Othello (16 page)

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Authors: William Shakespeare

BOOK: Othello
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EMILIA
   Come, come, you
talk
26
.

DESDEMONA
   My mother had a maid called
Barbary
27
:
     She was in love, and he she loved proved
mad
28
     And did forsake her. She had a song of ‘
willow
29
’,
     An old thing ’twas, but it expressed her fortune,
     And she died singing it: that song tonight
     Will not go from my mind: I have much to do
     But to go hang my head all at one side
     And sing it like poor Barbary. Prithee dispatch.

EMILIA
   Shall I go fetch your nightgown?

DESDEMONA
   No, unpin me here.
     This Lodovico is a
proper
37
man.

EMILIA
   A very handsome man.

DESDEMONA
   He speaks well.

EMILIA
   I know a lady in Venice would have walked barefoot to
     Palestine for a touch of his
nether
41
lip.

DESDEMONA
   The poor soul sat singing by a
sycamore
42
tree,

Sings

     Sing all a green willow:
     Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,
     Sing willow, willow, willow.
     The fresh streams ran by her, and murmured her moans,
     Sing willow, willow, willow:
     Her salt tears fell from her, and softened the stones,
     Sing willow—
     
Lay by these
50

To Emilia

     Willow, willow—

Sings

   Prithee,
hie thee
52
: he’ll come anon—

     Sing all a green willow must be my garland.

Sings

     Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve—
     Nay, that’s not next.— Hark, who is’t that knocks?

EMILIA
   It’s the wind.

DESDEMONA
   I called my love false love, but what said he then?

Sings

     Sing willow, willow, willow:
     If I court more women, you’ll
couch
59
with more men!—
     So, get thee gone, goodnight. Mine eyes do itch:
     Doth that
bode
61
weeping?

EMILIA
   ’Tis neither here nor there.

DESDEMONA
   I have heard it said so. O, these men, these men!
     Dost thou in conscience think — tell me, Emilia —
     That there be women do
abuse
65
their husbands
     In such
gross kind
66
?

EMILIA
   There be some such, no question.

DESDEMONA
   Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?

EMILIA
   Why, would not you?

DESDEMONA
   No, by this heavenly light!

EMILIA
   Nor I neither by this heavenly light:
     I might do’t as well i’th’dark.

DESDEMONA
   Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?

EMILIA
   The world’s a huge thing: it is a great
price
74
     For a small vice.

DESDEMONA
   In troth, I think thou wouldst not.

EMILIA
   In troth, I think I should, and undo’t when I had
   done. Marry, I would not do such a thing for a
joint-ring
78
, nor
   for measures of
lawn
79
, nor for gowns, petticoats, nor caps,
   nor any petty
exhibition
80
: but for all the whole world, why,
   who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a
   monarch? I should
venture
82
purgatory for’t.

DESDEMONA
   Beshrew me, if I would do such a wrong
   For the whole world.

EMILIA
   Why, the wrong is but a wrong i’th’world, and
   having the world for your labour, ’tis a wrong in your own
   world, and you might quickly make it right.

DESDEMONA
   I do not think there is any such woman.

EMILIA
   Yes, a dozen, and as many
to th’vantage
89
as
     Would
store
90
the world they played for.
     But I do think it is their husbands’ faults
     If wives do
fall
92
. Say that they slack their duties
     And pour
our treasures into foreign laps
93
,
     Or else break out in
peevish
94
jealousies,
     Throwing restraint upon us, or say they strike us,
     Or
scant
96
our former having in despite:
     Why, we
have galls
97
, and though we have some grace,
     Yet have we some
revenge
98
. Let husbands know
     Their wives have sense like them: they see and smell
     And have their palates both for sweet and sour,
     As husbands have. What is it that they do
     When they
change
102
us for others? Is it sport?
     I think it is. And doth
affection
103
breed it?
     I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
     It is so too. And have not we affections?
     Desires for sport? And frailty, as men have?
     Then let them
use
107
us well: else let them know,
     The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.

DESDEMONA
   Goodnight, goodnight: heaven me such
uses
109
send
     
Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend
110
!

Exeunt

Act 5 Scene 1
running scene 10

Location: Cyprus (a street)

Enter Iago and Rodorigo

IAGO
   Here, stand behind this
bulk
1
: straight will he come.
     Wear thy good rapier
bare
2
, and put it home.
     Quick, quick, fear nothing; I’ll be at thy elbow.
     It makes us or it
mars
4
us: think on that,
     And fix most firm thy resolution.

RODORIGO
   Be near at hand: I may
miscarry
6
in’t.

IAGO
   Here, at thy hand: be bold, and take thy stand.

