Othello
Page 15
And his unbookish jealousy must conster
Poor Cassio's smiles, gestures, and light behaviors
Quite in the wrong. How do you now, lieutenant? 79 ecstasy trance (ecstasy = out of one's natural state) 80 anon shortly 81 encave conceal 82 fleers sneers 86 cope get together with (in both senses) 88 all in all in spleen flooded entirely with choler (the humor of the spleen, seat of passionate anger) 94 huswife (not only "hussy" or "prostitute" but also "a woman who manages her household with skill and thrift, a domestic economist" [OED]; see the dispute with Emilia, V.1.123-24) 97 beguile enchant, deceive 101 unbookish naive; conster construe, interpret 102 light cheerful, casual
CASSIO
The worser that you give me the addition
Whose want even kills me.
IAGO
Ply Desdemona well, and you are sure on't.
Now, if this suit lay in Bianca's power,
How quickly should you speed!
CASSIO Alas, poor caitiff!
OTHELLO
Look how he laughs already!
IAGO
I never knew a woman love man so.
CASSIO
Alas, poor rogue! I think, i' faith, she loves me.
OTHELLO
Now he denies it faintly, and laughs it out.
IAGO
Do you hear, Cassio?
OTHELLO Now he importunes him
To tell it o'er. Go to! Well said, well said!
IAGO
She gives it out that you shall marry her.
Do you intend it?
CASSIO Ha, ha, ha!
OTHELLO
Do ye triumph, Roman? Do you triumph?
CASSIO I marry? What, a customer? Prithee bear some
charity to my wit; do not think it so unwholesome. Ha,
ha, ha!
OTHELLO So, so, so, so! They laugh that wins!
IAGO Faith, the cry goes that you marry her. 104 addition title, rank 105 want lack 108 speed succeed; caitiff wretch 111 rogue rascal (a term of endearment) 112 denies it faintly i.e., doesn't strenuously object to the suggestion 114 Well said i.e., well done, good work 118 Roman i.e., victor, associated with triumph 119 customer prostitute, one who sells herself 123 cry rumor
CASSIO Prithee say true.
IAGO I am a very villain else.
OTHELLO Have you scored me? Well.
CASSIO This is the monkey's own giving out. She is persuaded I will marry her out of her own love and flattery, not out of my promise.
OTHELLO Iago beckons me; now he begins the story.
CASSIO She was here even now; she haunts me in every place. I was the other day talking on the sea bank with certain Venetians, and thither comes the bauble, and falls me thus about my neck -
OTHELLO Crying "O dear Cassio!" as it were. His gesture imports it.
CASSIO So hangs, and lolls, and weeps upon me; so shakes and pulls me! Ha, ha, ha!
OTHELLO Now he tells how she plucked him to my chamber. O, I see that nose of yours, but not that dog I shall throw it to.
CASSIO Well, I must leave her company.
Enter Bianca.
IAGO Before me! Look where she comes.
CASSIO 'Tis such another fitchew! marry, a perfumed one. What do you mean by this haunting of me?
BIANCA Let the devil and his dam haunt you! What did you mean by that same handkerchief you gave me even now? I was a fine fool to take it. I must take out the work? A likely piece of work that you should find it in your chamber and know not who left it there! This is some minx's token, and I must take out the work? 126 scored beaten, scored off 130 beckons signals 133 bauble playtoy 140-41 I . . . to (Othello imagines dismembering Cassio; nose could be a euphemism for "penis") 144 such another fitchew just such a (notoriously lecherous) polecat (i.e., prostitute) as we were talking of; perfumed (alluding to the odor of the polecat) 146 dam mother ("devil's dam" was a proverbial phrase) 149 likely piece of work likely story, fiction 151 minx's token present from a whore
There! Give it your hobbyhorse. Wheresoever you had it, I'll take out no work on't.
CASSIO How now, my sweet Bianca? How now? how now?
OTHELLO By heaven, that should be my handkerchief!
BIANCA If you'll come to supper tonight, you may; if you will not, come when you are next prepared for.
