-- Philip Weller, November 13, 1941 - February 1, 2021
Dr. Weller, an Eastern Washington University professor of English and Shakespearean scholar for more than 50 years.
Othello: Act 3, Scene 3
Enter DESDEMONA, CASSIO,
and EMILIA.
Desdemona by Frederic Leighton
DESDEMONA
1 Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do
2 All my abilities in thy behalf.
EMILIA
3 Good madam, do: I warrant it grieves my husband,
4 As if the case were his.
DESDEMONA
5 O, that's an honest fellow. Do not doubt, Cassio,
6 But I will have my lord and you again
7 As friendly as you were.
CASSIO
Bounteous madam,
8 Whatever shall become of Michael Cassio,
9 He's never any thing but your true servant.
DESDEMONA
10 I know't; I thank you. You do love my lord:
11 You have known him long; and be you well assured
12 He shall in strangeness stand no further off
12. strangeness: aloofness.
13 Than in a politic distance.
13. politic: dictated by wise policy.
CASSIO
Ay, but, lady,
14 That policy may either last so long,
15 Or feed upon such nice and waterish diet,
15. feed . . .
diet: i.e., require so little to keep it alive.
16 Or breed itself so out of circumstances,
16. breed . . . circumstances: be revived by something or another.
17 That, I being absent and my place supplied,
17. supplied: filled.
18 My general will forget my love and service.
DESDEMONA
19 Do not doubt that; before Emilia here
19. doubt: fear.
20 I give thee warrant of thy place. Assure thee,
21 If I do vow a friendship, I'll perform it
21. friendship: friendly act.
22 To the last article. My lord shall never rest;
23 I'll watch him tame and talk him out of patience;
23. watch him tame: keep him awake till he capitulates. talk . . . patience: talk until he can't endure it any longer.
24 His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift;
25 I'll intermingle every thing he does
26 With Cassio's suit. Therefore be merry, Cassio;
27 For thy solicitor shall rather die
27. solicitor: advocate, lawyer.
28 Than give thy cause away.
28. give thy cause away: give up on your cause.
EMILIA
29 Madam, here comes my lord.
Enter OTHELLO and IAGO.
CASSIO
30 Madam, I'll take my leave.
DESDEMONA
31 Why, stay, and hear me speak.
CASSIO
32 Madam, not now: I am very ill at ease,
33 Unfit for mine own purposes.
DESDEMONA
34 Well, do your discretion.
Exit Cassio.
IAGO
35 Ha! I like not that.
"he would steal away so guilty-like"
OTHELLO
What dost thou say?
IAGO
36 Nothing, my lord: or if—I know not what.
OTHELLO
37 Was not that Cassio parted from my wife?
IAGO
38 Cassio, my lord! No, sure, I cannot think it,
39 That he would steal away so guilty-like,
40 Seeing you coming.
OTHELLO
I do believe 'twas he.
DESDEMONA
"Why, your lieutenant, Cassio"
41 How now, my lord!
42 I have been talking with a suitor here,
43 A man that languishes in your displeasure.
OTHELLO
44 Who is't you mean?
DESDEMONA
45 Why, your lieutenant, Cassio. Good my lord,
46 If I have any grace or power to move you,
47 His present reconciliation take;
47. present: immediate.
48 For if he be not one that truly loves you,
49 That errs in ignorance and not in cunning,
49. in cunning: wittingly.
50 I have no judgment in an honest face:
51 I prithee, call him back.
OTHELLO
Went he hence now?
DESDEMONA
52 Ay, sooth; so humbled
53 That he hath left part of his grief with me,
54 To suffer with him. Good love, call him back.
OTHELLO
55 Not now, sweet Desdemon; some other time.
55. Desdemon: This isn't a typo; Othello is calling his wife by a nickname to assure her of his love even as he avoids promising to do what she wants him to do.
DESDEMONA
56 But shall't be shortly?
OTHELLO
The sooner, sweet, for you.
