Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Othello quote turned out to be a Shakespearean self-own

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the parliamentary standards commissioner after he failed to declare £6m in cheap loans from one of his own companies.

The watchdog concluded that the loans could not be seen as having influenced the Tory MP’s behaviour.

Rees-Mogg went on Twitter to suggest his reputation had been unfairly maligned, with the help of his big book of quotations, this time alighting on Shakespeare’s Othello.

I am grateful to the Commissioner for swiftly rejecting this accusation.
“Who steals my purse steals trash…
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.”https://t.co/vEK51EHDN2

— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) December 22, 2021

But it wasn’t quite the final word he presumably thought it was because, well, this.

Bless him, he's been at the Dictionary of Quotations again. Comparing himself to Iago, best described by Coleridge as an agent of 'motiveless malignity', is an unfortunate and rather apt accident. https://t.co/LfUW7dqU8Q

— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) December 22, 2021

JRM quotes Iago, one of Shakespeare's most sinister villains, who uses his reputation as an honest man to deceive & manipulate people to satisfy his needs.

When his treachery is revealed, before being arrested he kills in a fit of rage, remaining reticent to give an explanation.

— GET A GRIP (@docrussjackson) December 22, 2021

Thou art a twat with nought to blather so thou thinks thou art smart by quoting ye olde shite. https://t.co/yQj7Db61mx

— Skew Spew Barmy Hairdo Curmudgeon Bigot and Smug (@SkewSmug) December 22, 2021

This is spoken by Iago, whom you probably wouldn't want to emulate. He also directly contradicts this idea at several other points in the play. His words are meant ironically; they sound clever but are evasive and manipulative. Please don't quote things you don't understand.

— Don Pietro (@donpietrostella) December 22, 2021

"- But what does Shakespeare say?
Put but money in thy purse.
—Iago, Stephen murmured."

Selfish, cruel mediocrities have been quoting Iago, without realising he's a villain, for so long that James Joyce specifically lampooned it in Ulysses, over a hundred years ago. https://t.co/CK5nmiFouM

— The author, Séamas O'Reilly (@shockproofbeats) December 22, 2021

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Source Twitter @Jacob_Rees_Mogg