Chapter: ACT IV. SCENE I.
Cyprus. Before the castle.

Enter Othello and Iago.

  IAGO. Will you think so?
  OTHELLO.                 Think so, Iago?
  IAGO.                                    What,
    To kiss in private?
  OTHELLO.              An unauthorized kiss.
  IAGO. Or to be naked with her friend in bed
    An hour or more, not meaning any harm?
  OTHELLO. Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm!
    It is hypocrisy against the devil.
    They that mean virtuously and yet do so,
    The devil their virtue tempts and they tempt heaven.
  IAGO. So they do nothing, 'tis a venial slip.
    But if I give my wife a handkerchief--
  OTHELLO. What then?
  IAGO. Why, then, 'tis hers, my lord, and being hers,
    She may, I think, bestow't on any man.
  OTHELLO. She is protectress of her honor too.
    May she give that?
  IAGO. Her honor is an essence that's not seen;
    They have it very oft that have it not.
    But for the handkerchief--
  OTHELLO. By heaven, I would most gladly have forgot it.
    Thou said'st--O, it comes o'er my memory,
    As doth the raven o'er the infected house,
    Boding to all--he had my handkerchief.
  IAGO. Ay, what of that?
  OTHELLO.                That's not so good now.
  IAGO.                                           What,
    If I had said I had seen him do you wrong?
    Or heard him say--as knaves be such abroad,
    Who having, by their own importunate suit,
    Or voluntary dotage of some mistress,
    Convinced or supplied them, cannot choose
    But they must blab--
  OTHELLO.              Hath he said anything?
  IAGO. He hath, my lord; but be you well assured,
    No more than he'll unswear.
  OTHELLO.                      What hath he said?
  IAGO. Faith, that he did--I know not what he did.
  OTHELLO. What? what?
  IAGO. Lie--
  OTHELLO. With her?
  IAGO.              With her, on her, what you will.
  OTHELLO. Lie with her! lie on her! We say lie on her, when they
    belie her. Lie with her! 'Zounds, that's fulsome!
Handkerchief--
    confessions--handkerchief! To confess and be hanged for his
labor--
    first, to be hanged, and then to confess. I tremble at it.
    Nature would not invest herself in such shadowing passion
without
    some instruction. It is not words that shakes me thus. Pish!
    Noses, ears, and lips. Is't possible? Confess? Handkerchief?
O
    devil!
                                                   Falls in a
trance.
  IAGO. Work on,
    My medicine, work! Thus credulous fools are caught,
    And many worthy and chaste dames even thus,
    All guiltless, meet reproach. What, ho! My lord!
    My lord, I say! Othello!

                            Enter Cassio.

                             How now, Cassio!
  CASSIO. What's the matter?
  IAGO. My lord is fall'n into an epilepsy.
    This is his second fit; he had one yesterday.
  CASSIO. Rub him about the temples.
  IAGO.                              No, forbear;
    The lethargy must have his quiet course.
    If not, he foams at mouth, and by and by
    Breaks out to savage madness. Look, he stirs.
    Do you withdraw yourself a little while,
    He will recover straight. When he is gone,
    I would on great occasion speak with you.            Exit
Cassio.
    How is it, general? Have you not hurt your head?
  OTHELLO. Dost thou mock me?
  IAGO.                       I mock you? No, by heaven.
    Would you would bear your fortune like a man!
  OTHELLO. A horned man's a monster and a beast.
  IAGO. There's many a beast then in a populous city,
    And many a civil monster.
  OTHELLO. Did he confess it?
  IAGO.                       Good sir, be a man;
    Think every bearded fellow that's but yoked
    May draw with you. There's millions now alive
    That nightly lie in those unproper beds
    Which they dare swear peculiar. Your case is better.
    O, 'tis the spite of hell, the fiend's arch-mock,
    To lip a wanton in a secure couch,
    And to suppose her chaste! No, let me know,
    And knowing what I am, I know what she shall be.
  OTHELLO. O, thou art wise; 'tis certain.
  IAGO.                                    Stand you awhile
apart,
    Confine yourself but in a patient list.
    Whilst you were here o'erwhelmed with your grief--
    A passion most unsuiting such a man--
    Cassio came hither. I shifted him away,
    And laid good 'scuse upon your ecstasy;
    Bade him anon return and here speak with me
    The which he promised. Do but encave yourself
    And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorns,
    That dwell in every region of his face;
    For I will make him tell the tale anew,
    Where, how, how oft, how long ago, and when
    He hath and is again to cope your wife.
    I say, but mark his gesture. Marry, patience,
    Or I shall say you are all in all in spleen,
    And nothing of a man.
  OTHELLO.                Dost thou hear, Iago?
    I will be found most cunning in my patience;
    But (dost thou hear?) most bloody.
  IAGO.                                That's not amiss;
    But yet keep time in all. Will you withdraw?
                                                     Othello
retires.
    Now will I question Cassio of Bianca,
    A housewife that by selling her desires
    Buys herself bread and clothes. It is a creature
    That dotes on Cassio, as 'tis the strumpet's plague
    To beguile many and be beguiled by one.
    He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain
    From the excess of laughter. Here he comes.

