William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (402 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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CASSIO I humbly thank you for’t.
Exit Iago
I never knew a Florentine more kind and honest.
Enter Emilia
EMILIA
Good morrow, good lieutenant. I am sorry
For your displeasure, but all will sure be well.
The general and his wife are talking of it,
And she speaks for you stoutly. The Moor replies
That he you hurt is of great fame in Cyprus,
And great affinity, and that in wholesome wisdom
He might not but refuse you. But he protests he loves
you,
And needs no other suitor but his likings
To take the saf’st occasion by the front
To bring you in again.
For your displeasure, but all will sure be well.
The general and his wife are talking of it,
And she speaks for you stoutly. The Moor replies
That he you hurt is of great fame in Cyprus,
And great affinity, and that in wholesome wisdom
He might not but refuse you. But he protests he loves
you,
And needs no other suitor but his likings
To take the saf’st occasion by the front
To bring you in again.
CASSIO Yet I beseech you,
If you think fit, or that it may be done,
Give me advantage of some brief discourse
With Desdemon alone.
Give me advantage of some brief discourse
With Desdemon alone.
EMILIA Pray you come in.
I will bestow you where you shall have time
To speak your bosom freely.
To speak your bosom freely.
CASSIO I am much bound to you.
Exeunt
3.2Enter Othello, Iago, and Gentlemen
OTHELLO
These letters give, Iago, to the pilot,
And by him do my duties to the senate.
That done, I will be walking on the works.
Repair there to me.
And by him do my duties to the senate.
That done, I will be walking on the works.
Repair there to me.
IAGO Well, my good lord, I’ll do’t.
Exit
OTHELLO
This fortification, gentlemen—shall we see’t?
A GENTLEMAN We’ll wait upon your lordship.
Exeunt
3.3Enter Desdemona, Cassio, and Emilia
DESDEMONA
Be thou assured, good Cassio, I will do
All my abilities in thy behalf.
All my abilities in thy behalf.
EMILIA
Good madam, do. I warrant it grieves my husband
As if the cause were his.
As if the cause were his.
DESDEMONA
O, that’s an honest fellow. Do not doubt, Cassio,
But I will have my lord and you again
As friendly as you were.
But I will have my lord and you again
As friendly as you were.
CASSIO Bounteous madam,
Whatever shall become of Michael Cassio
He’s never anything but your true servant.
He’s never anything but your true servant.
DESDEMONA
I know’t. I thank you. You do love my lord.
You have known him long, and be you well assured
He shall in strangeness stand no farther off
Than in a politic distance.
You have known him long, and be you well assured
He shall in strangeness stand no farther off
Than in a politic distance.
CASSIO Ay, but, lady,
That policy may either last so long,
Or feed upon such nice and wat’rish diet,
Or breed itself so out of circumstance,
That, I being absent and my place supplied,
My general will forget my love and service.
Or feed upon such nice and wat’rish diet,
Or breed itself so out of circumstance,
That, I being absent and my place supplied,
My general will forget my love and service.
DESDEMONA
Do not doubt that. Before Emilia here
I give thee warrant of thy place. Assure thee,
If I do vow a friendship I’ll perform it
To the last article. My lord shall never rest.
I’ll watch him tame, and talk him out of patience.
His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift.
I’ll intermingle everything he does
With Cassio’s suit. Therefore be merry, Cassio,
For thy solicitor shall rather die
Than give thy cause away.
I give thee warrant of thy place. Assure thee,
If I do vow a friendship I’ll perform it
To the last article. My lord shall never rest.
I’ll watch him tame, and talk him out of patience.
His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift.
I’ll intermingle everything he does
With Cassio’s suit. Therefore be merry, Cassio,
For thy solicitor shall rather die
Than give thy cause away.
Enter Othello and Iago
EMILIA Madam, here comes my lord.
CASSIO
Madam, I’ll take my leave.
DESDEMONA Why, stay, and hear me speak.
CASSIO
Madam, not now. I am very ill at ease,
Unfit for mine own purposes.
Unfit for mine own purposes.
DESDEMONA Well, do your discretion.
Exit Cassio
IAGO Ha! I like not that.
OTHELLO What dost thou say?
IAGO
Nothing, my lord. Or if, I know not what.
OTHELLO
Was not that Cassio parted from my wife?
IAGO
Cassio, my lord? No, sure, I cannot think it,
That he would steal away so guilty-like
Seeing your coming.
That he would steal away so guilty-like
Seeing your coming.
OTHELLO I do believe ’twas he.
DESDEMONA How now, my lord?
I have been talking with a suitor here,
A man that languishes in your displeasure.
A man that languishes in your displeasure.
OTHELLO Who is’t you mean?
DESDEMONA
Why, your lieutenant, Cassio; good my lord,
If I have any grace or power to move you,
His present reconciliation take;
For if he be not one that truly loves you,
That errs in ignorance and not in cunning,
I have no judgement in an honest face.