DESDEMONA
57 Shall't be tonight at supper?
OTHELLO
No, not tonight.
DESDEMONA
58 Tomorrow dinner, then?
OTHELLO
I shall not dine at home;
59 I meet the captains at the citadel.
DESDEMONA
60 Why, then, tomorrow night; or Tuesday morn;
61 On Tuesday noon, or night; on Wednesday morn:
62 I prithee, name the time, but let it not
63 Exceed three days. In faith, he's penitent;
64. common reason: everyday judgments.
64 And yet his trespass, in our common reason—
65 Save that, they say, the wars must make examples
66 Out of her best—is not almost a fault
65-66. the wars . . . best: military discipline requires making an example of the very best men. not almost: scarcely.
67 To incur a private check. When shall he come?
67. a private check: a private reprimand.
68 Tell me, Othello: I wonder in my soul,
69 What you would ask me, that I should deny,
70 Or stand so mamm'ring on. What! Michael Cassio,
70. mamm'ring: hesitating; wavering about.
71 That came a-wooing with you, and so many a time,
72 When I have spoke of you dispraisingly,
73 Hath ta'en your part — to have so much to do
73. to do: ado, fuss.
74 To bring him in! Trust me, I could do much,—
74. bring him in: i.e., restore him to your favor.
OTHELLO
75 Prithee, no more; let him come when he will;
76 I will deny thee nothing.
DESDEMONA
Why, this is not a boon;
76. this is not a boon: i.e., you are not really doing me a favor.
77 'Tis as I should entreat you wear your gloves,
78 Or feed on nourishing dishes, or keep you warm,
79 Or sue to you to do a peculiar profit
79. peculiar profit: personal benefit.
80 To your own person: nay, when I have a suit
81 Wherein I mean to touch your love indeed,
82 It shall be full of poise and difficult weight
82. poise: weight, heaviness; or equipoise, delicate balance.
83 And fearful to be granted.
OTHELLO
I will deny thee nothing:
84 Whereon, I do beseech thee, grant me this,
84. Whereon: in return for which.
85 To leave me but a little to myself.
DESDEMONA
86 Shall I deny you? no: farewell, my lord.
OTHELLO
87 Farewell, my Desdemona: I'll come to thee straight.
DESDEMONA
88 Emilia, come. —Be as your fancies teach you;
89 Whate'er you be, I am obedient.
Exit [with Emilia].
OTHELLO
90 Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul,
90. wretch: i.e., poor little thing.
91 But I do love thee! and when I love thee not,
92 Chaos is come again.
91. But I do: if I do not.
IAGO
93 My noble lord—
OTHELLO
What dost thou say, Iago?
IAGO
94 Did Michael Cassio, when you woo'd my lady,
95 Know of your love?
OTHELLO
96 He did, from first to last: why dost thou ask?
IAGO
97 But for a satisfaction of my thought;
98 No further harm.
OTHELLO
Why of thy thought, Iago?
IAGO
99 I did not think he had been acquainted with her.
OTHELLO
100 O, yes; and went between us very oft.
"Is he not honest?"
Willard White as Othello; Ian McKellen as Iago
1990 TV film
IAGO
101 Indeed!
OTHELLO
102 Indeed! ay, indeed: discern'st thou aught in that?
103 Is he not honest?
IAGO
Honest, my lord?
OTHELLO
104 Honest! ay, honest.
IAGO
My lord, for aught I know.
OTHELLO
105 What dost thou think?
IAGO
Think, my lord!
OTHELLO
106 Think, my lord! By heaven, he echoes me,
107 As if there were some monster in his thought
108 Too hideous to be shown. Thou dost mean something:
109 I heard thee say even now, thou likedst not that,
110 When Cassio left my wife: what didst not like?
111 And when I told thee he was of my counsel
111. of my counsel: in my confidence.