                           Re-enter Cassio.

    As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad;
    And his unbookish jealousy must construe
    Poor Cassio's smiles, gestures, and light behavior
    Quite in the wrong. How do you now, lieutenant?
  CASSIO. The worser that you give me the addition
    Whose want even kills me.
  IAGO. Ply Desdemona well, and you are sure on't.
    Now, if this suit lay in Bianca's power,
    How quickly should you speed!
  CASSIO.                         Alas, poor caitiff!
  OTHELLO. Look, how he laughs already!
  IAGO. I never knew a woman love man so.
  CASSIO. Alas, poor rogue! I think, i'faith, she loves me.
  OTHELLO. Now he denies it faintly and laughs it out.
  IAGO. Do you hear, Cassio?
  OTHELLO.                   Now he importunes him
    To tell it o'er. Go to; well said, well said.
  IAGO. She gives it out that you shall marry her.
    Do you intend it?
  CASSIO. Ha, ha, ha!
  OTHELLO. Do you triumph, Roman? Do you triumph?
  CASSIO. I marry her! What? A customer! I prithee, bear some
charity
    to my wit; do not think it so unwholesome. Ha, ha, ha!
  OTHELLO. So, so, so, so. They laugh that win.
  IAGO. Faith, the cry goes that you shall marry her.
  CASSIO. Prithee, say true.
  IAGO. I am a very villain else.
  OTHELLO. Have you scored me? Well.
  CASSIO. This is the monkey's own giving out. She is persuaded I
    will marry her, out of her own love and flattery, not out of
my
    promise.
  OTHELLO. Iago beckons me; now he begins the story.
  CASSIO. She was here even now; she haunts me in every place. I
was
    the other day talking on the sea bank with certain Venetians,
and
    thither comes the bauble, and, by this hand, she falls me
thus
    about my neck--
  OTHELLO. Crying, "O dear Cassio!" as it were; his gesture
imports
    it.
  CASSIO. So hangs and lolls and weeps upon me; so hales and
pulls
    me. Ha, ha, ha!
  OTHELLO. Now he tells how she plucked him to my chamber. O, I
see
    that nose of yours, but not that dog I shall throw it to.
  CASSIO. Well, I must leave her company.
  IAGO. Before me! look where she comes.
  CASSIO. 'Tis such another fitchew! marry, a perfumed one.

                            Enter Bianca.

