Othello (40 page)

⁵²
hie thee
hurry yourself

⁵⁹
couch
lie, sleep

⁶¹
bode
foretell

⁶⁵
abuse
deceive, wrong

⁶⁶
gross kind
a great way/a coarse manner

⁷⁴
price
prize

⁷⁸
joint-ring
ring consisting of two joined halves

⁷⁹
lawn
fine linen

⁸⁰
exhibition
gift

⁸²
venture
risk (going to)

⁸⁹
to th’vantage
in addition, besides

⁹⁰
store
populate
played
gambled/had sex

⁹²
fall
succumb sexually
duties
marital and sexual duties

⁹³
our…laps
the semen that is due to us into other women’s vaginas

⁹⁴
peevish
senseless/perverse/willful

⁹⁶
scant
reduce/withhold
our former having
what we had before/our former financial means
despite
spite, malice

⁹⁷
have galls
are capable of feeling bitterness and resentment
grace
charm/virtue/mercy

⁹⁸
revenge
desire for revenge

¹⁰²
change
exchange
sport
entertainment/sex

¹⁰³
affection
desire, lust

¹⁰⁷
use
treat/employ sexually

¹⁰⁹
uses
habits (of thought)

¹¹⁰
Not…mend
not to learn bad habits from the bad behavior of others, but to learn from such examples to improve myself

¹
bulk
framework projecting from the front of a shop, a stall

²
bare
unsheathed put it home drive it firmly to the target

⁴
mars
destroys

⁶
miscarry
go wrong, fail

¹¹
quat
pimple to the sense raw, to the tenderest part

¹²
angry
inflamed/enraged

¹⁴
Live Rodorigo
should Rodorigo live

¹⁶
bobbed
cheated

¹⁷
gifts
i.e. supposed gifts

²¹
unfold
reveal

²⁵
coat
(thick) overcoat/metal-plated garment worn under outer clothing

²⁶
proof
trial

³³
brave
excellent/noble

³⁵
Minion
whore (addressing Desdemona)

³⁶
unblest
unholy, damned hies hastens

³⁷
of
out of, from

³⁹
passage
passersby

⁴⁰
direful
dreadful, dismal, horrible

⁴⁴
heavy
overcast, gloomy

⁴⁶
come in to
approach

⁴⁹
in his shirt
in his nightshirt/without a jacket

⁵⁸
spoiled
badly damaged, injured undone ruined

⁷²
prove
discover by testing, find praise appraise

⁸⁵
may you suspect
do you have any suspicions about

⁸⁹
garter
band worn to hold up the stocking or as a belt or sash (Iago requires it for use as a tourniquet)

⁹²
trash
worthless stuff, whore (i.e. Bianca)

¹⁰²
accidents
events/mishaps

¹⁰⁸
said
done

¹¹¹
For
as for

¹¹²
Save…labour
don’t bother to try and help Cassio, leave him alone

¹¹⁷
the…eye
her terrified look gastness terror, dread

¹¹⁸
stare
i.e. gaze fixedly in horror (suggestive of guilt and an imminent confession)

¹³³
honest
chaste

¹³⁶
Cassio dressed
i.e. Cassio’s wound bandaged

¹⁴¹
fordoes me quite
ruins me completely

¹
cause
offense/reason for action

⁵
alabaster
used for the construction of funeral monuments

⁷
Put…light
quench the torch or candle and then extinguish Desdemona’s life

⁸
flaming minister
i.e. the torch or candle minister servant

¹¹
cunning’st pattern
most skillfully made model (cunning reverberates with its sense of “deception”)

¹²
Promethean
in Greek mythology the Titan Prometheus created humankind, for whom he also stole fire from heaven

¹³
relume
relight

¹⁴
vital
living

¹⁷
Justice
traditionally depicted as a blindfolded woman carrying scales and a sword

²⁰
fatal
deadly, destructive/ doomed

²²
strikes
delivers a blow/withers (used of frost)/destroys (used of God or of malign planetary influence)

²⁷
Ay
yes; Folio’s “I” could mean both “I” and “ay” (yes) and sound identical

³⁰
Solicit
beg forgiveness

³²
I…to
it is all I can do not to

³⁴
forfend
forbid

³⁹
say
say so, say that

⁴⁵
They…you
apparently alludes to the sin of loving a human more than God

⁶¹
Presently
imminently

⁶³
article
item forming part of an accusation

⁶⁴
conception
belief/plan

⁶⁵
do groan withal
suffer with/am in labor with (playing on sense of pregnancy: conception)