112 In my whole course of wooing, thou criedst "Indeed!"
113 And didst contract and purse thy brow together,
114 As if thou then hadst shut up in thy brain
115 Some horrible conceit. If thou dost love me,
115. conceit: idea, fancy.
116 Show me thy thought.
IAGO
117 My lord, you know I love you.
OTHELLO
I think thou dost;
118 And, for I know thou'rt full of love and honesty,
119 And weigh'st thy words before thou givest them breath,
120 Therefore these stops of thine fright me the more;
120. stops: significant pauses in a speech.
121 For such things in a false disloyal knave
122 Are tricks of custom, but in a man that's just
123 They are close dilations, working from the heart
124 That passion cannot rule.
123-124. close dilations, working from the heart / That passion cannot rule: i.e., expressions of thoughts growing so strongly from the heart that they cannot be contained.
IAGO
For Michael Cassio,
125 I dare be sworn I think that he is honest.
"Why, then, I think Cassio's an honest man"
Illustrator: Sir John Gilbert
OTHELLO
126 I think so too.
IAGO
Men should be what they seem;
127 Or those that be not, would they might seem none!
OTHELLO
128 Certain, men should be what they seem.
IAGO
129 Why, then, I think Cassio's an honest man.
OTHELLO
130 Nay, yet there's more in this:
131 I prithee, speak to me as to thy thinkings,
131. as to: with respect to.
132 As thou dost ruminate, and give thy worst of thoughts
133 The worst of words.
IAGO
Good my lord, pardon me:
134 Though I am bound to every act of duty,
135 I am not bound to that all slaves are free to.
135. that all slaves are free to: that which even a slave is not bound to.
136 Utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false;
137 As where's that palace whereinto foul things
138 Sometimes intrude not? Who has a breast so pure,
139 But some uncleanly apprehensions
139. uncleanly apprehensions: dirty interpretations of others' actions.
140 Keep leets and law-days and in session sit
141 With meditations lawful?
141. With meditations lawful: along with innocent thoughts.
OTHELLO
142 Thou dost conspire against thy friend, Iago,
142. thy friend: any friend.
143 If thou but think'st him wrong'd and makest his ear
144 A stranger to thy thoughts.
IAGO
I do beseech you—
145 Though I perchance am vicious in my guess,
145. vicious: spitefully wrong.
146 As, I confess, it is my nature's plague
147 To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy
147. jealousy: suspicion of evil.
148 Shapes faults that are not—that your wisdom then,
148. then: on that account.
149 From one that so imperfectly conceits,
149. one: i.e., myself, Iago. conceits: judges, conjectures.
150 Would take no notice, nor build yourself a trouble
151 Out of his scattering and unsure observance.
152 It were not for your quiet nor your good,
153 Nor for my manhood, honesty, or wisdom,
154 To let you know my thoughts.
OTHELLO
'Zounds, what dost thou mean?
IAGO
155 Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
156 Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
157 Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
158 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands:
159 But he that filches from me my good name
160 Robs me of that which not enriches him
161 And makes me poor indeed.
OTHELLO
162 By heaven, I'll know thy thoughts.
IAGO
163 You cannot, if my heart were in your hand;
163. if: even if.
164 Nor shall not, whilst 'tis in my custody.
OTHELLO
165 Ha!
IAGO
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
166 It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
167 The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss
167. meat it feeds on: i.e., the heart of the man who suffers it.
168 Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
168. his wronger: i.e., his faithless wife.
169 But, O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
170 Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!
OTHELLO
171 O misery!
IAGO
172 Poor and content is rich and rich enough,
173 But riches fineless is as poor as winter
173. fineless: boundless.
174 To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
175 Good heaven, the souls of all my tribe defend
176 From jealousy!
OTHELLO
Why, why is this?
177 Think'st thou I'ld make a life of jealousy,
178 To follow still the changes of the moon
179 With fresh suspicions? No! to be once in doubt
180 Is once to be resolved. Exchange me for a goat,
180. once: once and for all.