Conceals himself

RODORIGO
   I have no great devotion to the deed,
     And yet he hath given me satisfying reasons.
     ’Tis but a man gone. Forth, my sword: he dies.

Draws

IAGO
   I have rubbed this young
quat
11
almost to the sense,

Aside

     And he grows
angry
12
. Now, whether he kill Cassio
     Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,
     Every way makes my gain.
Live Rodorigo
14
,
     He calls me to a restitution large
     Of gold and jewels that I
bobbed
16
from him
     As
gifts
17
to Desdemona:
     It must not be. If Cassio do remain,
     He hath a daily beauty in his life
     That makes me ugly: and besides, the Moor
     May
unfold
21
me to him: there stand I in much peril.
     No, he must die. But so: I heard him coming.

Enter Cassio

RODORIGO
   I know his gait, ’tis he.— Villain, thou diest!

Makes a

sword thrust

CASSIO
   That thrust had been mine enemy indeed,
     But that my
coat
25
is better than thou know’st:
     I will make
proof
26
of thine.

Draws and wounds Rodorigo

RODORIGO
   O, I am slain!

He falls; Iago comes forward and stabs Cassio on the leg

Exit Iago

CASSIO
   I am maimed for ever. Help, ho! Murder, murder!

He falls

Enter Othello

OTHELLO
   The voice of Cassio: Iago keeps his word.

RODORIGO
   O, villain that I am!

OTHELLO
   It is even so.

CASSIO
   O, help, ho! Light! A surgeon!

OTHELLO
   ’Tis he. O
brave
33
Iago, honest and just,
     That hast such noble sense of thy friend’s wrong!
     Thou teachest me.—
Minion
35
, your dear lies dead,
     And your
unblest
36
fate hies. Strumpet, I come:
     For
of
37
my heart those charms, thine eyes, are blotted,
     Thy bed, lust-stained, shall with lust’s blood be spotted.

Exit Othello

Enter Lodovico and Gratiano

CASSIO
   What, ho! No watch? No
passage
39
? Murder, murder!

GRATIANO
   ’Tis some mischance: the voice is very
direful
40
.

CASSIO
   O, help!

LODOVICO
   Hark!

RODORIGO
   O wretched villain!

LODOVICO
   Two or three groan. ’Tis
heavy
44
night;
     These may be counterfeits: let’s think’t unsafe
     To
come in to
46
the cry without more help.

RODORIGO
   Nobody come: then shall I bleed to death.

Enter Iago

With a light and weapons

LODOVICO
   Hark!

GRATIANO
   Here’s one comes
in his shirt
49
, with light and
     weapons.

IAGO
   Who’s there? Whose noise is this that cries on
     murder?

LODOVICO
   We do not know.

IAGO
   Do not you hear a cry?

CASSIO
   Here, here! For heaven sake, help me!

IAGO
   What’s the matter?

GRATIANO
   This is Othello’s ancient, as I take it.

To Lodovico

LODOVICO
   The same indeed: a very valiant fellow.

To Gratiano

IAGO
   What are you here that cry so grievously?

CASSIO
   Iago? O, I am
spoiled
58
, undone by villains!
     Give me some help.

IAGO
   O me, lieutenant! What villains have done this?

CASSIO
   I think that one of them is hereabout,
     And cannot make away.

IAGO
   O treacherous villains!—

To Lodovico and Gratiano

     What are you there? Come in, and give some help.

RODORIGO
   O, help me there!

CASSIO
   That’s one of them.

IAGO
   O murd’rous slave! O villain!

Stabs Rodorigo

RODORIGO
   O damned Iago! O inhuman dog!

IAGO
   Kill men i’th’dark!— Where be these bloody
     thieves?—
     How silent is this town!— Ho! Murder, murder!—
      What may you be? Are you of good or evil?

To Lodovico and Gratiano

LODOVICO
   As you shall
prove
72
us, praise us.

IAGO
   Signior Lodovico?

LODOVICO
   He, sir.

IAGO
   I cry you mercy. Here’s Cassio hurt by villains.

GRATIANO
   Cassio?

IAGO
   How is’t, brother?

To Cassio

CASSIO
   My leg is cut in two.

IAGO
   Marry, heaven forbid!—
     Light, gentlemen. I’ll bind it with my shirt.

Enter Bianca

BIANCA
   What is the matter, ho? Who is’t that cried?

IAGO
   Who is’t that cried?

BIANCA
   O my dear Cassio! My sweet Cassio! O Cassio,
     Cassio, Cassio!

IAGO
   O notable strumpet! Cassio,
may you suspect
85
     Who they should be that have thus mangled you?

CASSIO
   No.

GRATIANO
   I am sorry to find you thus: I have been to seek you.

IAGO
   Lend me a
garter
89
. So.— O, for a chair
     To bear him easily hence!