    What do you mean by this haunting of me?
  BIANCA. Let the devil and his dam haunt you! What did you mean
by
    that same handkerchief you gave me even now? I was a fine
fool to
    take it. I must take out the work? A likely piece of work
that
    you should find it in your chamber and not know who left it
    there! This is some minx's token, and I must take out the
work?
    There, give it your hobbyhorse. Wheresoever you had it, I'll
take
    out no work on't.
  CASSIO. How now, my sweet Bianca! how now! how now!
  OTHELLO. By heaven, that should be my handkerchief!
  BIANCA. An you'll come to supper tonight, you may; an you will
not,
    come when you are next prepared for.
Exit.
  IAGO. After her, after her.
  CASSIO. Faith, I must; she'll rail i' the street else.
  IAGO. Will you sup there?
  CASSIO. Faith, I intend so.
  IAGO. Well, I may chance to see you, for I would very fain
speak
    with you.
  CASSIO. Prithee, come; will you?
  IAGO. Go to; say no more.                              Exit
Cassio.
  OTHELLO. [Advancing.] How shall I murther him, Iago?
  IAGO. Did you perceive how he laughed at his vice?
  OTHELLO. O Iago!
  IAGO. And did you see the handkerchief?
  OTHELLO. Was that mine?
  IAGO. Yours, by this hand. And to see how he prizes the foolish
    woman your wife! She gave it him, and he hath given it his
whore.
  OTHELLO. I would have him nine years akilling. A fine woman! a
fair
    woman! a sweet woman!
  IAGO. Nay, you must forget that.
  OTHELLO. Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned tonight,
for
    she shall not live. No, my heart is turned to stone; I strike
it,
    and it hurts my hand. O, the world hath not a sweeter
creature.
    She might lie by an emperor's side, and command him tasks.
  IAGO. Nay, that's not your way.
  OTHELLO. Hang her! I do but say what she is. So delicate with
her
    needle, an admirable musician. O, she will sing the
savageness
    out of a bear. Of so high and plenteous wit and invention--
  IAGO. She's the worse for all this.
  OTHELLO. O, a thousand, a thousand times. And then, of so
gentle a
    condition!
  IAGO. Ay, too gentle.
  OTHELLO. Nay, that's certain. But yet the pity of it, Iago!
    O Iago, the pity of it, Iago!
  IAGO. If you are so fond over her iniquity, give her patent to
    offend, for, if it touch not you, it comes near nobody.
  OTHELLO. I will chop her into messes. Cuckold me!
  IAGO. O, 'tis foul in her.
  OTHELLO. With mine officer!
  IAGO. That's fouler.
  OTHELLO. Get me some poison, Iago, this night. I'll not
expostulate
    with her, lest her body and beauty unprovide my mind again.
This
    night, Iago.
  IAGO. Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even the
bed
    she hath contaminated.
  OTHELLO. Good, good, the justice of it pleases, very good.
  IAGO. And for Cassio, let me be his undertaker. You shall hear
more
    by midnight.
  OTHELLO. Excellent good. [A trumpet within.] What trumpet is
that
    same?
  IAGO. Something from Venice, sure. 'Tis Lodovico
    Come from the Duke. And, see your wife is with him.

              Enter Lodovico, Desdemona, and Attendants.