181 When I shall turn the business of my soul
182 To such exsufflicate and blown surmises,
182. exsufflicate and blown: blown-up and inflated.
183 Matching thy inference. 'Tis not to make me jealous
183. jealous: suspicious.
184 To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
185 Is free of speech, sings, plays and dances well;
186 Where virtue is, these are more virtuous.
187 Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw
188 The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt;
188. doubt: suspicion. revolt: unfaithfulness.
189 For she had eyes, and chose me. No, Iago;
190 I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;
190. prove: test.
191 And on the proof, there is no more but this,—
192 Away at once with love or jealousy!
"Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio"
IAGO
193 I am glad of it; for now I shall have reason
194 To show the love and duty that I bear you
195 With franker spirit: therefore, as I am bound,
196 Receive it from me. I speak not yet of proof.
197 Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio;
198 Wear your eye thus, not jealous nor secure.
198. not: neither. secure: overconfident.
199 I would not have your free and noble nature,
200 Out of self-bounty, be abused; look to't.
200. self-bounty: inherent or natural goodness.
201 I know our country disposition well;
202 In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks
203 They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience
204 Is not to leave't undone, but keep't unknown.
OTHELLO
205 Dost thou say so?
IAGO
206 She did deceive her father, marrying you;
207 And when she seem'd to shake and fear your looks,
208 She loved them most.
OTHELLO
And so she did.
IAGO
Why, go to then;
208. go to: An expression of impatience.
209 She that, so young, could give out such a seeming,
209. seeming: false appearance.
210 To seel her father's eyes up close as oak,
210. seal: blind.oak: A close-grained wood.
211 He thought 'twas witchcraft—but I am much to blame;
212 I humbly do beseech you of your pardon
213 For too much loving you.
OTHELLO
I am bound to thee for ever.
213. bound: indebted.
IAGO
214 I see this hath a little dash'd your spirits.
OTHELLO
215 Not a jot, not a jot.
IAGO
I' faith, I fear it has.
216 I hope you will consider what is spoke
217 Comes from my love. But I do see you're moved:
218 I am to pray you not to strain my speech
219 To grosser issues nor to larger reach
219. issues: significances, conclusions. reach: meaning, scope.
220 Than to suspicion.
OTHELLO
221 I will not.
IAGO
Should you do so, my lord,
222 My speech should fall into such vile success
222. success: effect.
223 As my thoughts aim not at. Cassio's my worthy friend—
224 My lord, I see you're moved.
OTHELLO
No, not much moved:
225 I do not think but Desdemona's honest.
225. honest: chaste.
IAGO
226 Long live she so! and long live you to think so!
OTHELLO
227 And yet, how nature erring from itself,—
IAGO
228 Ay, there's the point: as—to be bold with you—
229 Not to affect many proposed matches
229. affect: prefer, look with favor on.
230 Of her own clime, complexion, and degree,
230. clime: region, country.
231 Whereto we see in all things nature tends—
232 Foh! one may smell in such, a will most rank,
232. rank: thick, coarse.
233 Foul disproportions, thoughts unnatural.
233. disproportions: abnormalities.
234 But pardon me; I do not in position
234. in position: i.e., in arguing thus.
235 Distinctly speak of her; though I may fear
235. Distinctly speak of: refer specifically to.
236 Her will, recoiling to her better judgment,
236. recoiling to: reverting to.
237 May fall to match you with her country forms
237. fall . . . forms: happen to compare your appearance with that of her countrymen.
238 And happily repent.
238. happily repent: haply [by chance] repent her marriage.
OTHELLO
Farewell, farewell!
239 If more thou dost perceive, let me know more;
240 Set on thy wife to observe: leave me, Iago:
IAGO [Going.]
241 My lord, I take my leave.
OTHELLO
242 Why did I marry? This honest creature doubtless
243 Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds.
IAGO [Returning.]
