath.” Othello 3.3 (412-415) Othello is threatening Iago’s life here. He is telling him that if all of this turns out to be a lie, then Iago is doomed. Othello use’s the animal of a dog here to describe Iago’s possible future. Being called a dog is never a good thing, and Othello is telling him that he will not hold back to what he will do to him if he is lying. He is dehumanizing Iago in order to make it easier to threaten him with harm. The animal is used here to dehumanize somebody for the sake of being able to cause more harm and make it seem more violent.

Iago was continuing with his master plan, and had a conversation with Cassio and made Othello watch it. Othello thought that they were talking about Desdemona and he was becoming furious, however the conversation was actually about a woman named Bianca. Bianca was known to have strong feelings for Cassio, and was very attached to him. However she was also known to be not the most lady-like person, and often a whore. Cassio begins to tell his story of him and Bianca to Iago, and he doesnt use the nice'st words to describe her. “This is the monkey’s own giving out.” Cassio 4.1 (146) Bianca is called a monkey by Cassio. Cassio doesn’t have many good words to say about her, and so instead of using those words he chose’s to use an animal instead. The animal makes it more clear for him to make her seem like a crazy, uncontrollable woman. He isn’t going to even give her actual human characteristics. Instead he is dehumanizing her, and making her seem like such a lesser of a person.