Jago. Can he be angry? I have seen the cannon
When it hath blown his ranks into the air;
And, like the devil, from his very arm
Puff'd his own brother;-And can he be angry?
Something of moment, then: I will go meet him; 20
There's matter in 't indeed, if he be angry. [Exit.]
Des. I pr'ythee, do so.-Something, sure, of

Cas. I know not, sweet: I found it in my chamI like the work well; ere it be demanded,

35 (As like enough it will) I'd have it cop: 'd:
Take it and do 't; and leave me for this time.
Bian. Leave you! wherefore?

Cas. I do attend here on the general;
And think it no addition, nor my wish,
40 To have him see me woman'd.
Bian. Why, I pray you?

The meaning, according to Mr. Steevens, is, "I will put on a constrained appearance of being contented, and shut myself up in a different course of life, no longer to depend on my own efforts, but to wait for relief from the accidental hand of charity."-We think, however, it means no more than that he would try what Fortune would do for him in some other course of life. In look, in countenance. 3 i. e. within the shot of his anger. Some treason that has not taken effect. › Unhandsome warrior, is unfair assailant. i. e. a time less interrupted, time which I can call more i. e. Your civility is now grown

i. c. "Copy this work in another handkerchief."

Iago, What,

Oth. Think so, Iago?

To kiss in private?

Oth. An unauthoriz'd kiss.

ACT IV.

Iago. Or to be naked with her friend abed, An hour, or more, not meaning any harm?

Oth. Naked abed, Iago, and not mean harm1? It is hypocrisy against the devil:

They that mean virtuously, and yet do so,

Jago. With her, on her; what you will.

Oth. Lie with her! lie on her!-We say, lie on her, when they belie her: Lie with her! that's 10fulsome. Handkerchief,-confessions,-handkerchief. To confess, and be hang'd for his labour. -First, to be hang'd, and then-to confess :-I tremble at it.-Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion, without some instruction.

The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt 15 It is not words, that shake me thus :-Pish!

heaven.

Noses, ears, and lips*:-Is it possible?-Confess!
-Handkerchief!-O devil!!

125

And many worthy and chaste dames, even thus,
All guiltless meet reproach.-What, ho! my lord!
My lord, I say!-Othello!- -How now, Cassio?

Enter Cassio.
Cas. What's the matter?

Iago. My lord is fallen into an epilepsy;
This is his second fit; he had one yesterday.
Cas. Rub him about the temples.

30 Iago. No, forbear:

The lethargy must have his quiet course:
If not, he foams at mouth; and, by-and-by,
Breaks out to savage madness. Look, he stirs:
Do you withdraw yourself a little while, :
35 He will recover straight; when he is gone,
I would on great occasion speak with you.-

40

[sur'd,

Iago. He hath, my lord; but, be you well as

[Exit Cassio. How is it, general? have you not hurt your head? Oth. Dost thou mock me?

Iago. I mock you! no, by heaven: 'Would, you would bear your fortunes like a man. Oth. A horned man's a monster, and a beast.

This observation, Dr. Warburton says, seems strangely abrupt and unoccasioned. We must suppose that Iago had, before they appear in this scene, been applying cases of false comfort to Othello; as that though the parties had been even found in bed together, there might be no harm done; it might be only for the trial of their virtue; as was reported of the Romish saint, Robert D'Arbrissel and his nuns. To this we must suppose Othello here replies; and like a good protestant. For, so the sentiment does but suit the character of the speaker, Shakspeare little heeds how these sentiments are circumstanced. Convinc'd, for conquer'd, subdued. 3 Dr. Johnson's comment on this passage is as follows: "There has always prevailed in the world an opinion, that when any great calamity happens at a distance, notice is given of it to the sufferer by some dejection or perturbation of mind, of which he discovers no external cause. This is ascribed to that general communication of one part of the universe with another, which is called sympathy and antipathy; or to the secret monition, instruction, and influence of a superior Being, which superintends the order of nature and of life. Othello says, Nature could not invest herself in such shadowing passion without instruction: It is not words that shake me thus. This passion, which spreads its clouds over me, is the effect of some agency more than the operation of words; it is one of those notices which men have of unseen calamities." * Othello is imagining to himself the familiarities which he supposes to have passed between Cassio and his wife. lago.

Iago. There's many a beast then in a populous

city,

And many a civil monster.
Oth. Did he confess it?
Iago. Good sir, be a man;

Think, every bearded fellow, that's but yok'd,
May draw with you: there's millions now alive,
That nightly lie in those unproper' beds, [ter.
Which they dare swear peculiar; your case is bet-
O, 'tis the spight of hell, the fiend's arch-mock,
To lip a wanton in a secure couch,
And to suppose her chaste! No, let me know;
And, knowing what I am, I know what she shall
Oth. O, thou art wise; 'tis certain.
Iago. Stand you a while apart:
Confine yourself but in a patient list.

[be.