244 My lord, I would I might entreat your honor
245 To scan this thing no further; leave it to time:
246 Though it be fit that Cassio have his place,
247 For sure, he fills it up with great ability,
248 Yet, if you please to hold him off awhile,
249 You shall by that perceive him and his means:
250 Note, if your lady strain his entertainment
250. strain his entertainment: repeatedly urge his reappointment.
251 With any strong or vehement importunity;
252 Much will be seen in that. In the mean time,
253 Let me be thought too busy in my fears—
254 As worthy cause I have to fear I am—
255 And hold her free, I do beseech your honor.
255. free: guiltless.
OTHELLO
256 Fear not my government.
256. Fear not my government: don't worry about my self-control.
IAGO
257 I once more take my leave.
Exit.
OTHELLO
258 This fellow's of exceeding honesty,
259 And knows all qualities, with a learned spirit,
259. qualities: types.
260 Of human dealings. If I do prove her haggard,
260. haggard: wild (a term from falconry).
261 Though that her jesses were my dear heartstrings,
261. jesses: leather control straps on the hawk's legs
262 I'ld whistle her off and let her down the wind,
262. I'ld . . . wind: i.e. I would signal to her that she was free.
263 To prey at fortune. Haply, for I am black
263. To prey at fortune: to hunt at random.
264 And have not those soft parts of conversation
264. soft . . . conversation: pleasing qualities of social behavior.
265 That chamberers have, or for I am declined
265. chamberers: courtiers, indoor types.
266 Into the vale of years,—yet that's not much—
265-266. I . . . years: I have just begun my declining years. . . . more
267 She's gone. I am abused; and my relief
268 Must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage,
269 That we can call these delicate creatures ours,
270 And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad,
271 And live upon the vapour of a dungeon,
272 Than keep a corner in the thing I love
273 For others' uses. Yet, 'tis the plague of great ones;
274 Prerogativ'd are they less than the base;
274. Prerogativ'd . . . base: they are given fewer rights than the lower classes.
275 'Tis destiny unshunnable, like death:
276 Even then this forked plague is fated to us
276. forked plague: the curse of a cuckold's horns.
277 When we do quicken. Look where she comes:
277. quicken: begin to live.
Enter DESDEMONA and EMILIA.
278 If she be false, O, then heaven mocks itself!
279 I'll not believe't.
DESDEMONA
How now, my dear Othello!
280 Your dinner, and the generous islanders
280. generous: noble.
281 By you invited, do attend your presence.
OTHELLO
282 I am to blame.
DESDEMONA
280. generous: noble. Why do you speak so faintly?
283 Are you not well?
OTHELLO
284 I have a pain upon my forehead here.
DESDEMONA
285. with watching: from lack of sleep or working late.
285 'Faith, that's with watching; 'twill away again:
286 Let me but bind it hard, within this hour
287 It will be well.
OTHELLO
Your napkin is too little:
287. napkin: handkerchief.
[He pushes the handkerchief away,
and it drops.]
288 Let it alone. Come, I'll go in with you.
288. Let it alone: don't trouble yourself about it.
DESDEMONA
289 I am very sorry that you are not well.
Exit [with Othello].
EMILIA
290 I am glad I have found this napkin:
291 This was her first remembrance from the Moor.
292 My wayward husband hath a hundred times
292. wayward: capricious.
293 Woo'd me to steal it; but she so loves the token,
294 For he conjured her she should ever keep it,
295 That she reserves it evermore about her
296 To kiss and talk to. I'll have the work ta'en out,
296. work ta'en out: design of the embroidery copied.
297 And give't Iago: what he will do with it
298 Heaven knows, not I;
299 I nothing but to please his fantasy.
299. I nothing but: my only thought is. fantasy: fancy, whim.
Enter Iago.
IAGO
300 How now! what do you here alone?
EMILIA
301 Do not you chide; I have a thing for you.
IAGO
302 A thing for me? it is a common thing—
302. it is a common thing: Iago is not referring to the handkerchief. He is making a sexual joke out of the fact that a slang word for "prostitute" was "commoner." Emilia understands what he is up to and stops him short with her "Ha!"