Exit.
IAGO After her, after her!
CASSIO Faith, I must; she'll rail in the streets else.
IAGO Will you sup there?
CASSIO Faith, I intend so.
IAGO Well, I may chance to see you; for I would very fain speak with you.
CASSIO Prithee come. Will you?
IAGO Go to! say no more. [Exit Cassio.]
OTHELLO [Comes forward.] How shall I murder him, Iago?
IAGO Did you perceive how he laughed at his vice?
OTHELLO O Iago!
IAGO And did you see the handkerchief?
OTHELLO Was that mine?
IAGO Yours, by this hand! And to see how he prizes the foolish woman your wife! She gave it him, and he hath given it his whore.
OTHELLO I would have him nine years a-killing! - A fine woman! a fair woman! a sweet woman!
IAGO Nay, you must forget that.
OTHELLO Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned tonight, for she shall not live. No, my heart is turned to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand. O, the world hath not a sweeter creature! She might lie by an emperor's side and command him tasks. 152 your hobbyhorse i.e., to whatever slut gave it to you 156 should i.e., must 158 next prepared for i.e., the next time you are invited (which will be never) 160 rail complain shrewishly 164 fain eagerly 168 vice i.e., his weakness for women 172 by this hand i.e., I swear by this hand; prizes values 182 command him tasks give him orders
IAGO Nay, that's not your way.
OTHELLO Hang her! I do but say what she is. So delicate with her needle! an admirable musician! O, she will sing the savageness out of a bear! Of so high and plenteous wit and invention -
IAGO She's the worse for all this.
OTHELLO O, a thousand, a thousand times! And then, of so gentle a condition!
IAGO Ay, too gentle.
OTHELLO Nay, that's certain. But yet the pity of it, Iago! O Iago, the pity of it, Iago!
IAGO If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent to offend; for if it touch not you, it comes near nobody.
OTHELLO I will chop her into messes! Cuckold me!
IAGO O, 'tis foul in her.
OTHELLO With mine officer!
IAGO That's fouler.
OTHELLO Get me some poison, Iago, this night. I'll not expostulate with her, lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again. This night, Iago!
IAGO Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated.
OTHELLO Good, good! The justice of it pleases. Very good!
IAGO And for Cassio, let me be his undertaker: you shall hear more by midnight.
OTHELLO
Excellent good!
[A trumpet.] What trumpet is that same? 187 invention imagination 190 gentle a condition (1) pleasant temperament, (2) genteel social position 194 patent license 195 touch not you doesn't concern you 196 messes pieces of food suitable for meals (i.e., "to bits") 201 expostulate converse, dispute 201-2 unprovide my mind i.e., change my determination 207 his undertaker (1) one who acts as security for another (i.e., "I'll take care of him"), (2) one who takes up a challenge (probably not yet in the modern sense of funeral director)
IAGO
I warrant something from Venice.
Enter Lodovico, Desdemona, and Attendants.
'Tis Lodovico.
This comes from the duke. See, your wife's with him.
LODOVICO
God save you, worthy general!
OTHELLO With all my heart, sir.
LODOVICO
The duke and the senators of Venice greet you.
[Gives him a letter.]
OTHELLO
I k
iss the instrument of their pleasures.
[Opens the letter and reads.]
DESDEMONA
And what's the news, good cousin Lodovico?
IAGO
I am very glad to see you, signor.
Welcome to Cyprus.
LODOVICO
I thank you. How does Lieutenant Cassio?
IAGO Lives, sir.
DESDEMONA
Cousin, there's fall'n between him and my lord
An unkind breach; but you shall make all well.
OTHELLO Are you sure of that?
DESDEMONA My lord?
OTHELLO [Reads.] "This fail you not to do, as you will -"
LODOVICO
He did not call; he's busy in the paper.
Is there division 'twixt my lord and Cassio?
DESDEMONA
A most unhappy one. I would do much 210 warrant feel sure 212 With all my heart (a reciprocal compliment to Lodovico's greeting) 214 instrument i.e., letter
T' atone them, for the love I bear to Cassio.
