Gra. [Within.] If thou attempt it, it will cost thee dear; Thou hast no weapon, and perforce must suffer. Re-enter GRATIANO. Gra. What is the matter? Behold!' I have a weapon, A better never did itself sustain Upon a soldier's thigh. I have seen the day, Be not afraid, though you do see me weaponed; Now, how dost thou look now? O ill-starred wench!1 O, cursed, cursed slave !--Whip me, ye devils, the brook or rivulet called Salo (now Xalon), near Bilbilis in Celtiberia. In this the Spaniards plunged all their swords and other weapons while hot from the forge; and to the icy quality of the waters thay were supposed to be indebted for their stubborn temper. 1 This and the six preceding lines are omitted in the first quarto Wench originally signified only a girl or young woman. VOL. VII. 65 Enter LODOVICO, MONTANO, CASSIO, carried in a chair, and Officers, with IAGO, prisoner. Lod. Where is this rash and most unfortunate man? a fable: If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee. [OTHELLO wounds IAGO. Lod. Wrench his sword from him. Iago. I bleed, sir; but not killed. Oth. I am not sorry, neither; I'd have thee live; For, in my sense, 'tis happiness to die. Lod. Ŏ thou Othello, that was once so good, Fallen in the practice 2 of a cursed slave, What shall be said to thee ? Oth. Why, any thing. An honorable murderer, if you will; For nought I did in hate, but all in honor. Lod. This wretch hath part confessed his villany. Did you and he consent in Cassio's death? Oth. Ay. Cas. Dear general, I never gave you cause. Oth. I do believe it; and I ask your pardon. Will you, I pray you, demand that demi-devil, Why he hath thus ensnared my soul and body? lago. Demand me nothing. What you know, you know; From this time forth I never will speak word. Lod. What? not to pray? Gra. Torments will ope your lips. "ope Oth. Well, thou dost best. Lod. Sir, you shall understand what hath befallen, Which, as I think, you know not. Here is a letter, Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo; And here, another. The one of them imports 1 To see if, according to the common opinion, his feet be cloven. 2 In the snare, by the stratagem. Cas. Most heathenish, and most gross! Lod. Now, here's another discontented paper, Found in his pocket too; and this, it seems, Roderigo meant to have sent this damned villain; But that, belike, Iago, in the interim,1 Came in and satisfied him. Oth. O, the pernicious caitiff!- I found it in my chamber: How came you, Cassio, by that handkerchief Cas. And he himself confessed, but even now, Oth. O fool! fool! fool! Cas. There is, besides, in Roderigo's letter, How he upbraids lago, that he made him Brave me upon the watch; whereon it came Lod. You must forsake this room, and go with us; Your power and your command is taken off, If there be any cunning cruelty, That can torment him much, and hold him long, Till that the nature of your fault be known I have done the state some service, and they know it Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak 1 The first quarto reads, "in the nick." 2 Thus the folio. The quarto reads, "Speak of them as they are.” Of one, that loved not wisely, but too well; Richer than all his tribe; of one, whose subdued eyes, Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees Their medicinal gum. Set you down this; Lod. O bloody period! Gra. [Stabs himself. All, that's spoke, is marred. Oth. I kissed thee, ere I killed thee.-No way but this, [Falling upon DESDEMONA. Killing myself, to die upon a kiss. Cas. This did I fear, but thought he had no weapon; For he was great of heart. 9 3 [To IAGO. Lod. 4 1 The quarto 1622 reads Indian. The folio has Judean. Warburton, Theobald, and Dr. Farmer, think that the allusion is to Herod, who in a fit of blind jealousy threw away such a jewel in his wife Mariamne. Steevens admits the reading Judean, but thinks the allusion is not to the story of Herod, but to that of a Jew, who, not being able to find a purchaser for a very large pearl at an immoderate price, publicly threw it into the sea at Venice. 2 It is said that it was immediate death for a Christian to strike a Turk in Aleppo. 3 The dogs of Spartan race were reckoned among those of the most fierce and savage kind. 4 i. e. judgment, the centence. The time, the place, the torture,--O, enforce it! [Exeunt. THE beauties of this play impress themselves so strongly upon the attention of the reader, that they can draw no aid from critical illustration. The fiery openness of Othello, magnanimous, artless, and credulous, boundless in his confidence, ardent in his affection, inflexible in his resolution, and obdurate in his revenge; the cool malignity of Iago, silent in his resentment, subtle in his designs, and studious at once of his interest and his vengeance; the soft simplicity of Desdemona, confident of merit, and conscious of innocence, ner artless perseverance in her suit, and her slowness to suspect that she can be suspected, are such proofs of Shakspeare's skill in human nature, as, I suppose, it is vain to seek in any modern writer. The gradual progress which Iago makes in the Moor's conviction, and the circumstances which he employs to inflame him, are so artfully natural, that though it will, perhaps, not be said of him as he says of himself, that he is a man not easily jealous, yet we cannot but pity him, when at last we find him perplexed in the extreme. There is always danger, lest wickedness, conjoined with abilities, should steal upon esteem, though it misses of approbation; but the character of lago is so conducted, that he is, from the first scene to the last, hated and despised. Even the inferior characters of this play would be very conspicuous in any other piece, not only for their justness, but their strength. Cassio is brave, benevolent, and honest, ruined only by his want of stubbornness to resist an insidious invitation. Roderigo's suspicious credulity, and impatient submission to the cheats which he sees practised upon him, and which, by persuasion, he suffers to be repeated, exhibit a strong picture of a weak mind betrayed by unlawful desires to a false friend; and the virtue of Emilia is such as we often find, worn loosely, but not cast off, easy to commit small crimes, but quickened and alarmed at atrocious villanies. |