OTHELLO

Act 4 Scene 1

(Enter Iago and Othello)
l1l	Iago	 Will you think so?
	Othello	Think so, Iago?
l2l	Iago	What, to kiss in private?
	Othello	An unauthorized kiss.
l3l	Iago	Or to be naked with her friend in bed
l4l		An hour or more, not meaning any harm?
l5l	Othello	Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm?
l6l		It is hypocrisy against the devil.
l7l		They that mean virtuously and yet do so,
l8l		The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt heaven.
l9l	Iago	If they do nothing, ’tis a venial slip.
l10l		But if I give my wife a handkerchief—
l11l	Othello	What then?
l12l	Iago	Why then, ’tis hers, my lord, and being hers,
l13l		She may, I think, bestow ’t on any man.
l14l	Othello	She is protectress of her honour, too.
l15l		May she give that?
l16l	Iago	Her honour is an essence that’s not seen.
l17l		They have it very oft that have it not.
l18l		But for the handkerchief—
l19l	Othello	By heaven, I would most gladly have forgot it.
l20l		Thou said’st—O, it comes o’er my memory
l21l		As doth the raven o’er the infectious house,
l22l		Boding to all!—he had my handkerchief.
l23l	Iago	Ay, what of that?
	Othello	That’s not so good now.
l24l	Iago	What if I had said I had seen him do you wrong,
l25l		Or heard him say—as knaves be such abroad,
l26l		Who having by their own importunate suit
l27l		Or voluntary dotage of some mistress
l28l		Convincèd or supplied them, cannot choose
l29l		But they must blab—
	Othello	Hath he said anything?
l30l	Iago	He hath, my lord. But, be you well assured,
l31l		No more than he’ll unswear.
	Othello	What hath he said?
l32l	Iago	Faith, that he did—I know not what he did.
l33l	Othello	What, what?
	Iago	Lie—
	Othello	With her?
	Iago	With her, on her, what you will.
l34l	Othello	 Lie with her? Lie on her? We say “lie on her”
l35l		when they belie her. Lie with her? ’Swounds, that’s
l36l		fulsome! Handkerchief—confessions—hankerchief. To
l37l		confess and be hanged for his labour. First to be hanged
l38l		and then to confess! I tremble at it. Nature would not
l39l		invest herself in such shadowing passion without some
l40l		instruction. It is not words that shakes me thus. Pish!
l41l		Noses, ears, and lips! Is ’t possible? Confess? Handkerchief?
l42l		O devil!
		(He falls down in a trance)
l43l	Iago	 Work on# my medicine works. Thus credulous fools are caught,
l44l		And many worthy and chaste dames even thus,
l45l		All guiltless, meet reproach. What ho, my lord!
l46l		My lord, I say. Othello!
		(Enter Cassio)
		 How now, Cassio?
l47l	Cassio	What’s the matter?
l48l	Iago	My lord is fall’n into an epilepsy.
l49l		This is his second fit. He had one yesterday.
l50l	Cassio	Rub him about the temples.
	Iago	No, forbear.
l51l		The lethargy must have his quiet course.
l52l		If not, he foams at mouth, and by and by
l53l		Breaks out to savage madness. Look, he stirs.
l54l		Do you withdraw yourself a little while,
l55l		He will recover straight. When he is gone
l56l		I would on great occasion speak with you.
		(Exit Cassio)
l57l		How is it, general? Have you not hurt your head?
l58l	Othello	Dost thou mock me?
	Iago	I mock you not, by heaven.
l59l		Would you would bear your fortune like a man.
l60l	Othello	A hornèd man’s a monster and a beast.
l61l	Iago	There’s many a beast then in a populous city,
l62l		And many a civil monster.
l63l	Othello	Did he confess it?
l64l	Iago	Good sir, be a man.
l65l		Think every bearded fellow that’s but yoked
l66l		May draw with you. There’s millions now alive
l67l		That nightly lie in those unproper beds
l68l		Which they dare swear peculiar. Your case is better.
l69l		O, ’tis the spite of hell, the fiend’s arch-mock,
l70l		To lip a wanton in a secure couch
l71l		And to suppose her chaste! No, let me know,
l72l		And knowing what I am, I know what she shall be.
l73l	Othello	O, thou art wise, ’tis certain.