Whilst you were here, ere while, mad with your
grief,

(A passion most unsuiting such a man)
Cassio came hither: I shifted him away,
And laid good 'scuse upon your ecstasy 3;
Bade him anon return, and here speak with me;
The which he promis'd. Do but encave yourself",
And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable
scorns,
That dwell in every region of his face;
For I will make him tell the tale anew,
Where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when
He hath, and is again to cope your wife;
I say, but mark his gesture. Marry, patience;
Or I shall say, you are all in all in spleen,
And nothing of a inan.

Oth. Dost thou hear, lago?

I will be found most cunning in my patience;
But (dost thou hear?) most bloody.

lago. That's not amiss;

But yet keep time in all. Will you withdraw?

[Othello withdraws.

Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,
A housewife, that, by selling her desires,
Buys herself bread and clothes: it is a creature,
That dotes onCassio,--as 'tis the strumpet's plague,
To beguile many, and be beguil'd by one;
He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain
From the excess of laughter :-Here he comes:-
Enter Cassio.

5

Cas. "Tis such another fitchew! marry, a perfun.'d one.-What do you mean by this haunting 145jof me?

As he shall sinile, Othello shall go mad;
And his unbookish ' jealousy must construc
Foor Cassio's smiles, gestures, and light behaviour,
Quite in the wrong.-How do you now, lieutenant
Cas. The worser, that you give me the addition, 50
Whose want even kills me.
[on't.

Fago. Ply Desdemona well, and you are sure
Now, if this suit lay in Bianca's power,

How quickly should you speed:
Cas. Alas, poor caitiff!

Speaking lower.

Bian. 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 whole work.-A likely piece of work, that you should find it in your chamber, and not know who left it there! This is some minx's token, and I must take out the work? There, give it your hobby-horse: wheresoever you had it, I'll take out no work on 't. 1551 Cas. How now, my sweet Bianca? how now? how now?

5

Unproper, for common. 2 List, or lists, is barriers, bounds.-Keep your temper, says lago, within the bounds of patience. 3i. e. trance. i. e. hide yourself in a private place. Unbookish, for ignorant. Othello calls him Roman ironically.-Triumph, which was a Roman ceremony, brought Roman into his thoughts. A common woman, one that invites custom. • To score, says Mr. Steevens, originally meant no more than to cut a notch upon a tally, or to mark out a form by indenting it on any substance; but it was soon figuratively used for setting a brand or mark of disgrace on any one. A polecat.-A pole-cat was anciently one of the cant terms for a strumpet.

Oth.

Iago. Well, I may chance to see you; for 110 would fain speak with you. very

Cas. Pr'ythee, come; Will you?

Iago. Go to; say no more.

[Exit Cassio. Oth. How shall I murder him, Iago? [vice? lago. Did you perceive how he laugh'd at his 15 Oth. O, Iago!

Iago. And did you see the handkerchief?
Oth. Was that mine?

lago. Yours, by this hand: and to see how he prizes the foolish woman your wife! she gave it 20 him, and he hath given it his whore.

Oth. I would have him nine years a killing:A fine woman! a fair woman! a sweet woman! Jago. Nay, you must forget that.

Oth. Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damn'd 25 to-night; for she shall not live: No, my heart is turn'd to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand. O, the world hath not a sweeter creature: she might lie by an einperor's side, and command him tasks.

lago. Nay, that's not your way.

30

Oth. 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 inven-35 tion!

Iago. She's the worse for all this.

Oth. O, a thousand, a thousand times:-And then, of so gentle a condition!-

Iago. Ay, too gentle.

Oth. Nay, that's certain: But yet the pity of it, Iago!--O, Iago, the pity of it, lago!

lago. If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent to offend; for, if it touch not you, it comes near nobody.

Oth. I will chop her into messes:-Cuckold me!
Iago. O, 'tis foul in her.

Oth. With mine officer!
Iago. That's fouler.

Iago. Something from Venice, sure. "Tis Lodovico,

[him.

Come from the duke: and, see, your wife is with
Enter Lodovico, Desdemona, and Attendants.
Lod. Save you, worthy general!

Oth. With all my heart, sir.

Lod. The duke and senators of Venice greet you. [Gives him a letter.

Oth. I kiss the instrument of their pleasures.
Des.Andwhat's the news,good cousin Lodovico?
Jago. I am very glad to see you, signior;
Welcome to Cyprus.

Lod. I thank you: How does lieutenant Cassio?
Iago. Lives, sir.

Des. Cousin, there's fallen between him and
my lord

An unkind breach: but you shall make all well.
Oth. Are you sure of that?
Des. My lord?

Oth. This fail you not to do, as you will—'

[Reads. Lod. He did not call; he's busy in the paper. Is there division 'twixt thy lord and Cassio?

Des. A most unhappy one; I would do much To atone them, for the love I bear to Cassio. Oth. Fire and brimstone!

Des. My lord?

Oth. Are you wise?

Des. What, is he angry?

Lod. 'May be, the letter mov'd him;
For, as I think, they do command him home,
Deputing Cassio in his government.
Des. By my troth, I am glad on't.
Oth. Indeed?

Des. My lord?

Oth. I am glad to see you mad.
Des Why, sweet Othello?

