Symbols & Motifs In Othello
- Melchior Antoine
- Aug 15, 2025
- 15 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2025
Othello is a play rich in motifs and symbols. A literary analysis of Othello would reveal that the main themes of the play include jealousy, deception, good vs evil, moral corruption, and race. These themes are emphasized using an intricate web of motifs and symbolism. We can go so far as to say the point of the play is to show how jealousy can erode or corrupt one’s soul, leading to disaster.
This is what happens to Othello, the noble Moor, who falls under the spell of Iago and is made to kill what he loves the most through jealousy. The play puts us in mind of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 94” (published in 1609):
But if that flower with base infection meet,
The basest weed outbraves his dignity:
For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds;
Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.
Othello starts off as being the noblest character in the play. However, Iago, the villain, whispers deceptions in his ears, more or less infecting him with jealousy. Iago relies on the insecurity that Othello suffers from as a foreigner or Black man in Venetian society, as well as the fact that he may well be much older than Desdemona. As a result, by the end of the play, the noble Othello is no longer noble and has committed the vilest act recorded in the whole play.
We can see Othello as an unfortunate man who loses his soul to a demon, that is, Iago. Desdemona, in that regard, can be seen as an angel symbolizing the purity of Othello’s soul, which he loses because he succumbs to the wiles of Iago. In short, Othello, Iago, and Desdemona can be seen as symbolic archetypes related to goodness and evil or heaven and hell.
Symbolism: The devil, the angel, and the condemned soul
The fundamental symbolism in Othello can be described as a cosmic drama between the devil, the angel, and the soul hanging in the balance between heaven and hell. Each of the three major characters represents this trinity of cosmic forces: Iago is the devil, Desdemona is the angel, and Othello is the soul being tested or weighed on the balance.
Of course, Othello makes for an interesting character study in and of himself. However, here we focus on his symbolic value in the play. Othello, at the beginning of the play, is at the height of his moral and material success and nobility. In such a condition, there is harmony between the following three things:
his public success and reputation as a civil servant trusted with the task of defending Venice;
his marriage to an honorable, beautiful, and spotless Desdemona in terms of character; and
the internal integrity of his soul.
In short, Othello is as much a noble figure in the eyes of Venetian society as he is in the eyes of heaven. According to Desdemona:
I saw Othello’s visage in his mind,
And to his honors and his valiant parts
Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate. (Act 1, Scene 3)
If we were to pursue the symbolism of the play to its full extent in terms of its religious context, the quote above is pregnant in meaning and significance. Desdemona here is affirming the nobility and purity of Othello’s soul or inward character. More than that, she “consecrates” her own soul and fortunes to him. An analysis of Othello would then focus on how Othello falls from such a moral height into the depths of sin by the end of the play.
Taking this into account, we can see Desdemona as not just an angel of purity but as a symbol of the Moor’s noble and moral soul. Whereas Desdemona’s purity can be explained by her maidenhood (virginity), youth, and lack of experience, Othello is an older man who has weathered much adversity and tribulation only to triumph both physically and spiritually.
This can be seen in how Othello explains his method to win over Desdemona when accused of using witchcraft by her father, Brabantio:
She loved me for the dangers I had passed,
And I loved her that she did pity them.
This only is the witchcraft I have used. (Act 1, Scene 3)
In short, in telling the story of his life to Desdemona, Othello is rewarded with the alliance of her pure soul as his story is testimony and proof of his moral integrity. So here in the first act, we see the Moor at the height of his virtue. And he would have remained so if it were not for the infection of doubt and moral corruption that Iago plants in his ear.
Iago is the devil in the typical Elizabethan morality play, who is charged with the task of undoing Othello and depriving him of his most prized possession: his soul. In that regard, he is our protagonist or antihero who sets things in motion. He makes his infernal intentions known in his very first soliloquy as he "prays" for his evil scheme to succeed: “Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light.”
1. Infection and pestilence
Infection and pestilence is a major motif in the play, and it is related to Iago’s successful attempt to trick Othello into believing that Desdemona is unfaithful. Othello might be the biggest victim; however, he isn’t the only one. His victims include the following characters in an ascending order of magnitude:
Roderigo,
Brabantio,
Cassio, and
Othello.
Gonzalez in his 1985 essay, “The Infection and Spread of Evil: Some Major Patterns of Imagery and Language in "Othello” describes all the major motifs in the play as a type of contagion that Iago infects all his victims with. He makes a compelling argument, and many of the ideas in this article are based on his analysis.
