Othello

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     The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven.IAGO   If they do nothing, ’tis a venial¹¹ slip:

     But if I give my wife a handkerchief—OTHELLO   What then?IAGO   Why, then, ’tis hers, my lord, and being hers,

     She may, I think, bestow’t on any man.OTHELLO   She is protectress of her honour too:

     May she give that?IAGO   Her honour is an essence that’s not seen:

     They have it very oft that have it not¹⁹.

     But, for the handkerchief—OTHELLO   By heaven, I would most gladly have forgot it.

     Thou said’st — O, it comes o’er my memory

     As doth the raven²³ o’er the infectious house,

     Boding²⁴ to all — he had my handkerchief.IAGO   Ay, what of that?OTHELLO   That’s not so good now.IAGO   What if I had said I had seen him do you wrong?

     Or heard him say — as knaves be such abroad²⁸,

     Who having by their own importunate²⁹ suit,

     Or voluntary dotage³⁰ of some mistress,

     Convinced³¹ or supplied them, cannot choose

     But they must blab—OTHELLO   Hath he said anything?IAGO   He hath, my lord, but be you well assured,

     No more than he’ll unswear.OTHELLO   What hath he said?IAGO   Why, that he did³⁷: I know not what he did.OTHELLO   What? What?IAGO   Lie—OTHELLO   With her?IAGO   With her? On her: what you will.OTHELLO   Lie with her? Lie on her⁴²? We say ‘Lie on her’ when

     they belie⁴³ her. Lie with her! That’s fulsome: handkerchief —

     confessions — handkerchief! To confess and be hanged for

     his labour: first to be hanged and then to confess: I tremble at

     it. Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing

     passion without some instruction⁴⁶. It is not words that shakes

     me thus. Pish! Noses⁴⁸, ears and lips. Is’t possible? Confess?

     Handkerchief? O devil! Falls in a trance

IAGO   Work on,

     My medicine⁵¹ works! Thus credulous fools are caught,

     And many worthy and chaste dames even thus,

     All guiltless, meet reproach⁵³.— What, ho? My lord?

     My lord, I say! Othello!—

Enter CassioHow now, Cassio?CASSIO   What’s the matter?IAGO   My lord is fall’n into an epilepsy.

     This is his second fit: he had one yesterday.CASSIO   Rub him about the temples.IAGO   The lethargy⁵⁹ 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,

     He will recover straight. When he is gone,

     I would on great occasion⁶⁴ speak with you. [Exit Cassio]

     How is it, general? Have you not hurt your head?OTHELLO   Dost thou mock me⁶⁶?IAGO   I mock you not, by heaven.

     Would you would bear your fortune like a man!OTHELLO   A horned⁶⁹ man’s a monster and a beast.IAGO   There’s many a beast then in a populous city,

     And many a civil⁷¹ monster.OTHELLO   Did he confess it?IAGO   Good sir, be a man.

     Think every bearded⁷⁴ fellow that’s but yoked

     May draw⁷⁵ with you: there’s millions now alive

     That nightly lie in those unproper⁷⁶ beds

     Which they dare swear peculiar⁷⁷: your case is better.

     O, ’tis the spite of hell, the fiend’s arch-mock,

     To lip⁷⁹ 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 be.OTHELLO   O, thou art wise: ’tis certain.IAGO   Stand you awhile apart,

     Confine yourself but in a patient list⁸⁴.

     Whilst you were here o’erwhelmed with your grief —

     A passion most unsuiting such a man —

     Cassio came hither: I shifted him away⁸⁷,

     And laid good ’scuses upon your ecstasy⁸⁸,

     Bade him anon⁸⁹ return and here speak with me,

     The which he promised. Do but encave⁹⁰ yourself

     And mark the fleers⁹¹, 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 cope⁹⁵ your wife.

     I say, but mark his gesture. Marry, patience,

     Or I shall say you’re all in all in spleen⁹⁷,

     And nothing of a man.OTHELLO   Dost thou hear, Iago?

     I will be found most cunning in my patience,

     But — dost thou hear? — most bloody.IAGO   That’s not amiss,

     But yet keep time¹⁰³ in all. Will you withdraw?Othello withdraws

     Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,

     A housewife¹⁰⁵ that by selling her desires

     Buys herself bread and cloth: it is a creature

     That dotes on Cassio — as ’tis the strumpet¹⁰⁷’s plague

     To beguile¹⁰⁸ many and be beguiled by one.

     He, when he hears of her, cannot restrain¹⁰⁹

     From the excess of laughter. Here he comes.

Enter Cassio     As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad,

     And his unbookish¹¹² jealousy must conster

     Poor Cassio’s smiles, gestures and light¹¹³ behaviours

     Quite in the wrong.— How do you, lieutenant?CASSIO   The worser that you give me the addition¹¹⁵

     Whose want¹¹⁶ even kills me.IAGO   Ply Desdemona well, and you areLowers his voice

       sure on’t¹¹⁷.

     Now, if this suit lay in Bianca’s power,

     How quickly should you speed¹¹⁹!CASSIO   Alas, poor caitiff¹²⁰!He laughs

OTHELLO   Look how he laughs already!IAGO   I never knew woman love man so.CASSIO   Alas, poor rogue, I think, indeed, she loves me.OTHELLO   Now he denies it faintly¹²⁴, and laughs it out.IAGO   Do you hear, Cassio?OTHELLO   Now he importunes him

     To tell it o’er: go to, well said¹²⁷, well said.IAGO   She gives it out that you shall marry her:

     Do you intend it?CASSIO   Ha, ha, ha!OTHELLO   Do ye triumph¹³¹, Roman? Do you triumph?CASSIO   I marry? What? A customer?¹³² Prithee bear some

     charity to my wit: do not think it so unwholesome¹³³. Ha,

     ha, ha!OTHELLO   So, so, so, so: they laugh that wins.IAGO   Why, the cry¹³⁶ goes that you marry her.CASSIO   Prithee say true.IAGO   I am a very villain else¹³⁸.OTHELLO   Have you scored me¹³⁹? Well.CASSIO   This is the monkey’s own giving out: she is

     persuaded I will marry her, out of her own love and flattery¹⁴¹,

     not out of my promise.OTHELLO   Iago beckons me: now he begins the story.CASSIO   She was here even now: she haunts¹⁴⁴ me in every

     place. I was the other day talking on the sea-bank¹⁴⁵ with

     certain Venetians, and thither comes the bauble¹⁴⁶, and falls

     me thus about my neck—Embraces him

OTHELLO   Crying, ‘O dear Cassio!’ as it were: his gesture

     imports¹⁴⁹ it.CASSIO   So hangs and lolls and weeps upon me, so shakes

     and pulls me. Ha, ha, ha!OTHELLO   Now he tells how she plucked¹⁵² him to my chamber.

     O, I see that nose¹⁵³ of yours, but not that dog I shall throw it to.CASSIO   Well, I must leave her company.IAGO   Before me, look where she comes.

Enter BiancaCASSIO   ’Tis such another¹⁵⁶ fitchew! Marry, a perfumed

     one!— What do you mean by this haunting of me?BIANCA   Let the devil and his dam¹⁵⁸ 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 work¹⁶¹, that you should find it in your chamber and

     know not who left it there. This is some minx¹⁶²’s token, and