OTHELLO
Fire and brimstone!
DESDEMONA My lord?
OTHELLO Are you wise?
DESDEMONA
What, is he angry?
LODOVICO May be the letter moved him;
For, as I think, they do command him home,
Deputing Cassio in his government.
DESDEMONA
By my troth, I am glad on't.
OTHELLO Indeed?
DESDEMONA My lord?
OTHELLO
I am glad to see you mad.
DESDEMONA Why, sweet Othello?
OTHELLO Devil!
[Strikes her.]
DESDEMONA I have not deserved this.
LODOVICO
My lord, this would not be believed in Venice,
Though I should swear I saw't. 'Tis very much.
Make her amends; she weeps.
OTHELLO O devil, devil!
If that the earth could teem with woman's tears,
Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
Out of my sight!
DESDEMONA I will not stay to offend you. [Going]
LODOVICO
Truly, an obedient lady. 227 atone them reconcile them, make them united ("at one") 231 Deputing
. . . government i.e., giving Othello's office to Cassio 233 glad . . . mad
i.e., I am pleased that you are foolish enough to rejoice in this news (with a
possible pun on "maid") 237 very much i.e., too much, unbelievable 239
teem breed 240 crocodile (notorious for weeping false tears as a means of ensnaring human victims)
I do beseech your lordship call her back.
OTHELLO
Mistress!
DESDEMONA My lord?
OTHELLO What would you with her, sir?
LODOVICO
Who? I, my lord?
OTHELLO
Ay! You did wish that I would make her turn.
Sir, she can turn, and turn, and yet go on
And turn again; and she can weep, sir, weep;
And she's obedient; as you say, obedient,
Very obedient. - Proceed you in your tears. -
Concerning this, sir - O well-painted passion! -
I am commanded home. - Get you away;
I'll send for you anon. - Sir, I obey the mandate
And will return to Venice. - Hence, avaunt!
[Exit Desdemona.]
Cassio shall have my place. And, sir, tonight
I do entreat that we may sup together.
You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus. - Goats and monkeys!
Exit.
LODOVICO
Is this the noble Moor whom our full Senate
Call all in all sufficient? Is this the nature
Whom passion could not shake? whose solid virtue
The shot of accident nor dart of chance
Could neither graze nor pierce?
IAGO He is much changed. 246 turn turn back (but with a multiple pun, repeated in the following lines, on turn as [1] change indiscriminately, [2] pursue sexual encounters, as in the modern "turn tricks") 249 obedient (Othello twists Lodovico's use of the word in l. 242 to suggest "easy," "yielding" - i.e., sexually pliant) 251 well-painted passion artfully counterfeited sorrow 257 Goats and monkeys (apparently a muttered reference to the lecherous animals mentioned in III.3.403-4)
LODOVICO
Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?
IAGO
He's that he is; I may not breathe my censure.
What he might be - if what he might he is not -
I would to heaven he were!
LODOVICO What, strike his wife?
IAGO
Faith, that was not so well; yet would I knew
That stroke would prove the worst!
LODOVICO Is it his use?
Or did the letters work upon his blood
And new create his fault?
IAGO Alas, alas!
It is not honesty in me to speak
What I have seen and known. You shall observe him,
And his own courses will denote him so
That I may save my speech. Do but go after
And mark how he continues.
LODOVICO
I am sorry that I am deceived in him. Exeunt.
IV.2 Enter Othello and Emilia.
OTHELLO
You have seen nothing then?
EMILIA
Nor ever heard, nor ever did suspect.
OTHELLO
Yes, you have seen Cassio and she together. 263 safe sound, normal 264 censure opinion, judgment 265-66 What . . . were i.e., if he's not insane, then he ought to be (to explain this behavior) 268 use custom 273 courses modes of action IV.2 A room in the castle
EMILIA
But then I saw no harm, and then I heard
Each syllable that breath made up between them.
OTHELLO
What, did they never whisper?
EMILIA Never, my lord.