EMILIA
303 Ha!
IAGO
304 To have a foolish wife.
"What will you give me now
For the same handkerchief?"
Illustrator: H.C. Selous
EMILIA
305 O, is that all? What will you give me now
306 For the same handkerchief?
IAGO
What handkerchief?
EMILIA
307 What handkerchief?
308 Why, that the Moor first gave to Desdemona;
309 That which so often you did bid me steal.
IAGO
310 Hast stol'n it from her?
EMILIA
311 No, 'faith; she let it drop by negligence.
312 And, to the advantage, I, being here, took't up.
312. to the advantage: upon the opportunity.
313 Look, here it is.
Lise Bruneau as Emilia
--Shakespeare Theatre Company, Autumn 2005--
IAGO
A good wench, give it me.
EMILIA
314 What will you do with 't, that you have been so earnest
315 To have me filch it?
IAGO [Snatching it.]
Why, what's that to you?
EMILIA
316 If it be not for some purpose of import,
317 Give't me again: poor lady, she'll run mad
318 When she shall lack it.
IAGO
319 Be not acknown on 't; I have use for it.
319. Be not acknown on't: pretend not to know of it.
320 Go, leave me.
Exit Emilia.
321 I will in Cassio's lodging lose this napkin,
322 And let him find it. Trifles light as air
323 Are to the jealous confirmations strong
324 As proofs of holy writ: this may do something.
325 The Moor already changes with my poison:
326 Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons.
326. conceits: speculations, ideas.
327 Which at the first are scarce found to distaste,
328 But with a little act upon the blood
328. with a little act: after they have acted for a little while.
329 Burn like the mines of sulphur.
329. Burn like the mines of sulphur: Fire in a sulphur mine burns blue, produces dangerous sulfur dioxide, and is difficult to extinguish.
Enter OTHELLO.
I did say so.
330 Look where he comes! Not poppy, nor mandragora,
330. mandragora: an opiate, made of the mandrake root.
331 Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
332 Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
333 Which thou owedst yesterday.
333. owedst: had.
OTHELLO
Ha! ha! false to me?
IAGO
334 Why, how now, general! no more of that.
OTHELLO
335 Avaunt! be gone! thou hast set me on the rack:
336 I swear 'tis better to be much abused
337 Than but to know't a little.
IAGO
How now, my lord!
OTHELLO
338 What sense had I of her stol'n hours of lust?
339 I saw't not, thought it not, it harm'd not me:
340 I slept the next night well, was free and merry;
340. free: carefree.
341 I found not Cassio's kisses on her lips:
342 He that is robb'd, not wanting what is stol'n,
342. wanting: missing.
343 Let him not know't, and he's not robb'd at all.
IAGO
344 I am sorry to hear this.
OTHELLO
345 I had been happy, if the general camp,
346 Pioners and all, had tasted her sweet body,
346. Pioners: Pioners were lowly soldiers assigned dirty work, such as digging tunnels to undermine a castle wall.
347 So I had nothing known. O, now, for ever
348 Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!
349 Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars,
349. big: stately.
350 That make ambition virtue! O, farewell!
351 Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump,
352 The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife,
353 The royal banner, and all quality,
353. quality: character, attributes.
354 Pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war!
354. Pride: proud display. pomp: dignity. circumstance: pageantry, ceremonial splendor.
355 And, O you mortal engines, whose rude throats
355. mortal: deadly. engines: instruments of war; here, cannon.
356 The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit,
357 Farewell! Othello's occupation's gone!
IAGO
Illustrator: Kenny Meadows
358 Is't possible, my lord?
OTHELLO
359 Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore;
360 Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof:
361 Or by the worth of man's eternal soul,
362 Thou hadst been better have been born a dog
363 Than answer my waked wrath!
IAGO
Is't come to this?
