TPTT The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice: ACT IV
Introduction
ACT I
ACT II
ACT III
ACT IV
SCENE I. Cyprus. Before the castle.
SCENE II. A room in the castle.
SCENE III. Another room In the castle.
ACT V
About the Play
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SCENE I. Cyprus. Before the castle.
Enter OTHELLO and IAGO
IAGO
      Will you think so?
OTHELLO
      Think so, Iago!
IAGO
      What,
      To kiss in private?
OTHELLO
5     An unauthorized kiss.
IAGO
      Or to be naked with her friend in bed
      An hour or more, not meaning any harm?
OTHELLO
      Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm!
      It is hypocrisy against the devil:
10    They that mean virtuously, and yet do so,
      The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven.
IAGO
      So they do nothing, 'tis a venial slip:
      But if I give my wife a handkerchief,--
OTHELLO
      What then?
IAGO
15    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;
20    They have it very oft that have it not:
      But, for the handkerchief,--
OTHELLO
      By heaven, I would most gladly have forgot it.
      Thou said'st, it comes o'er my memory,
      As doth the raven o'er the infected house,
25    Boding 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?
30    Or heard him say,--as knaves be such abroad,
      Who having, by their own importunate suit,
      Or voluntary dotage of some mistress,
      Convinced or supplied them, cannot choose
      But they must blab--
OTHELLO
35    Hath he said any thing?
IAGO
      He hath, my lord; but be you well assured,
      No more than he'll unswear.
OTHELLO
      What hath he said?
IAGO
      'Faith, that he did--I know not what he did.
OTHELLO
40    What? what?
IAGO
      Lie--
OTHELLO
      With her?
IAGO
      With her, on her; what you will.
OTHELLO
      Lie with her! lie on her! We say lie on her, when
45    they belie 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
50    passion without some instruction. It is not words
      that shake me thus. Pish! Noses, ears, and lips.
      --Is't possible?--Confess--handkerchief!--O devil!--
Falls in a trance
IAGO
      Work on,
      My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught;
55    And many worthy and chaste dames even thus,
      All guiltless, meet reproach. What, ho! my lord!
      My lord, I say! Othello!

Enter CASSIO

      How now, Cassio!
CASSIO
      What's the matter?
IAGO
60    My lord is fall'n into an epilepsy:
      This is his second fit; he had one yesterday.
CASSIO
      Rub him about the temples.
IAGO
      No, forbear;
      The lethargy must have his quiet course:
65    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 occasion speak with you.

Exit CASSIO

70    How is it, general? have you not hurt your head?
OTHELLO
      Dost thou mock me?
IAGO
      I mock you! no, by heaven.
      Would you would bear your fortune like a man!
OTHELLO
      A horned man's a monster and a beast.
IAGO
75    There's many a beast then in a populous city,
      And many a civil monster.
OTHELLO
      Did he confess it?
IAGO
      Good sir, be a man;
      Think every bearded fellow that's but yoked
80    May draw with you: there's millions now alive
      That nightly lie in those unproper beds
      Which they dare swear peculiar: your case is better.
      O, 'tis the spite of hell, the fiend's arch-mock,
      To lip a wanton in a secure couch,
85    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 list.
90    Whilst you were here o'erwhelmed with your grief--
      A passion most unsuiting such a man--
      Cassio came hither: I shifted him away,
      And laid good 'scuse upon your ecstasy,
      Bade him anon return and here speak with me;
95    The which he promised. 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
100   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 man.
OTHELLO
      Dost thou hear, Iago?
105   I will be found most cunning in my patience;
      But--dost thou hear?--most bloody.
IAGO
      That's not amiss;
      But yet keep time in all. Will you withdraw?

OTHELLO retires

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

Re-enter CASSIO

      As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad;
      And his unbookish jealousy must construe
      Poor Cassio's smiles, gestures and light behavior,
      Quite in the wrong. How do you now, lieutenant?
CASSIO
120   The worser that you give me the addition
      Whose want even kills me.
IAGO
      Ply Desdemona well, and you are sure on't.