⁶⁹
Offend
sin against, commit a crime against

⁷⁰
warranty
authorization

⁷³
stone
harden, turn to stone

⁸²
used
had sex with (Desdemona responds to a more general sense of “employed”)

⁸⁷
ta’en order
made arrangements

⁹⁰
stomach
appetite

⁹⁶
strive
struggle

⁹⁸
Being done
i.e. as I am resolved to do the deed/while it is being done is no pause must be no hesitation

¹⁰⁸
By and by
in a moment (addressed to Emilia)

¹⁰⁹
like
likely

¹¹⁰
noise
i.e. following the attack on Cassio high loud

¹¹⁸
yawn at alteration
gape open at this great change in nature

¹²²
Soft
wait a moment curtains bed curtains

¹²⁷
error
roaming, wandering off course/mistake

¹²⁸
wont
accustomed

¹³⁵
harsh
jarring, discordant

¹³⁶
falsely
wrongfully, unjustly

¹³⁹
Out, and alas!
i.e. alas (
out
is an intensifier)

¹⁵³
folly
lewdness

¹⁵⁴
belie
slander

¹⁵⁸
top
mount sexually
else
otherwise — i.e. if you do not believe me

¹⁶⁰
But
were it not

¹⁶⁷
chrysolite
precious stone, a name given to various gems including the topaz

¹⁷⁰
on
of

¹⁷¹
slime
viscous substance/semen

¹⁷²
filthy deeds
whorish or impure sexual acts

¹⁷⁴
iterance
iteration, repetition

¹⁷⁵
made mocks with
made sport of/made a mockery of

¹⁸⁰
pernicious
destructive/villainous

¹⁸²
filthy bargain
i.e. Othello
filthy
dirty, black

¹⁸⁷
Peace…best
you’d be better off remaining silent

¹⁸⁹
be hurt
endure pain inflicted by you
gull
dupe

¹⁹¹
make thee known
expose you

²⁰³
apt
likely

²⁰⁹
charm
put a spell on, i.e. silence

²²⁸
lift up eye
i.e. look up to heaven

²²⁹
foul
corrupt/wicked/guilty of an accusation

²³⁰
uncle
i.e. Gratiano, presumably Brabantio’s brother

²³²
grim
cruel, merciless

²³⁴
mortal
fatal

²³⁵
Shore…thread
an allusion to the three Fates: one spun the thread of a man’s life, another measured it, and the third cut it

²³⁶
do…turn
i.e. kill himself; “despair” or “desperation” are terms for the state of spiritual hopelessness thought to precede suicide
turn
act

²³⁸
reprobance
rejection by God (suicide is a sin)

²⁴²
works
sexual acts

²⁴³
recognizance
token

²⁴⁵
antique
ancient

²⁴⁹
peace
be silent

²⁵⁰
liberal…north
freely as the north wind

²⁵⁶
dull
stupid (plays on the sense of “dark”)

²⁵⁹
belonged
was appropriate

²⁶⁴
Filth
foul thing/whore

²⁶⁶
coxcomb
fool (from the headgear of a professional fool, which resembled a cock’s comb)

²⁶⁸
stones
thunderbolts

²⁶⁹
Precious
utter, out-and-out

²⁷³
notorious
obvious, evident

²⁷⁴
recovered
taken

²⁷⁵
without
from the outside

²⁷⁹
whipster
worthless wretch

²⁸⁰
honour
good reputation
honesty
integrity (for which
honour
is gained)

²⁸³
swan…music
proverbially, swans sang just before they died

²⁸³
swan…music
proverbially, swans sang just before they died

²⁸⁹
the ice-brook’s temper
tempered (i.e. made hard) by immersing it in the water of an ice-cold brook

²⁹²
perforce
of necessity

²⁹⁴
naked
unarmed

²⁹⁷
A…sustain
i.e. a soldier never wore a better one
sustain
maintain a fixed position

³⁰¹
your stop
the obstruction presented by you

³⁰⁴
Here
various possibilities: “in this place”/“this sword” (i.e. don’t be
afraid
, this will be
my
rather than your death)/Othello uses the sword to indicate the part of himself he is going to stab/Othello gestures to Desdemona or indicates the sword (with emphasis on
my
)
butt
goal, target (archery term)