Act 4 Scene 2

Othello questions Emilia about her mistress, speaking to her as though she were the keeper of a brothel# but he refuses to believe what he is told, and confronts Desdemona with his suspicions. She is quite bewildered by his passionate outburst, and when Emilia returns, accompanied by Iago, Desdemona is driven to ask Iago for comfort and reassurance in her trouble. As usual, Iago promises to help# and the two women leave for supper. Now Roderigo returns, once again reproaching Iago for unfair dealings — and once again Iago convinces him that everything is going according to plan.
5	breath made up: was spoken.
13	durst: dare.
honest: chaste.
14	at stake: at risk.
other: otherwise.
15	Remove your thought: Forget it.
17	the serpent’s curse: the curse that God put upon the snake (the devil) who deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:14–15).
21	she’s a simple bawd: it would be a poor bawd (= keeper of a brothel# Othello insists on thinking of Desdemona as a prostitute).
23	closet lock and key: cupboard securely fastened.
29	of your function: with your job (i.e. as brothel-keeper).
30	procreants: those engaged in procreation.
32	mystery: do your job.
dispatch: get on with it.
38	like one of heaven: like an angel.
44	heavy: sorrowful.
45	motive: cause.
46	If perhaps you think my father was responsible for your being recalled to Venice.
48	him: his favour.
49	Had it: If it had.
50	try: test.
52	Steeped: Submerged.
53	utmost: all.
56	Othello sees himself as an object of contempt, pointed to (in mockery) as the number on a dial is pointed to by the hand of the clock, which moves so slowly that it seems to be unmoving.
59	garnered up my heart: stored up all my love# the image is from farming: corn is “garnered up” at harvest-time.
60	Where: In loving Desdemona# if Othello cannot continue to love her, he cannot go on living.
61	fountain: source.
current: stream.
63	cistern: pond.
64	knot and gender: twine together and breed.
Turn . . . there: Look pale (with horror).
65	cherubin: angel# at the thought of Desdemona’s transformation (from a pure spring of love to a slimy pond), the goddess Patience — personified as a young and innocent angel — should turn pale and look fierce.
67	esteems: considers.
68	shambles: butchers’ slaughterhouse.
69	quicken even with blowing: hatch as soon as the eggs are laid.
72	what . . . committed: “What sin have I, in all innocence, been guilty of”# but the sin most readily associated with the verb “commit” is adultery (as in the commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery), and Othello is quick to make the association.
75	commoner: whore — one whose sexual favours are common to all.
76 Othello feels that his cheeks would burn with such shame that all modesty would be destroyed# “forges” are blacksmiths’ furnaces.
79	it: i.e. the smell of Desdemona’s sin.
winks: refuses to see# the goddess of the moon was also the goddess of chastity.
81	hollow mine of earth: the depths — bowels — of the earth.
86	vessel: i.e. her body# the expression is biblical.
92	cry you mercy: beg your pardon.
93	took you for: mistook you for.
95	Saint Peter: The saint who guards the gates of heaven.
96	keeps the gate of hell: Othello returns to the language of the brothel.
97	done our course: finished what we had to do.
98	turn the key: unlock the door (Emilia was told to close the door at line 30).
keep our counsel: keep quiet about what we have been doing.
99	conceive: imagine.
101	half asleep: Desdemona is dazed by Othello’s words.
107	go by water: be conveyed by tears.
110	meet: fitting# Desdemona is perhaps bitterly ironical, rather than meekly submissive.
111	How . . . behaved: What have I done?
111	that . . . misuse: to give him any reason for misinterpreting my smallest fault.
117	a child to chiding: unaccustomed to being scolded.
118	bewhored her: called her a whore.
119	despite and heavy terms: contempt and insults.
124	in his drink: drunken.
125	laid such terms: used such language.
callet: slut.
129	forsook: given up.
133	How . . . him: Where did he get this idea from?
134	eternal: damned (eternally)# without knowing, Emilia describes her husband.
135	busy: interfering.
136	cogging: lying.
cozening: cheating.
to get some office: for some reason, or to get some job out of it# Emilia is very close to the truth.
138	impossible: Iago listens to the descriptions of his villainy whilst denying its possibility.
140	A halter pardon him: May he be hanged.
141	keeps her company: is her lover.
142	form: appearance.
what likelihood: what did he look like?
144	scurvy: miserable.
145	companions: villains.
thou’dst: thou wouldest# i.e. I wish you would.
unfold: reveal.
148	within door: quietly.
149	squire: fellow.
150	turned . . . without: fooled you (as though by making him wear his coat inside out).
151	suspect me: i.e. of infidelity.
156	Desdemona prays that she may lose all peace of body and soul if she ever sinned or sins against Othello.
156	will: wishes.
trespass: offend.
157	discourse of thought: what I thought.
159	Delighted them: Enjoyed.
163	Comfort forswear me: May all happiness forsake me.
164	defeat: destroy.
166	It does abhor me: I am disgusted.
167	Not for all the empty pleasures of the world (“the world’s mass of vanity”) would I do the deed which would earn me such a title (“addition”).
169	but his humour: only his mood.
170	does him offence: annoys him.
171	chide with you: quarrel with you.
172	no other: nothing else.
174	these instruments: probably trumpet calls.
175	stays the meat: await the meal.
177	A prose section — more relaxed than the previous taut verse — ends the scene.
180	daff’st . . . device: put me off with some excuse# daff was a word usually applied to the taking off of clothes.
182	conveniency: opportunity.
184	put up: endure.
188	no kin together: bear no relation to each other.
189	charge: accuse.
190	I have . . . means: Ruined myself financially.
192	half: easily.
193	votarist: nun.
194	comforts: encouragement.
194	sudden respect: immediate attention.
199	fopped: fooled.
204	solicitation: courtship.
seek satisfaction: be revenged (i.e. by challenging him to a duel).
207	I protest . . . doing: I promise I shall do.
209	mettle: spirit.
210	build . . . opinion: think better of you.
212	taken . . . exception: made a very reasonable objection.
protest: declare.
213	directly . . . affair: honestly in your interests.
214	It doesn’t look that way.
222	engines for my life: plots against my life.
224	compass: possibility.
229	he goes into Mauritania: This is a quick invention of Iago’s, to make Roderigo think that Desdemona will be completely lost to him# Mauritania was part of western Africa.
230	abode: stay (in Cyprus).
lingered: delayed.
232	determinate: certain.
236	you would have me do: Roderigo has come to realize that Iago will not do his own dirty work.
237	a profit . . . right: some good, which you deserve.
238	harlotry: little whore.
239	his honourable fortune: i.e. that he has been made Othello’s deputy in Cyprus.
240	going thence: leaving there.
fashion: organize.
241	fall out: take place.
242	second: support.
245	necessity in: need for.
246	put it on him: bring about his death.
high: fully.
247	grows to waste: is getting late.
About it: Get on with it.