Oth. Devil:

40

Des. I have not deserv'd this.

[Striking her. [nice.

Lod. My lord, this would not be believ'd in VeThough I should swear I saw it: 'Tis very much; Make her amends, she weeps.

Oth. O devil, devil!

45 If that the earth could teem with woman's tears, Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile :— Out of my sight!

Oth. Get me some poison, Iago; this night :-50 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.

Oth. Good, good: the justice of it pleases; very good.

Iago. And, for Cassio,--let me be his undertaker: You shall hear more by midnight.

55

A trumpet within. 60

.

Oth. Excellent good.-What trumpet is that

same?

Des. I will not stay to offend you.
Lod. Truly, an obedient lady:-

do beseech your lordship, call her back.
Oth. Mistress,-

Des. My lord?

Oth. What would you with her, sir?

Lod. Who, I, my lord?

[Going.

[turn?

Oth. Ay; you did wish, that I would make her
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,

i. e. to reconcile them.

And

And will return to Venice;-Hence, avaunt!—
[Exit Desdemona.
Cassio shall have my place. And, sir, to-night,
I do entreat that we may sup together.
You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus.-Goats and 5
monkeys'!
[Exit.
Lod. Is this the noble Moor, whom our full

senate

Call-all-in-all sufficient? This the noble nature
Whom passion could not shake? whose solid virtue 10
The shot of accident, nor dart of chance,
Could neither graze, nor pierce?

lago. He is much chang'd.

Lod. Are his wits safe? is he not light of brain?
lago. He is that he is; I may not breathe my 15
censure2.

What he might be,-if, what he might, he is not,-
I would to heaven, he were.

Lod. What, strike his wife!

[knew,

lago. 'Faith, that was not so well; yet'would 120 That stroke would prove the worst.

Lod. Is it his use?

Or did the letters work upon his blood,
And new-create this fault?

Iago. Alas, alas !

It is not honesty in me, to speak

[him;

What I have seen and known. You shall observe
And his own courses will denote him so,
That I may save my speech: Do but go after,
And inark how he continues.

Lod. I am sorry that I am deceiv'd in him.

SCENE II.

Another Apartment in the Castle.
Enter Othello, and Æmilia.

[Excunt.

Oth. You have seen nothing then?
Emil. Nor ever heard; nor ever did suspect.
Oth. Yes, you have seen Cassio and she together.
Emil. But then I saw no harm; and then I
heard

Each syllable, that breath made up between them.
Oth. What, did they never whisper?

Emil. Never, my lord.

Oth. Nor send you out o' the way?
Emil. Never.

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.

Oth. Bid her come hither;-go-[Exit Æmilia.
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: [do't.
And yet she 'll kneel, and pray; I have seen her`
Re-enter Emilia, with Desdemona.
Des. My lord, what is your will?
Oth. Pray, chuck, come hither.
Des. What is your pleasure?
Oth. Let me see your eyes;

Look in my face.

[mistress;

Des. What horrible fancy's this?
Oth. [To Emilia.] Some of your function,
Leave procreants alone, and shut the door;
Cough, or cry-hem, if any body come:
Your mystery, your mystery;-nay, dispatch.
[Exit Emilia.
Des. Upon my knees, what doth your speech
import?

I understand a fury in your words,
25 But not the words.

Oth. Why, what art thou?
Des. Your wife, my lord;

Your true and loyal wife.

Oth. Come, swear it, damn thyself;

30 Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils them

35

40

[nothing? 45

Oth. To fetch her fan, her gloves, her mask, nor
Emil. Never, my lord.

Oth. That's strange.

Emil. 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 hath put this in your head,

Oth. O Desdemona!-away! away! away!
Des. Alas, the heavy day!-Why do you weep?
Am I the occasion 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,
Why, I have lost him too.

Oth. Had it pleas'd Heaven

To try me with affliction; had he rain'd

All kind of sores, and shames, on my bare head:
Steep'd me in poverty to the very lips;
Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes;
50 I should have found in some place of my soul
A drop of patience: but (alas?) to make me
A fixed figure for the time of scorn'

Mr. Malone remarks, that "in this exclamation Shakspeare has shewn great art. lago, in the first sce in which he endeavours to awaken his suspicion, being urged to give some evident proof of the guilt of Cassio and Desdemona, tells him it were impossible to have ocular demonstration of it, though they should be " as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys."-These words, we may suppose, still ring in the ears of Othello, who, being now fully convinced of his wife's infidelity, rushes out with this emphatic exclamation:-Iago's words were but too true;-now indeed I am convinced that they are as hot as "goats and monkeys." 2 i.e. my opinion. ' Mr. Rowe reads "hand of scorn;" and succeeding editors have followed him.-Mr. Steevens, however, would (though in opposition to so many great authorities in favour of the change) continue to read, with the old copy, "the time of scorn;" and adds, "We call the hour in which we are to die, the hour of death;-the time when we are to be judged, the day of judgement; the instant when we suffer calamity, the moment of evil: and why may we not distinguish the time which brings contempt along with it, by the title of the time of scorn?"

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