In Act 1, Scene 1, even before we see or meet Othello, Iago encourages Roderigo to inform Desdemona’s father Brabantio of the fact that her daughter has eloped with the Moor. In encouraging Roderigo, Iago uses language associated with infection and pestilence.
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 chances of vexation on ’t
As it may lose some color. (Act 1, Scene 1)
In the extract above, he speaks about poisoning his delight, plaguing him with flies, and infecting his joy with vexation so that “it may lose some color.” Roderigo has fallen victim to Iago’s infection offstage and long before this scene or even the play begins. His work of infection works on Brabantio via Roderigo and Iago himself who plant obscene imagery of Othello and Desdemona “making the beast with two backs” (Act 1, Scene 1).
In the meeting between the duke, Othello, and Brabantio, Brabantio accuses Othello thus: “thou hast practiced on her with foul charms, / Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals.” Drugs and minerals here would refer to poisons associated with witchcraft. The biggest victim of Iago is of course Othello. Iago describes deceiving Othello with lies as pour [ing] . . . pestilence into his ear.”
The “pestilence” is effective and soon we see Othello succumb to it when he starts using the same language associated with pestilence. Even Iago observes that “The Moor already changes with my poison” (Act 3, Scene 3). Let’s look at the “infected” language used by Othello after the poison released by Iago begins to work.
I had rather be a toad,
And live upon the vapour of a dungeon,
Than keep a corner in the thing I love
For others' uses. Yet, 'tis the plague of great ones;
Prerogativ'd are they less than the base;
'Tis destiny unshunnable, like death:
Even then this forked plague is fated to us
Here, the plague Othello is referring to is cuckoldery. The beginning lines of the passage, where he claims that he would rather be a toad living “upon the vapour of a dungeon” than share Desdemona with another man is proof of the means through which Iago poisons or infects Othello — his jealousy.
The fact that he views Desdemona as “a corner in the thing I love” also emphasizes the inferior status of women in Venetian society where daughters and wives were seen as the property of their fathers and husbands. This attitude leads him to trust the word of Iago over that of the woman he loves without even giving her a chance to defend herself.
After Iago tricks him into believing that Cassio has been gifted his kerchief by Desdemona, he says:
Thou saidst—O, it comes o’er my memory
As doth the raven o’er the infectious house,
Boding to all—he had my handkerchief. (Act 4, Scene 1)
In this image, Othello mixes animal imagery with symbols associated both with hell and infection, as the black raven is often seen as an omen of bad luck, hell, and death brought on by disease. It also touches on the motif of light and dark, which is prominent in the play.
2. Light and dark
Light and dark is another important motif in the play. It is closely linked to Othello’s color and to concepts of heaven and hell. In the very first act of the play, Iago informs Brabantio that “an old Black ram / Is tupping your white ewe” (Act 1, Scene 1). Brabantio insults Othello as having a “sooty bosom” that nothing but witchcraft would compel Desdemona to seek comfort in.
Othello is referred to as “black Othello” by Iago in Act 2, Scene 3. Othello internally justifies Desdemona supposedly cheating on him by simply saying “I am black.” Desdemona herself makes reference to “this light of heaven” (Act 4, Scene 2) after asking Iago to find out why Othello is upset with her. Iago also mentions that “Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light” when describing his nefarious plot to destroy Othello.
Ironically, light is not necessarily associated with goodness. Iago is the “light bringer.” He carries the torch that leads Roderigo to Brabantio’s house and hides in the dark while verbally abusing Brabantio in the first act of the play. He also is the light bearer or carrier of the torch in the last act where Roderigo is killed and Cassio is wounded through his own scheming. It should be noted, as has been done by the critic Alexander G. Gonzalez, that the term “light bearer” is another name for Lucifer.
Othello, after being infected by the influence of Iago, also becomes the light bearer walking to Desdemona’s room before killing her. He famously puns before strangling Desdemona in the final act of the play with light and darkness: “Put out the light, and then put out the light.”
3. Animal imagery
Animal imagery stands out as one of the most prominent motifs in the play. We see this in the first act of the play when Iago describes the sexual act between Othello and Desdemona as “making the beast with two backs.” As mentioned earlier, he also describes it as “an old Black ram / Is tupping your white ewe.” He also refers to Othello as a “Barbary horse.”
In his aside or soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 1, Iago describes his ability to wear more than one face to the outside world. He says that after acting in a manner that reflects how he truly feels in his heart, “I will wear my heart upon my sleeve / For daws to peck at.” In short, he is such a deceiver that even his heart is exchangeable or disposable. It should be noteworthy that Iago portrays himself as so evil that he sees his heart as no more than meat for birds.