I prithee call him back.
If I have any grace or power to move you,
His present reconciliation take;
For if he be not one that truly loves you,
That errs in ignorance and not in cunning,
I have no judgement in an honest face.
I prithee call him back.
OTHELLO Went he hence now?
DESDEMONA Yes, faith, so humbled
That he hath left part of his grief with me
To suffer with him. Good love, call him back.
To suffer with him. Good love, call him back.
OTHELLO
Not now, sweet Desdemon. Some other time.
DESDEMONA
But shall’t be shortly?
OTHELLO The sooner, sweet, for you.
DESDEMONA
Shall’t be tonight at supper?
OTHELLO No, not tonight.
DESDEMONA
Tomorrow dinner, then?
OTHELLO I shall not dine at home.
I meet the captains at the citadel.
DESDEMONA
Why then, tomorrow night, or Tuesday morn,
On Tuesday noon, or night, on Wednesday morn—
I prithee name the time, but let it not
Exceed three days. In faith, he’s penitent,
And yet his trespass, in our common reason—
Save that, they say, the wars must make example
Out of her best—is not almost a fault
T‘incur a private check. When shall he come?
Tell me, Othello. I wonder in my soul
What you would ask me that I should deny,
Or stand so mamm’ring on? What, Michael Cassio,
That came a-wooing with you, and so many a time
When I have spoke of you dispraisingly
Hath ta‘en your part—to have so much to-do
To bring him in? By’r Lady, I could do much.
On Tuesday noon, or night, on Wednesday morn—
I prithee name the time, but let it not
Exceed three days. In faith, he’s penitent,
And yet his trespass, in our common reason—
Save that, they say, the wars must make example
Out of her best—is not almost a fault
T‘incur a private check. When shall he come?
Tell me, Othello. I wonder in my soul
What you would ask me that I should deny,
Or stand so mamm’ring on? What, Michael Cassio,
That came a-wooing with you, and so many a time
When I have spoke of you dispraisingly
Hath ta‘en your part—to have so much to-do
To bring him in? By’r Lady, I could do much.
OTHELLO
Prithee, no more. Let him come when he will.
I will deny thee nothing.
I will deny thee nothing.
DESDEMONA Why, this is not a boon.
’Tis as I should entreat you wear your gloves,
Or feed on nourishing dishes, or keep you warm,
Or sue to you to do a peculiar profit
To your own person. Nay, when I have a suit
Wherein I mean to touch your love indeed,
It shall be full of poise and difficult weight,
And fearful to be granted.
Or feed on nourishing dishes, or keep you warm,
Or sue to you to do a peculiar profit
To your own person. Nay, when I have a suit
Wherein I mean to touch your love indeed,
It shall be full of poise and difficult weight,
And fearful to be granted.
OTHELLO I will deny thee nothing,
Whereon I do beseech thee grant me this:
To leave me but a little to myself.
To leave me but a little to myself.
DESDEMONA
Shall I deny you? No. Farewell, my lord.
OTHELLO
Farewell, my Desdemona. I’ll come to thee straight.
DESDEMONA
Emilia, come. (To Othello) Be as your fancies teach you.
Whate’er you be, I am obedient.
Exeunt Desdemona and Emilia
Whate’er you be, I am obedient.
Exeunt Desdemona and Emilia
OTHELLO
Excellent wretch! Perdition catch my soul
But I do love thee, and when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again.
But I do love thee, and when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again.
IAGO My noble lord.
OTHELLO What dost thou say, Iago?
IAGO
Did Michael Cassio, when you wooed my lady,
Know of your love?
Know of your love?
OTHELLO
He did, from first to last. Why dost thou ask?
IAGO
But for a satisfaction of my thought,
No further harm.
No further harm.
OTHELLO Why of thy thought, Iago?
IAGO
I did not think he had been acquainted with her.
OTHELLO
O yes, and went between us very oft.
IAGO Indeed?
OTHELLO
Indeed? Ay, indeed. Discern’st thou aught in that?
Is he not honest?
Is he not honest?
IAGO Honest, my lord?
OTHELLO Honest? Ay, honest.
IAGO
My lord, for aught I know.
OTHELLO What dost thou think?
IAGO Think, my lord?
OTHELLO
‘Think, my lord?’ By heaven, thou echo‘st me
As if there were some monster in thy thought
Too hideous to be shown! Thou dost mean something.
I heard thee say even now thou liked’st not that,
When Cassio left my wife. What didst not like?
And when I told thee he was of my counsel
In my whole course of wooing, thou cried‘st ‘Indeed?’
And didst contract and purse thy brow together
As if thou then hadst shut up in thy brain
Some horrible conceit. If thou dost love me,
Show me thy thought.
As if there were some monster in thy thought
Too hideous to be shown! Thou dost mean something.