  LODOVICO. God save the worthy general!
  OTHELLO.                               With all my heart, sir.
  LODOVICO. The Duke and Senators of Venice greet you.
                                                  Gives him a
letter.
  OTHELLO. I kiss the instrument of their pleasures.
                                         Opens the letter, and
reads.
  DESDEMONA. And what's the news, good cousin Lodovico?
  IAGO. I am very glad to see you, signior;
    Welcome to Cyprus.
  LODOVICO. I thank you. How does Lieutenant Cassio?
  IAGO. Lives, sir.
  DESDEMONA. Cousin, there's fall'n between him and my lord
    An unkind breach; but you shall make all well.
  OTHELLO. Are you sure of that?
  DESDEMONA. My lord?
  OTHELLO. [Reads.] "This fail you not to do, as you will--"
  LODOVICO. He did not call; he's busy in the paper.
    Is there division 'twixt my lord and Cassio?
  DESDEMONA. A most unhappy one. I would do much
    To atone them, for the love I bear to Cassio.
  OTHELLO. Fire and brimstone!
  DESDEMONA. My lord?
  OTHELLO. Are you wise?
  DESDEMONA. What, is he angry?
  LODOVICO.                     May be the letter moved him;
    For, as I think, they do command him home,
    Deputing Cassio in his government.
  DESDEMONA. By my troth, I am glad on't.
  OTHELLO.                                Indeed!
  DESDEMONA.                                      My lord?
  OTHELLO. I am glad to see you mad.
  DESDEMONA.                         Why, sweet Othello?
  OTHELLO. Devil!                                        Strikes
her.
  DESDEMONA. I have not deserved this.
  LODOVICO. My lord, this would not be believed in Venice,
    Though I should swear I saw't. 'Tis very much.
    Make her amends; she weeps.
  OTHELLO.                      O devil, devil!
    If that the earth could teem with woman's tears,
    Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
    Out of my sight!
  DESDEMONA. [Going.] I will not stay to offend you.
  LODOVICO. Truly, an obedient lady.
    I do beseech your lordship, call her back.
  OTHELLO. Mistress!
  DESDEMONA. My lord?
  OTHELLO. What would you with her, sir?
  LODOVICO.                              Who, I, my lord?
  OTHELLO. Ay, you did wish that I would make her turn.
    Sir, she can turn and turn, and yet go on,
    And turn again; and she can weep, sir, weep;
    And she's obedient, as you say, obedient,
    Very obedient. Proceed you in your tears.
    Concerning this, sir--O well-painted passion!--
    I am commanded home. Get you away;
    I'll send for you anon. Sir, I obey the mandate,
    And will return to Venice. Hence, avaunt!
                                                      Exit
Desdemona.
    Cassio shall have my place. And, sir, tonight,
    I do entreat that we may sup together.
    You are welcome, sir, to Cyprus. Goats and monkeys!
     Exit.
  LODOVICO. Is this the noble Moor whom our full Senate
    Call all in all sufficient? This the nature
    Whom passion could not shake? whose solid virtue
    The shot of accident nor dart of chance
    Could neither graze nor pierce?
  IAGO.                             He is much changed.
  LODOVICO. Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?
  IAGO. He's that he is. I may not breathe my censure
    What he might be: if what he might he is not,
    I would to heaven he were!
  LODOVICO.                    What, strike his wife!
  IAGO. Faith, that was not so well; yet would I knew
    That stroke would prove the worst!
  LODOVICO.                            Is it his use?
    Or did the letters work upon his blood,
    And new create this fault?
  IAGO.                        Alas, alas!
    It is not honesty in me to speak
    What I have seen and known. You shall observe him,
    And his own courses will denote him so
    That I may save my speech. Do but go after,
    And mark how he continues.
  LODOVICO. I am sorry that I am deceived in him.
Exeunt.





SCENE II.
A room in the castle.

Enter Othello and Emilia.

  OTHELLO. You have seen nothing, then?
  EMILIA. Nor ever heard, nor ever did suspect.
  OTHELLO. Yes, you have seen Cassio and she together.
  EMILIA. But then I saw no harm, and then I heard
    Each syllable that breath made up between them.
  OTHELLO. What, did they never whisper?
  EMILIA.                                Never, my lord.
  OTHELLO. Nor send you out o' the way?
  EMILIA. Never.
  OTHELLO. To fetch her fan, her gloves, her mask, nor nothing?
  EMILIA. Never, my lord.
  OTHELLO. That's strange.
  EMILIA. I durst, my lord, to wager she is honest,
    Lay down my soul at stake. If you think other,
    Remove your thought; it doth abuse your bosom.
    If any wretch have put this in your head,
    Let heaven requite it with the serpent's curse!
    For if she be not honest, chaste, and true,
    There's no man happy; the purest of their wives
    Is foul as slander.
  OTHELLO.              Bid her come hither; go.         Exit
Emilia.
    She says enough; yet she's a simple bawd
    That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,
    A closet lock and key of villainous secrets.
    And yet she'll kneel and pray; I have seen her do't.

                     Enter Desdemona with Emilia.