Speaking lower

      Now, if this suit lay in Bianco's power,
      How quickly should you speed!
CASSIO
125   Alas, poor caitiff!
OTHELLO
      Look, how he laughs already!
IAGO
      I never knew 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
130   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 hey:
      Do you intend it?
CASSIO
135   Ha, ha, ha!
OTHELLO
      Do you triumph, Roman? do you triumph?
CASSIO
      I marry her! what? a customer! Prithee, bear some
      charity to my wit: do not think it so unwholesome.
      Ha, ha, ha!
OTHELLO
140   So, so, so, so: they laugh that win.
IAGO
      'Faith, the cry goes that you shall marry her.
CASSIO
      Prithee, say true.
IAGO
      I am a very villain else.
OTHELLO
      Have you scored me? Well.
CASSIO
145   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.
150   I was the other day talking on the sea-bank with
      certain Venetians; and thither comes the bauble,
      and, by this hand, she falls me thus about my neck--
OTHELLO
      Crying 'O dear Cassio!' as it were: his gesture
      imports it.
CASSIO
155   So hangs, and lolls, and weeps upon me; so hales,
      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
160   Well, I must leave her company.
IAGO
      Before me! look, where she comes.
CASSIO
      'Tis such another fitchew! marry a perfumed one.

Enter BIANCA

      What do you mean by this haunting of me?
BIANCA
      Let the devil and his dam haunt you! What did you
165   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 not know who left it there!
      This is some minx's token, and I must take out the
170   work? There; give it your hobby-horse: 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
      An you'll come to supper to-night, you may; an you
175   will not, come when you are next prepared for.
Exit
IAGO
      After her, after her.
CASSIO
      'Faith, I must; she'll rail in the street else.
IAGO
      Will you sup there?
CASSIO
      'Faith, I intend so.
IAGO
180   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
      (Advancing) How shall I murder him, Iago?
IAGO
185   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
190   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
195   Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned to-night;
      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.
IAGO
200   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
205   She's the worse for all this.
OTHELLO
      O, a thousand 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!
210   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
215   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
220   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
225   shall hear more by midnight.
OTHELLO
      Excellent good.

A trumpet within

      What trumpet is that same?
IAGO
      Something from Venice, sure. 'Tis Lodovico
      Come from the duke: and, see, your wife is with him.
Enter LODOVICO, DESDEMONA, and Attendants
LODOVICO
230   Save you, worthy general!
OTHELLO
      With all my heart, sir.
LODOVICO
      The duke and senators of Venice greet you.
Gives him a letter
OTHELLO
      I kiss the instrument of their pleasures.
Opens the letter, and reads
DESDEMONA
      And what's the news, good cousin Lodovico?
IAGO
235   I am very glad to see you, signior
      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
240   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.
245   Is there division 'twixt my lord and Cassio?
DESDEMONA
      A most unhappy one: I would do much
      To atone them, for the love I bear to Cassio.
OTHELLO
      Fire and brimstone!
DESDEMONA
      My lord?
OTHELLO
250   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
255   Trust me, I am glad on't.
OTHELLO
      Indeed!
DESDEMONA
      My lord?
OTHELLO
      I am glad to see you mad.
DESDEMONA
      Why, sweet Othello,--
OTHELLO
260   (Striking her) Devil!
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
265   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
270   Truly, an obedient lady:
      I do beseech your lordship, call her back.
OTHELLO
      Mistress!
DESDEMONA
      My lord?
OTHELLO
      What would you with her, sir?
LODOVICO
275   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,
280   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

285   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
290   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.
LODOVICO
      Are his wits safe? is he not light of brain?
IAGO
295   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
300   That stroke would prove the worst!
LODOVICO
      Is it his use?
      Or did the letters work upon his blood,
      And new-create this fault?
IAGO
      Alas, alas!
305   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
310   I am sorry that I am deceived in him.
Exeunt
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