So, here we see Iago the demon archetype associating himself with animals. This animal imagery is typically used as a form of debasement taking characters away from their moral self and close to the damnation of hell. Iago also speaks about his other victims using animal imagery. For example, in describing his plan to entrap Cassio he says “With as little a web as this will I ensnare as / great a fly as Cassio” (Act 2, Scene 1). The worst effect of this animal imagery is evident in Othello himself.
Iago plants the idea of cuckoldery in Othello’s mind by comparing the supposed sexual passion between Desdemona and Cassio to goats, monkeys, and wolves in heat in Act 3, Scene 3. This throws Othello into a frenzy. We saw earlier how he claimed that he would rather be a toad than tolerate being cuckolded. He also talks about being exchanged for a goat in Act 3, Scene 3, which may well be a play on words associating the horns of a goat with the idea of being a cuckold (who is typically portrayed as a man with horns growing from his head).
Othello accuses Desdemona of crocodile tears by saying “Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile” (Act 4, Scene 2). Before that, as already discussed, in Act 4, Scene 1, he makes reference to a raven over an infected house to describe his handkerchief as proof that Desdemona is cheating. He describes his situation as being the result of the hate of “aspics’ tongues” in Act 3, Scene 3. which is ironic. Aspic is another word for snake, and it seems that Othello is unwittingly or subconsciously exposing the poisonous effect of Iago’s lies even if he is unaware that they are lies.
There is frequent reference to snakes that are referred to as “aspics” in the play, as well as references to dogs. Roderigo, after realizing too late the extent of Iago’s villainy, refers to him as a “murderous dog” with his dying breath. He is also condemned as a viper and a Spartan dog by Lodoviko in the final act when he is discovered.
The superlative Spartan is used to emphasize that, just like the Spartans in the popular imagination of both our time and Shakespeare’s, Iago is unfeeling and inhumane and is all about effective strategy and method, no matter how cold and calculating.
4. Hell imagery
The animal imagery can be seen as a debasement of the noble nature of Othello. However, there are layers to his degradation, with the lowest being that of demonic or hellish imagery. There are even instances where the two motifs are combined.
Othello is typically considered as a morality play of a man losing his soul to the devil. The devil in question here is symbolically Iago. Desdemona is angel or agent of heaven or God, and Othello is the soul hanging in the balance. It should be said that in his 1972 essay, "Pattern in Othello," Berry makes the argument that there is more to Iago than being a stand-in for the devil, and he links his evil outlook the cynicism that defines his relationship with a wife who is open to cuckolding him.
Nonetheless, Iago makes his infernal alliances clear in the first act in a remarkable speech to Roderigo:
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.
We have discussed the reference to his heart serving as meat for birds. It proves that Iago is less and more than human. He is a monstrous agent of hell or Lucifer. However, here, it is the last sentence, we concern ourselves with: “I am not what I am.” This is simultaneously a subtle Biblical allusion and a pun.
The biblical reference in question is Exodus 3:14, where God reveals himself to Moses through the Burning Bush by saying “I AM THAT I AM.” This suggests that God is truth and is exactly what is seen and perceived in contrast to the opposite of God — Lucifer, the great deceiver. In short, Iago is announcing himself as the devil or of the devil.
It also provides a segue, linking the play’s animal imagery with its hellish imagery. Iago, in a passage that we have already quoted, asks for hell and dark to birth his scheme into the world’s light in Act 1, Scene 1. He mocks Brabantio with the phrase: "Zounds, sir, you are one of those that will not / serve God if the devil bid you.” A clear case of ironic projection.
Othello under the influence of Iago also uses demonic language with irony referring to Desdemona as a “fair devil” (Act 3, Scene 4). The most poignant example of this irony is in Act 4, Scene 2, where he describes Emilia, Desdemona’s chambermaid, in the following way: “You, mistress, / That have the office opposite to Saint Peter.” Saint Peter, in Christian tradition, is seen as keeping the keys to the gates of heaven. His opposite would be agents of Lucifer guarding the gates of hell.
In short, Othello is suggesting that Desdemona is the devil, and the bedroom where she resides is hell. This is ironic as such a description would better apply to Iago, who ushers Othello into hell through jealousy. He is not the only one who uses this language. Emilia Iago’s wife, after the death of Desdemona, refers to Othello as "the blacker devil" after discovering that he killed Desdemona in the last scene of the play.