  DESDEMONA. My lord, what is your will?
  OTHELLO.                               Pray, chuck, come
hither.
  DESDEMONA. What is your pleasure?
  OTHELLO.                          Let me see your eyes;
    Look in my face.
  DESDEMONA.         What horrible fancy's this?
  OTHELLO. [To Emilia.] Some of your function, mistress,
    Leave procreants alone and shut the door;
    Cough, or cry "hem," if anybody come.
    Your mystery, your mystery; nay, dispatch.           Exit
Emilia.
  DESDEMONA. Upon my knees, what doth your speech import?
    I understand a fury in your words,
    But not the words.
  OTHELLO. Why, what art thou?
  DESDEMONA. Your wife, my lord, your true and loyal wife.
  OTHELLO. Come, swear it, damn thyself;
    Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves
    Should fear to seize thee. Therefore be double-damn'd;
    Swear thou art honest.
  DESDEMONA.               Heaven doth truly know it.
  OTHELLO. Heaven truly knows that thou art false as hell.
  DESDEMONA. To whom, my lord? with whom? how am I false?
  OTHELLO. O Desdemona! Away! away! away!
  DESDEMONA. Alas the heavy day! Why do you weep?
    Am I the motive of these tears, my lord?
    If haply you my father do suspect
    An instrument of this your calling back,
    Lay not your blame on me. If you have lost him,
    Why, I have lost him too.
  OTHELLO.                    Had it pleased heaven
    To try me with affliction, had they rain'd
    All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head,
    Steep'd me in poverty to the very lips,
    Given to captivity me and my utmost hopes,
    I should have found in some place of my soul
    A drop of patience; but, alas, to make me
    A fixed figure for the time for scorn
    To point his slow unmoving finger at!
    Yet could I bear that too, well, very well;
    But there, where I have garner'd up my heart,
    Where either I must live or bear no life;
    The fountain from the which my current runs,
    Or else dries up; to be discarded thence!
    Or keep it as a cistern for foul toads
    To knot and gender in! Turn thy complexion there,
    Patience, thou young and rose-lipp'd cherubin,
    Ay, there, look grim as hell!
  DESDEMONA. I hope my noble lord esteems me honest.
  OTHELLO. O, ay, as summer flies are in the shambles,
    That quicken even with blowing. O thou weed,
    Who art so lovely fair and smell'st so sweet
    That the sense aches at thee, would thou hadst ne'er been
born!
  DESDEMONA. Alas, what ignorant sin have I committed?
  OTHELLO. Was this fair paper, this most goodly book,
    Made to write "whore" upon? What committed?
    Committed? O thou public commoner!
    I should make very forges of my cheeks,
    That would to cinders burn up modesty,
    Did I but speak thy deeds. What committed!
    Heaven stops the nose at it, and the moon winks;
    The bawdy wind, that kisses all it meets,
    Is hush'd within the hollow mine of earth,
    And will not hear it. What committed?
    Impudent strumpet!
  DESDEMONA.           By heaven, you do me wrong.
  OTHELLO. Are not you a strumpet?
  DESDEMONA.                       No, as I am a Christian.
    If to preserve this vessel for my lord
    From any other foul unlawful touch
    Be not to be a strumpet, I am none.
  OTHELLO. What, not a whore?
  DESDEMONA.                  No, as I shall be saved.
  OTHELLO. Is't possible?
  DESDEMONA. O, heaven forgive us!
  OTHELLO.                         I cry you mercy then;
    I took you for that cunning whore of Venice
    That married with Othello. [Raises his voice.] You, mistress,
    That have the office opposite to Saint Peter,
    And keep the gate of hell!

                           Re-enter Emilia.