	Iago	Stand you a while apart.
l74l		Confine yourself but in a patient list.
l75l		Whilst you were here, o’erwhelmèd with your grief—
l76l		A passion most unsuiting such a man—
l77l		Cassio came hither. I shifted him away,
l78l		And laid good ’scuse upon your ecstasy,
l79l		Bade him anon return and here speak with me,
l80l		The which he promised. Do but encave yourself,
l81l		And mark the fleers, the gibes and notable scorns
l82l		That dwell in every region of his face.
l83l		For I will make him tell the tale anew,
l84l		Where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when
l85l		He hath and is again to cope your wife.
l86l		I say, but mark his gesture. Marry, patience,
l87l		Or I shall say you’re all-in-all in spleen,
l88l		And nothing of a man.
	Othello	Dost thou hear, Iago?
l89l		I will be found most cunning in my patience,
l90l		But—dost thou hear?—most bloody.
	Iago	That’s not amiss,
l91l		But yet keep time in all. Will you withdraw?
		(Othello stands apart)
l92l		Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,
l93l		A hussy that by selling her desires
l94l		Buys herself bread and cloth. It is a creature
l95l		That dotes on Cassio—as ’tis the strumpet’s plague
l96l		To beguile many and be beguiled by one.
l97l		He, when he hears of her, cannot restrain
l98l		From the excess of laughter.
		(Enter Cassio)
		 Here he comes.
l99l		As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad#
l100l		And his unbookish jealousy must conster
l101l		Poor Cassio’s smiles, gestures, and light behaviours
l102l		Quite in the wrong. How do you now, lieutenant?
l103l	Cassio	The worser that you give me the addition
l104l		Whose want even kills me.
l105l	Iago	Ply Desdemona well and you are sure on ’t.
l106l		Now, if this suit lay in Bianca’s power,
l107l		How quickly should you speed!
l108l	Cassio	(laughing)
		 Alas, poor caitiff!
l109l	Othello	(aside)
		 Look how he laughs already.
l110l	Iago	I never knew a woman love man so.
l111l	Cassio	Alas, poor rogue! I think i’ faith she loves me.
l112l	Othello	(aside)
		 Now he denies it faintly, and laughs it out.
l113l	Iago	Do you hear, Cassio?
	Othello	
		(aside)
		 Now he importunes him
l114l		To tell it o’er. Go to, well said, well said.
l115l	Iago	She gives it out that you shall marry her.
l116l		Do you intend it?
	Cassio	Ha, ha, ha!
l117l	Othello	(aside)
		 Do ye triumph, Roman, do you triumph?
l118l	Cassio	 I marry! What, a customer? Prithee, bear some
l119l		charity to my wit—do not think it so unwholesome.
l120l		Ha, ha, ha!
l121l	Othello	(aside)
		 So, so, so, so. They laugh that wins.
l122l	Iago	Faith, the cry goes that you marry her.
l123l	Cassio	Prithee, say true.
l124l	Iago	I am a very villain else.
l125l	Othello	(aside)
		 Ha’ you scored me? Well.
l126l	Cassio	This is the monkey’s own giving out. She is
l127l		persuaded I will marry her out of her own love and
l128l		flattery, not out of my promise.
l129l	Othello	(aside)
		 Iago beckons me. Now he begins the story.
		(Othello draws closer)
l130l	Cassio	 She was here even now. She haunts me in every
l131l		place. I was the other day talking on the sea-bank with
l132l		certain Venetians, and thither comes the bauble, and
l133l		falls me thus about my neck.
l134l	Othello	(aside)
		 Crying “O dear Cassio!” as it were. His
l135l		gesture imports it.
l136l	Cassio	So hangs and lolls and weeps upon me, so shakes
l137l		and pulls me—ha, ha, ha!
l138l	Othello	(aside)
		 Now he tells how she plucked him to my
l139l		chamber. O, I see that nose of yours, but not that dog
l140l		I shall throw it to!
l141l	Cassio	Well, I must leave her company.