OTHELLO
364 Make me to see't; or, at the least, so prove it,
365 That the probation bear no hinge nor loop
365. probation: proof. hinge: [questionable] prop. loop: loophole.
366 To hang a doubt on; or woe upon thy life!
IAGO
367 My noble lord,—
OTHELLO
368 If thou dost slander her and torture me,
369 Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
369. remorse: pity.
370 On horror's head horrors accumulate;
370. horrors accumulate: add still more horrors.
371 Do deeds to make heaven weep, all earth amazed;
371. amazed: utterly confounded.
372 For nothing canst thou to damnation add
373 Greater than that.
IAGO
O grace! O heaven forgive me!
374 Are you a man? have you a soul or sense?
375 God buy you; take mine office. O wretched fool,
375. God buy you: God be with you, i.e., goodbye.
376 That livest to make thine honesty a vice!
375-376. O . . . vice!: O wretched fool, who have lived only to see your honesty made into a vice. Iago is saying this loudly to himself, in order to shame Othello.
377 O monstrous world! Take note, take note, O world,
378 To be direct and honest is not safe.
379 I thank you for this profit; and from hence
379. profit: valuable lesson. hence: henceforth.
380 I'll love no friend, sith love breeds such offence.
380. sith: since. offense: injury.
OTHELLO
381 Nay, stay. Thou shouldst be honest.
381. Nay, stay: Apparently Othello believes that Iago is about to leave him by himself. Thou shouldst be honest: i.e., everything seems to show that you are honest.
IAGO
382 I should be wise, for honesty's a fool
383 And loses that it works for.
OTHELLO
By the world,
384 I think my wife be honest and think she is not;
385 I think that thou art just and think thou art not.
386 I'll have some proof. Her name, that was as fresh
387 As Dian's visage, is now begrimed and black
387. Dian: Diana, goddess of the moon and chastity.
388 As mine own face. If there be cords, or knives,
388. cords: ropes to use as a garrote.
389 Poison, or fire, or suffocating streams,
390 I'll not endure it. Would I were satisfied!
IAGO
391 I see, sir, you are eaten up with passion:
392 I do repent me that I put it to you.
393 You would be satisfied?
OTHELLO
Would! nay, I will.
IAGO
394 And may: but, how? how satisfied, my lord?
395 Would you, the supervisor, grossly gape on—
395. supervisor: onlooker, spectator.
396 Behold her topp'd?
396. topp'd: This word is used of animals. When a ram mounts an ewe, the ram has topped the ewe.
OTHELLO
Death and damnation! O!
IAGO
397 It were a tedious difficulty, I think,
398 To bring them to that prospect: damn them then,
398. To . . . prospect: to maneuver them into a situation in which they could be seen as they were having sex.
399 If ever mortal eyes do see them bolster
399. bolster: go to bed together.
400 More than their own! What then? how then?
398-400. damn . . . own: i.e., then damn them for fixing it so that they are the only ones who can see what they are doing.
401 What shall I say? Where's satisfaction?
402 It is impossible you should see this,
402. see: i.e., contrive to be an actual witness of.
403 Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys,
403. prime: lustful.
404 As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross
404. salt: lecherous. in pride: in heat.
405 As ignorance made drunk. But yet, I say,
406 If imputation and strong circumstances,
407 Which lead directly to the door of truth,
408 Will give you satisfaction, you may have't.
OTHELLO
409 Give me a living reason she's disloyal.
IAGO
410 I do not like the office:
411 But, sith I am enter'd in this cause so far,
412 Prick'd to't by foolish honesty and love,
413 I will go on. I lay with Cassio lately;
414 And, being troubled with a raging tooth,
415 I could not sleep.
416 There are a kind of men so loose of soul,
417 That in their sleeps will mutter their affairs:
418 One of this kind is Cassio:
419 In sleep I heard him say "Sweet Desdemona,
420 Let us be wary, let us hide our loves";
421 And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand,
421. gripe: grip, clasp.