                               You, you, ay, you!
    We have done our course; there's money for your pains.
    I pray you, turn the key, and keep our counsel.
Exit.
  EMILIA. Alas, what does this gentleman conceive?
    How do you, madam? How do you, my good lady?
  DESDEMONA. Faith, half asleep.
  EMILIA. Good madam, what's the matter with my lord?
  DESDEMONA. With who?
  EMILIA. Why, with my lord, madam.
  DESDEMONA. Who is thy lord?
  EMILIA.                     He that is yours, sweet lady.
  DESDEMONA. I have none. Do not talk to me, Emilia;
    I cannot weep, nor answer have I none
    But what should go by water. Prithee, tonight
    Lay on my bed my wedding sheets. Remember,
    And call thy husband hither.
  EMILIA.                        Here's a change indeed!
     Exit.
  DESDEMONA. 'Tis meet I should be used so, very meet.
    How have I been behaved, that he might stick
    The small'st opinion on my least misuse?

                      Re-enter Emilia with Iago.

  IAGO. What is your pleasure, madam? How is't with you?
  DESDEMONA. I cannot tell. Those that do teach young babes
    Do it with gentle means and easy tasks.
    He might have chid me so, for in good faith,
    I am a child to chiding.
  IAGO.                      What's the matter, lady?
  EMILIA. Alas, Iago, my lord hath so bewhored her,
    Thrown such despite and heavy terms upon her,
    As true hearts cannot bear.
  DESDEMONA. Am I that name, Iago?
  IAGO.                            What name, fair lady?
  DESDEMONA. Such as she says my lord did say I was.
  EMILIA. He call'd her whore; a beggar in his drink
    Could not have laid such terms upon his callet.
  IAGO. Why did he so?
  DESDEMONA. I do not know; I am sure I am none such.
  IAGO. Do not weep, do not weep. Alas the day!
  EMILIA. Hath she forsook so many noble matches,
    Her father and her country and her friends,
    To be call'd whore? Would it not make one weep?
  DESDEMONA. It is my wretched fortune.
  IAGO.                                 Beshrew him for't!
    How comes this trick upon him?
  DESDEMONA.                       Nay, heaven doth know.
  EMILIA. I will be hang'd, if some eternal villain,
    Some busy and insinuating rogue,
    Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,
    Have not devised this slander; I'll be hang'd else.
  IAGO. Fie, there is no such man; it is impossible.
  DESDEMONA. If any such there be, heaven pardon him!
  EMILIA. A halter pardon him! And hell gnaw his bones!
    Why should he call her whore? Who keeps her company?
    What place? What time? What form? What likelihood?
    The Moor's abused by some most villainous knave,
    Some base notorious knave, some scurvy fellow.
    O heaven, that such companions thou'ldst unfold,
    And put in every honest hand a whip
    To lash the rascals naked through the world
    Even from the east to the west!
  IAGO.                             Speak within door.
  EMILIA. O, fie upon them! Some such squire he was
    That turn'd your wit the seamy side without,
    And made you to suspect me with the Moor.
  IAGO. You are a fool; go to.
  DESDEMONA.                   O good Iago,
    What shall I do to win my lord again?
    Good friend, go to him, for by this light of heaven,
    I know not how I lost him. Here I kneel:
    If e'er my will did trespass 'gainst his love
    Either in discourse of thought or actual deed,
    Or that mine eyes, mine ears, or any sense,
    Delighted them in any other form,
    Or that I do not yet, and ever did,
    And ever will, though he do shake me off
    To beggarly divorcement, love him dearly,
    Comfort forswear me! Unkindness may do much,
    And his unkindness may defeat my life,
    But never taint my love. I cannot say "whore."
    It doth abhor me now I speak the word;
    To do the act that might the addition earn
    Not the world's mass of vanity could make me.
  IAGO. I pray you, be content; 'tis but his humor:
    The business of the state does him offense,
    And he does chide with you.
  DESDEMONA. If 'twere no other--
  IAGO. 'Tis but so, I warrant.                      Trumpets
within.
    Hark, how these instruments summon to supper!
    The messengers of Venice stay the meat.
    Go in, and weep not; all things shall be well.
                                         Exeunt Desdemona and
Emilia.

                           Enter Roderigo.