I heard thee say even now thou liked’st not that,
When Cassio left my wife. What didst not like?
And when I told thee he was of my counsel
In my whole course of wooing, thou cried‘st ‘Indeed?’
And didst contract and purse thy brow together
As if thou then hadst shut up in thy brain
Some horrible conceit. If thou dost love me,
Show me thy thought.
IAGO My lord, you know I love you.
OTHELLO I think thou dost,
And for I know thou‘rt full of love and honesty,
And weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them
breath,
Therefore these stops of thine fright me the more;
For such things in a false disloyal knave
Are tricks of custom, but in a man that’s just,
They’re close dilations, working from the heart
That passion cannot rule.
And weigh’st thy words before thou giv’st them
breath,
Therefore these stops of thine fright me the more;
For such things in a false disloyal knave
Are tricks of custom, but in a man that’s just,
They’re close dilations, working from the heart
That passion cannot rule.
IAGO For Michael Cassio,
I dare be sworn I think that he is honest.
OTHELLO
I think so too.
IAGO Men should be what they seem,
Or those that be not, would they might seem none.
OTHELLO
Certain, men should be what they seem.
IAGO
Why then, I think Cassio’s an honest man.
OTHELLO Nay, yet there’s more in this.
I prithee speak to me as to thy thinkings,
As thou dost ruminate, and give thy worst of thoughts
The worst of words.
As thou dost ruminate, and give thy worst of thoughts
The worst of words.
IAGO Good my lord, pardon me.
Though I am bound to every act of duty,
I am not bound to that all slaves are free to.
Utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false,
As where’s that palace whereinto foul things
Sometimes intrude not? Who has that breast so pure
But some uncleanly apprehensions
Keep leets and law-days, and in sessions sit
With meditations lawful?
I am not bound to that all slaves are free to.
Utter my thoughts? Why, say they are vile and false,
As where’s that palace whereinto foul things
Sometimes intrude not? Who has that breast so pure
But some uncleanly apprehensions
Keep leets and law-days, and in sessions sit
With meditations lawful?
OTHELLO
Thou dost conspire against thy friend, Iago,
If thou but think‘st him wronged and mak’st his ear
A stranger to thy thoughts.
If thou but think‘st him wronged and mak’st his ear
A stranger to thy thoughts.
IAGO I do beseech you,
Though I perchance am vicious in my guess—
As I confess it is my nature’s plague
To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy
Shapes faults that are not—that your wisdom then,
From one that so imperfectly conceits,
Would take no notice, nor build yourself a trouble
Out of his scattering and unsure observance.
It were not for your quiet nor your good,
Nor for my manhood, honesty, and wisdom,
To let you know my thoughts.
As I confess it is my nature’s plague
To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy
Shapes faults that are not—that your wisdom then,
From one that so imperfectly conceits,
Would take no notice, nor build yourself a trouble
Out of his scattering and unsure observance.
It were not for your quiet nor your good,
Nor for my manhood, honesty, and wisdom,
To let you know my thoughts.
OTHELLO What dost thou mean?
IAGO
Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something,
nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something,
nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands.
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
OTHELLO By heaven, I’ll know thy thoughts.
IAGO
You cannot, if my heart were in your hand;
Nor shall not whilst ’tis in my custody.
Nor shall not whilst ’tis in my custody.
OTHELLO
Ha!
IAGO O, beware, my lord, of jealousy.
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger.
But O, what damned minutes tells he o’er
Who dotes yet doubts, suspects yet fondly loves!
The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger.
But O, what damned minutes tells he o’er
Who dotes yet doubts, suspects yet fondly loves!
OTHELLO O misery!
IAGO
Poor and content is rich, and rich enough,
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
Good God the souls of all my tribe defend
From jealousy!
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
Good God the souls of all my tribe defend
From jealousy!
OTHELLO Why, why is this?
Think‘st thou I’d make a life of jealousy,
To follow still the changes of the moon
With fresh suspicions? No, to be once in doubt
Is once to be resolved. Exchange me for a goat
When I shall turn the business of my soul
To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises
Matching thy inference. ’Tis not to make me jealous
To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well.
Where virtue is, these are more virtuous,
Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw
The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt,
For she had eyes and chose me. No, Iago,
I’ll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;
And on the proof, there is no more but this:
Away at once with love or jealousy.
To follow still the changes of the moon
With fresh suspicions? No, to be once in doubt
Is once to be resolved. Exchange me for a goat
When I shall turn the business of my soul
To such exsufflicate and blowed surmises
Matching thy inference. ’Tis not to make me jealous
To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well.
Where virtue is, these are more virtuous,
Nor from mine own weak merits will I draw
The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt,
For she had eyes and chose me. No, Iago,
I’ll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove;
And on the proof, there is no more but this:
Away at once with love or jealousy.
IAGO
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