BIANCA
   Alas, he faints! O Cassio, Cassio, Cassio!

IAGO
   Gentlemen all, I do suspect this
trash
92
     To be a party in this injury.—
     Patience awhile, good Cassio.— Come, come;
     Lend me a light.

Shines light on Rodorigo

     Know we this face or no?
     Alas, my friend and my dear countryman
     Rodorigo? No. Yes, sure: yes, ’tis Rodorigo.

GRATIANO
   What, of Venice?

IAGO
   Even he, sir: did you know him?

GRATIANO
   Know him? Ay.

IAGO
   Signior Gratiano? I cry your gentle pardon:
     These bloody
accidents
102
must excuse my manners
     That so neglected you.

GRATIANO
   I am glad to see you.

IAGO
   How do you, Cassio?— O, a chair, a chair!

GRATIANO
   Rodorigo?

IAGO
   He, he ’tis he.—
     O, that’s well
said
108
: the chair!

Attendants bring in a chair

     Some good man bear him carefully from hence:
     I’ll fetch the general’s surgeon.—
     
For
111
you, mistress,

To Bianca

     
Save you your labour
112
.— He that lies slain here, Cassio,
     Was my dear friend: what malice was between you?

CASSIO
   None in the world, nor do I know the man!

IAGO
   What, look you pale?— O, bear him out o’th’air.

To Bianca

     Stay you, good gentlemen.— Look you pale, mistress?—

Attendants bear off Cassio and Rodorigo

     Do you perceive
the gastness of her eye
117
?—
     Nay, if you
stare
118
, we shall hear more anon.—
     Behold her well: I pray you look upon her:
     Do you see, gentlemen? Nay, guiltiness will speak,
     Though tongues were out of use.

[Enter Emilia]

EMILIA
   Alas, what is the matter? What is the matter,
     husband?

IAGO
   Cassio hath here been set on in the dark
     By Rodorigo and fellows that are scaped:
     He’s almost slain, and Rodorigo quite dead.

EMILIA
   Alas, good gentleman! Alas, good Cassio!

IAGO
   This is the fruits of whoring. Prithee, Emilia,
     Go know of Cassio where he supped tonight.—

To Bianca

     What, do you shake at that?

BIANCA
   He supped at my house, but I therefore shake not.

IAGO
   O, did he so? I charge you go with me.

EMILIA
   O, fie upon thee, strumpet!

BIANCA
   I am no strumpet, but of life as
honest
133
     As you that thus abuse me.

EMILIA
   As I? Fie upon thee!

IAGO
   Kind gentlemen, let’s go see poor
Cassio dressed
136
.—
     Come, mistress, you must tell’s another tale.
     Emilia, run you to the citadel
     And tell my lord and lady what hath happed.—
     Will you go on afore?— This is the night

Aside

     That either makes me or
fordoes me quite
141
.

Exeunt

Act 5 Scene 2
running scene 11

Location: Cyprus (citadel/governor’s bedroom)

Enter Othello and Desdemona in her bed

Othello with a light

OTHELLO
   It is the
cause
1
, it is the cause, my soul:
     Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars:
     It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
     Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
     And smooth as monumental
alabaster
5
:
     Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
     
Put out the light
7
, and then put out the light.
     If I quench thee, thou
flaming minister
8
,
     I can again thy former light restore,
     Should I repent me: but once put out thy light,
     Thou
cunning’st pattern
12
of excelling nature,
     I know not where is that
Promethean
13
heat
     That can thy light
relume
14
. When I have plucked thy rose,
     I cannot give it
vital
15
growth again:
     It needs must wither. I’ll smell thee on the tree.

Kisses her

     O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
     
Justice
17
to break her sword! One more, one more.
     Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee
     And love thee after. One more, and that’s the last.

Kisses her

     So sweet was ne’er so
fatal
20
. I must weep,
     But they are cruel tears: this sorrow’s heavenly,
     It
strikes
22
where it doth love. She wakes.

DESDEMONA
   Who’s there? Othello?

OTHELLO
   Ay, Desdemona.

DESDEMONA
   Will you come to bed, my lord?

OTHELLO
   Have you prayed tonight, Desdemon?

DESDEMONA
  
Ay
27
, my lord.

OTHELLO
   If you bethink yourself of any crime
     Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace,
     
Solicit
30
for it straight.

DESDEMONA
   Alack, my lord, what may you mean by that?

OTHELLO
  
Well, do it, and be brief: I will walk by
32
.
     I would not kill thy unpreparèd spirit,
     No, heavens
forfend
34
! I would not kill thy soul.

DESDEMONA
   Talk you of killing?

OTHELLO
   Ay, I do.

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