rom a poisonous snake. Shakespeare’sdepiction of a man changing from good to evil provideda very vivid description of animal imagery. One canonly imagine Othello, who is generally of calm andcollective nature, turning into this ravaging beast. Finally, in Act Four Othello slapped Desdemonabecause he felt that she had wronged him. Desdemonabegan to explain to Othello that she had not wrongedhim and thus does not deserve this treatment. Othellonevertheless, yelled at her and continued to call herthe devil. Othello believes that her tears are not oftrue nature, and that she is only crying to coversomething up. He believes that she was crying to makehim feel that she was truly sorry, or that she had notdone anything wrong. Othello proclaimed, “O, devil,devil! If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears,Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile” (p. 189). The crocodile was a creature thought to shedhypocritical tears. This statement that Othello madereferring to a crocodile meant that the tears she shedwere deceptive tears. Desdemona, in the eyes ofOthello, was not sorry, but was rather hiding somethingfrom him. Shakespeare’s use of animal imagery here wassimilar to his earlier uses. Shakespeare was trying todisplay a woman, who in the mind of her husband, wascrying tears of deception. Othello had let his mind beso altered by Iago’s lies, that he had even began tobelieve everything he said. This action of Othello wasfueled by his earlier animal-like change caused byIago. In conclusion, Shakespeare’s use of animal imageryin “Othello” was crucial to the description of thestory. In “Othello” certain scenes would have beenharder to understand or relate to if it was not for theanimal imagery related to it. Shakespeare’s comparisonof characters to certain animals is unlike any other’s. Shakespeare’s portray of a character’s emotions and...