OTHELLO
Nor send you out o' th' way?
EMILIA Never.
OTHELLO
To fetch her fan, her gloves, her mask, nor nothing?
EMILIA Never, my lord.
OTHELLO That's strange.
EMILIA
I durst, my lord, to wager she is honest,
Lay down my soul at stake. If you think other,
Remove your thought; it doth abuse your bosom.
If any wretch have put this in your head,
Let heaven requite it with the serpent's curse!
For if she be not honest, chaste, and true,
There's no man happy; the purest of their wives
Is foul as slander.
OTHELLO Bid her come hither. Go. Exit Emilia.
She says enough; yet she's a simple bawd
That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,
A closet lock and key of villainous secrets;
And yet she'll kneel and pray; I have seen her do't.
Enter Desdemona and Emilia.
DESDEMONA
My lord, what is your will? 12 durst would dare 14 abuse your bosom deceive your heart 16 with the serpent's curse i.e., by making him move eternally on the belly (see Genesis 3:14) 20 simple bawd foolish pimp (Othello figures Emilia as a brothel keeper protecting her merchandise, the whore) 21 This i.e., Desdemona 22 closet lock and key i.e., a closed cabinet 24 what is your will (Desdemona's words resemble the greeting of a courtesan seeking to please her client; see note to wills at I.3.321)
OTHELLO Pray you, chuck, come hither.
DESDEMONA
What is your pleasure?
OTHELLO Let me see your eyes.
Look in my face.
DESDEMONA What horrible fancy's this?
OTHELLO [To Emilia]
Some of your function, mistress.
Leave procreants alone and shut the door;
Cough or cry hem if anybody come.
Your mystery, your mystery! Nay, dispatch!
Exit Emilia.
DESDEMONA
Upon my knee, what doth your speech import?
I understand a fury in your words,
But not the words.
OTHELLO
Why, what art thou?
DESDEMONA Your wife, my lord, your true And loyal wife.
OTHELLO Come, swear it, damn thyself;
Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves
Should fear to seize thee. Therefore be double-damned -
Swear thou art honest.
DESDEMONA Heaven doth truly know it.
OTHELLO
Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell.
DESDEMONA
To whom, my lord? With whom? How am I false?
OTHELLO
Ah, Desdemon! away! away! away!
27 Some . . . mistress i.e., do your job by leaving us alone and watching the door 28 procreants procreators, copulators 30 mystery trade 36 being . . . heaven looking like an angel as you do 38 honest chaste
DESDEMONA
Alas the heavy day! Why do you weep?
Am I the motive of these tears, my lord?
If haply you my father do suspect
An instrument of this your calling back,
Lay not your blame on me. If you have lost him,
I have lost him too.
OTHELLO Had it pleased heaven
To try me with affliction, had they rained
All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head,
Steeped me in poverty to the very lips,
Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes,
I should have found in some place of my soul
A drop of patience. But, alas, to make me
The fixed figure for the time of scorn
To point his slow and moving finger at!
Yet could I bear that too; well, very well.
But there where I have garnered up my heart,
Where either I must live or bear no life,
The fountain from the which my current runs
Or else dries up - to be discarded thence,
Or keep it as a cistern for foul toads
To knot and gender in - turn thy complexion there,
Patience, thou young and rose-lipped cherubin!
Ay, here look grim as hell!
DESDEMONA
I hope my noble lord esteems me honest.
OTHELLO
O, ay, as summer flies are in the shambles, 45 An instrument a means 54-55 fixed . . . at object of ridicule for a scornful age, which is figured as a clock; the dial moves without appearing to (slow and moving finger) 57 garnered up stored, put for safekeeping 59 fountain spring 61 cistern cesspool, filthy sink 62 knot and gender copulate, reproduce 62-64 turn . . . hell i.e., if you, Patience, look on that, your cherubic appearance will become as grim as hell 66 shambles slaughterhouse
That quicken even with blowing. O thou weed,
Who art so lovely fair, and smell'st so sweet,
That the sense aches at thee, would thou hadst never