In the same scene, after discovering the role of her husband in the conspiracy, she exclaims, “Let heaven and men and devils, let them all, / All, all, cry shame against me, yet I’ll speak” (Act 5, Scene 2). Emilia uses polysyndeton (that is, an overuse of conjunctions such as “and”) to emphasize that with the triumph of Iago in convincing Iago to murder the innocent Desdemona that the whole world has been reduced to the same level as demons. The regions of hell, earth, and heaven have now all collapsed into the same plane in the brief moment of Othello’s crime.
With the murder of Desdemona, Othello loses his soul to Iago and hell. Desdemona is killed, but remains innocent, pure, and an agent of heaven. And Iago and Othello both are now faced with the earthly judgement of men for their crime. The height of language associated with hell is achieved after Othello kills Desdemona and realizes his mistake and the fate of his soul:
Whip me, you devils,
From the possession of this heavenly sight!
Blow me about in winds, roast me in sulfur,
Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire!
O Desdemon! Dead, Desdemon! Dead! O, O!
Othello has realized his mistake and gives in to his hellish punishment in his mind even before it occurs. Othello would make a good study in contrast compared to other characters in Shakespeare — namely, Macbeth and Hamlet. Both Macbeth motifs and Hamlet motifs are associated with hell and heaven and infection. Hamlet’s mind is infected by the ghost of his father, who demands that he avenge his father’s death, which is a moral rot that infects the whole of Denmark, and it drives him insane because of his natural inclination to inaction.
Macbeth’s soul is poisoned and damned to hell by the unnatural act of killing King Duncan as the king sleeps as a guest under the roof of the Macbeth household. The difference is that unlike Othello Macbeth is wise enough to know that his soul will be condemned for killing Duncan. All his apprehension and horror just before and after killing Duncan are based on this knowledge. Macbeth knows himself fully.
Hamlet would have also been wise enough to be immune to the schemes of Iago and would probably come up with his own schemes to uncover or defeat Iago’s deceit. But Hamlet, unlike Othello and Macbeth, is no soldier and not a man of action. Othello is damned because he has the soldier’s inclination to action like Macbeth, but neither Macbeth’s or Hamlet’s wisdom in understanding the implications this action has for his soul or to even question the integrity of his motives to act.
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5. The jewel motif in Othello
The jewel motif may be seen as a minor one in the play. It is not directly related to Iago’s attempts to spread his evil to all characters throughout the play. The jewel motif is most closely associated with Desdemona, as has been demonstrated by Susan Snyder in “A Modern Perspective: Othello.”
Her father refers to her as a jewel implicitly by charging Othello with her theft in Act 1, Scene 3, and also directly refers to her as a "jewel." Roderigo is naive enough to think that physical jewels can gain him Desdemona, and Iago takes advantage of that fact and tells him “put money in thy purse” in the same scene.
The term jewel becomes symbolic after Cassio describes the loss of his reputation, and Iago “comforts” him by claiming it as something of no value and could be easily faked, which we would expect Iago to say. It should also be noted that Cassio describes his reputation as "the immortal part of myself" (Act 2, Scene 3), which means he could be describing his soul. However, it is in the final speech of Othello that we see Desdemona’s most important association with the jewel motif. Poor Othello, just like Cassio, understands the value of reputation and does his best to salvage what is left of his:
Then must you speak
Of one that loved not wisely but too well,
Of one not easily jealous but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mood
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicinable gum. (Act 5, Scene 2)
This is the speech that Othello gives before killing himself. Desdemona is described as a pearl that he foolishly throws away. The Moor may as well be speaking about "the immortal part of himself." He also describes his tears as "medicinable gum" or precious incense from incense trees from Arabia, a commodity well-known for its rarity and high value in antiquity. The medicinable gum is of Othello and can be seen as being associated with his higher moral self before the corrupting influence of Iago. Othello is not simply lamenting Desdemona, the love of his life; he is also mourning the loss of his own precious and formerly noble soul.
References
Berry, R. (1972). "Pattern in Othello". Shakespeare Quarterly, 23(1), 3-19.
Gonzalez, A. G. (1985). "The Infection and Spread of Evil: Some Major Patterns of Imagery and Language in" Othello". South Atlantic Review, 50(4), 35-49.
Snyder, S. (n.d.). A Modern Perspective: Othello. Folger Shakespeare Library.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2025, August 14). Motifs & Symbols In Othello. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/symbols-motifs-in-othello |