		(Enter Bianca)
l142l	Iago	 Before me, look where she comes.
l143l	Cassio	’Tis such another fitchew! Marry, a perfumed one.
l144l		(To Bianca)
		 What do you mean by this haunting of me?
l145l	Bianca	Let the devil and his dam haunt you. What did
l146l		you mean by that same handkerchief you gave me
l147l		even now? I was a fine fool to take it. I must take out
l148l		the whole work—a likely piece of work, that you should
l149l		find it in your chamber and know not who left it there.
l150l		This is some minx’s token, and I must take out the
l151l		work. There, give it your hobby-horse.
		(Giving Cassio)
l152l		the napkin) Wheresoever you had it, I’ll take out no
l153l		work on ’t.
l154l	Cassio	How now, my sweet Bianca, how now, how now?
l155l	Othello	(aside)
		 By heaven, that should be my handkerchief.
l156l	Bianca	 An you’ll come to supper tonight, you may. An
l157l		you will not, come when you are next prepared for.
		(Exit)
l158l	Iago	 After her, after her.
l159l	Cassio	Faith, I must, she’ll rail in the streets else.
l160l	Iago	Will you sup there?
l161l	Cassio	Faith, I intend so.
l162l	Iago	 Well, I may chance to see you, for I would very
l163l		fain speak with you.
l164l	Cassio	Prithee, come, will you?
l165l	Iago	Go to, say no more.
		(Exit Cassio)
l166l	Othello	 How shall I murder him, Iago?
l167l	Iago	Did you perceive how he laughed at his vice?
l168l	Othello	O Iago!
l169l	Iago	And did you see the handkerchief?
l170l	Othello	Was that mine?
l171l	Iago	Yours, by this hand. And to see how he prizes the
l172l		foolish woman your wife. She gave it him, and he hath
l173l		given it his whore.
l174l	Othello	I would have him nine years a-killing. A fine
l175l		woman, a fair woman, a sweet woman.
l176l	Iago	Nay, you must forget that.
l177l	Othello	Ay, let her rot and perish, and be damned
l178l		tonight, for she shall not live. No, my heart is turned
l179l		to stone# I strike it, and it hurts my hand. O, the world
l180l		hath not a sweeter creature! She might lie by an
l181l		emperor’s side, and command him tasks.
l182l	Iago	Nay, that’s not your way.
l183l	Othello	Hang her, I do but say what she is—so delicate
l184l		with her needle, an admirable musician. O, she will
l185l		sing the savageness out of a bear! Of so high and
l186l		plenteous wit and invention.
l187l	Iago	She’s the worse for all this.
l188l	Othello	O, a thousand, a thousand times! And then of
l189l		so gentle a condition.
l190l	Iago	Ay, too gentle.
l191l	Othello	Nay, that’s certain. But yet the pity of it, Iago.
l192l		O, Iago, the pity of it, Iago!
l193l	Iago	If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent
l194l		to offend# for if it touch not you, it comes near nobody.
l195l	Othello	I will chop her into messes. Cuckold me!
l196l	Iago	O, ’tis foul in her.
l197l	Othello	With mine officer.
l198l	Iago	That’s fouler.
l199l	Othello	Get me some poison, Iago, this night. I’ll not
l200l		expostulate with her, lest her body and beauty
l201l		unprovide my mind again. This night, Iago.
l202l	Iago	Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even
l203l		the bed she hath contaminated.
l204l	Othello	Good, good, the justice of it pleases, very good.
l205l	Iago	And for Cassio, let me be his undertaker. You shall
l206l		hear more by midnight.
l207l	Othello	Excellent good.
		(A trumpet)
l208l		What trumpet is that same?
l209l	Iago	I warrant, something from Venice.
		(Enter Lodovico, Desdemona, and attendants)
l210l		’Tis Lodovico. This comes from the Duke. See, your
l211l		wife’s with him.
l212l	Lodovico	God save the worthy general.
l213l	Othello	With all my heart, sir.
l214l	Lodovico	(giving Othello a letter)
		 The Duke and the senators
l215l		of Venice greet you.
l216l	Othello	I kiss the instrument of their pleasures.