422 Cry "O sweet creature!" and then kiss me hard,
423 As if he pluck'd up kisses by the roots
424 That grew upon my lips: then laid his leg
425 Over my thigh, and sigh'd, and kiss'd; and then
426 Cried "Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor!"
OTHELLO
427 O monstrous! monstrous!
IAGO
Nay, this was but his dream.
OTHELLO
428 But this denoted a foregone conclusion:
428. foregone conclusion: act already performed.
429 'Tis a shrewd doubt, though it be but a dream.
429. shrewd doubt: strong reason for suspicion.
IAGO
430 And this may help to thicken other proofs
430. thicken: substantiate.
431 That do demonstrate thinly.
431. do demonstrate thinly: are weak shows of proof.
OTHELLO
I'll tear her all to pieces.
IAGO
432 Nay, but be wise: yet we see nothing done;
433 She may be honest yet. Tell me but this,
434 Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief
435 Spotted with strawberries in your wife's hand?
OTHELLO
436 I gave her such a one; 'twas my first gift.
IAGO
437 I know not that; but such a handkerchief—
438 I am sure it was your wife's—did I today
439 See Cassio wipe his beard with.
438-439. did I today / See Cassio wipe his beard with: If Othello were not so blinded with jealousy he might have been able to remember that about 12 minutes ago he could have seen the handkerchief in Desdemona's hand as she tried to wrap it about his brow to cure his headache.
OTHELLO
If it be that—
IAGO
440 If it be that, or any that was hers,
441 It speaks against her with the other proofs.
OTHELLO
442 O, that the slave had forty thousand lives!
442. the slave: i.e., Cassio.
443 One is too poor, too weak for my revenge.
444 Now do I see 'tis true. Look here, Iago;
445 All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven.
446 'Tis gone.
447 Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell!
448 Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne
448. hearted: established in my heart.
449 To tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught,
449. fraught: freight, burden.
450 For 'tis of aspics' tongues!
450. aspics' tongues: tongues of asps, which are venomous serpents.
IAGO
Yet be content.
OTHELLO
451 O, blood, blood, blood!
IAGO
452 Patience, I say; your mind perhaps may change.
OTHELLO
453 Never, Iago: Like to the Pontic sea,
453. Pontic Sea: Black Sea.
454 Whose icy current and compulsive course
455 Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
455. retiring: backward-flowing.
456 To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
456. Propontic: body of water between the Bosporus and Hellespont.
457 Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
458 Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love,
459 Till that a capable and wide revenge
459. capable; comprehensive.
460 Swallow them up. Now, by yond marble heaven,
460. marble: enduring, changeless.
[Kneels.]
Illustrator: Sir John Gilbert
461 In the due reverence of a sacred vow
462 I here engage my words.
IAGO
Do not rise yet.
[Kneels.]
463 Witness, you ever-burning lights above,
464 You elements that clip us round about,
464. clip: encompass.
465 Witness that here Iago doth give up
466 The execution of his wit, hands, heart,
466. execution: action. wit: mind.
467 To wrong'd Othello's service! Let him command,
468 And to obey shall be in me remorse,
469 What bloody business ever.
468-469. And to obey shall be in me remorse, / What bloody business ever: i.e., in Othello's service even the cruellest acts will be as allowable as if they were gentle and prompted by pity ("remorse").
[They rise.]
OTHELLO
I greet thy love,
470 Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounteous,
471 And will upon the instant put thee to't:
471. upon the instant put thee to't: i.e., right now give you the chance to prove your loyalty to me in deeds.
472 Within these three days let me hear thee say
473 That Cassio's not alive.
IAGO
474 My friend is dead; 'tis done at your request:
475 But let her live.
OTHELLO
476 Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her!
476. minx: a lewd or wanton woman.
477 Come, go with me apart; I will withdraw,
478 To furnish me with some swift means of death
479 For the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant.
IAGO
480 I am your own for ever.
Exeunt.