		(He reads the letter)
l217l	Desdemona	 And what’s the news, good cousin Lodovico?
l218l	Iago	(to Lodovico)
		 I am very glad to see you, signor.
l219l		Welcome to Cyprus.
l220l	Lodovico	I thank you. How does Lieutenant Cassio?
l221l	Iago	 Lives, sir.
l222l	Desdemona	Cousin, there’s fall’n between him and my lord
l223l		An unkind breach. But you shall make all well.
l224l	Othello	Are you sure of that?
l225l	Desdemona	My lord.
l226l	Othello	(reads)
		 “This fail you not to do as you will”—
l227l	Lodovico	He did not call, he’s busy in the paper.
l228l		Is there division ’twixt my lord and Cassio?
l229l	Desdemona	A most unhappy one. I would do much
l230l		T’ atone them, for the love I bear to Cassio.
l231l	Othello	Fire and brimstone!
	Desdemona	My lord?
	Othello	Are you wise?
l232l	Desdemona	What, is he angry?
	Lodovico	Maybe the letter moved him,
l233l		For, as I think, they do command him home,
l234l		Deputing Cassio in his government.
l235l	Desdemona	By my troth, I am glad on ’t.
l236l	Othello	Indeed!
l237l	Desdemona	My lord?
l238l	Othello	(to Desdemona)
		 I am glad to see you mad.
l239l	Desdemona	Why, sweet Othello!
l240l	Othello	Devil!
		(He strikes her)
l241l	Desdemona	 I have not deserved this.
l242l	Lodovico	My lord, this would not be believed in Venice,
l243l		Though I should swear I saw ’t. ’Tis very much.
l244l		Make her amends, she weeps.
	Othello	O, devil, devil!
l245l		If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears,
l246l		Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
l247l		Out of my sight!
	Desdemona	
		(going)
		 I will not stay to offend you.
l248l	Lodovico	Truly, an obedient lady.
l249l		I do beseech your lordship call her back.
l250l	Othello	Mistress!
l251l	Desdemona	(returning)
		 My lord?
l252l	Othello	(to Lodovico)
		 What would you with her, sir?
l253l	Lodovico	Who, I, my lord?
l254l	Othello	Ay, you did wish that I would make her turn.
l255l		Sir, she can turn and turn, and yet go on
l256l		And turn again, and she can weep, sir, weep,
l257l		And she’s obedient, as you say, obedient,
l258l		Very obedient.
		(To Desdemona)
		 Proceed you in your tears.
l259l		(To Lodovico)
		 Concerning this, sir—
		(To Desdemona)
		 O well painted passion!
l260l		(To Lodovico)
		 I am commanded home.
		(To Desdemona)
		 Get you away.
l261l		I’ll send for you anon.
		(To Lodovico)
		 Sir, I obey the mandate,
l262l		And will return to Venice.
		(To Desdemona)
		 Hence, avaunt!
		(Exit Desdemona)
l263l		(To Lodovico)
		 Cassio shall have my place, and, sir, tonight
l264l		I do entreat that we may sup together.
l265l		You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus. Goats and monkeys!
		(Exit)
l266l	Lodovico	 Is this the noble Moor whom our full senate
l267l		Call all-in-all sufficient? Is this the nature
l268l		Whom passion could not shake, whose solid virtue
l269l		The shot of accident nor dart of chance
l270l		Could neither graze nor pierce?
	Iago	He is much changed.
l271l	Lodovico	Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?
l272l	Iago	He’s that he is. I may not breathe my censure
l273l		What he might be. If what he might he is not,
l274l		I would to heaven he were.
	Lodovico	What, strike his wife!
l275l	Iago	Faith, that was not so well. Yet would I knew
l276l		That stroke would prove the worst.
	Lodovico	Is it his use,
l277l		Or did the letters work upon his blood
l278l		And new-create his fault?
	Iago	Alas, alas.
l279l		It is not honesty in me to speak
l280l		What I have seen and known. You shall observe him,
l281l		And his own courses will denote him so
l282l		That I may save my speech. Do but go after,
l283l		And mark how he continues.
l284l	Lodovico	I am sorry that I am deceived in him.
		(Exeunt)