    How now, Roderigo!
  RODERIGO. I do not find that thou dealest justly with me.
  IAGO. What in the contrary?
  RODERIGO. Every day thou daffest me with some device, Iago; and
    rather, as it seems to me now, keepest from me all
conveniency
    than suppliest me with the least advantage of hope. I will
indeed
    no longer endure it; nor am I yet persuaded to put up in
peace
    what already I have foolishly suffered.
  IAGO. Will you hear me, Roderigo?
  RODERIGO. Faith, I have heard too much, for your words and
    performances are no kin together.
  IAGO. You charge me most unjustly.
  RODERIGO. With nought but truth. I have wasted myself out of my
    means. The jewels you have had from me to deliver to
Desdemona
    would half have corrupted a votarist. You have told me she
hath
    received them and returned me expectations and comforts of
sudden
    respect and acquaintance; but I find none.
  IAGO. Well, go to, very well.
  RODERIGO. Very well! go to! I cannot go to, man; nor 'tis not
very
    well. By this hand, I say 'tis very scurvy, and begin to find
    myself fopped in it.
  IAGO. Very well.
  RODERIGO. I tell you 'tis not very well. I will make myself
known
    to Desdemona. If she will return me my jewels, I will give
over
    my suit and repent my unlawful solicitation; if not, assure
    yourself I will seek satisfaction of you.
  IAGO. You have said now.
  RODERIGO. Ay, and said nothing but what I protest intendment of
    doing.
  IAGO. Why, now I see there's mettle in thee; and even from this

    instant do build on thee a better opinion than ever before.
Give
    me thy hand, Roderigo. Thou hast taken against me a most just
    exception; but yet, I protest, I have dealt most directly in
thy
    affair.
  RODERIGO. It hath not appeared.
  IAGO. I grant indeed it hath not appeared, and your suspicion
is
    not without wit and judgement. But, Roderigo, if thou hast
that
    in thee indeed, which I have greater reason to believe now
than
    ever, I mean purpose, courage, and valor, this night show it;
if
    thou the next night following enjoy not Desdemona, take me
from
    this world with treachery and devise engines for my life.
  RODERIGO. Well, what is it? Is it within reason and compass?
  IAGO. Sir, there is especial commission come from Venice to
depute
    Cassio in Othello's place.
  RODERIGO. Is that true? Why then Othello and Desdemona return
again
    to Venice.
  IAGO. O, no; he goes into Mauritania, and takes away with him
the
    fair Desdemona, unless his abode be lingered here by some
    accident; wherein none can be so determinate as the removing
of
    Cassio.
  RODERIGO. How do you mean, removing of him?
  IAGO. Why, by making him uncapable of Othello's place; knocking
out
    his brains.
  RODERIGO. And that you would have me to do?
  IAGO. Ay, if you dare do yourself a profit and a right. He sups
    tonight with a harlotry, and thither will I go to him. He
knows
    not yet of his honorable fortune. If you will watch his going
    thence, which his will fashion to fall out between twelve and
    one, you may take him at your pleasure; I will be near to
second
    your attempt, and he shall fall between us. Come, stand not
    amazed at it, but go along with me; I will show you such a
    necessity in his death that you shall think yourself bound to
put
    it on him. It is now high supper-time, and the night grows to
    waste. About it.
  RODERIGO. I will hear further reason for this.
  IAGO. And you shall be satisfied.
Exeunt.





SCENE III.
Another room in the castle.

Enter Othello, Lodovico, Desdemona, Emilia, and Attendants.

  LODOVICO. I do beseech you, sir, trouble yourself no further.
  OTHELLO. O, pardon me; 'twill do me good to walk.
  LODOVICO. Madam, good night; I humbly thank your ladyship.
  DESDEMONA. Your honor is most welcome.
  OTHELLO.                               Will you walk, sir?
    O--Desdemona--
  DESDEMONA. My lord?
  OTHELLO. Get you to bed on the instant; I will be returned
    forthwith. Dismiss your attendant there; look it be done.
  DESDEMONA. I will, my lord.
                            Exeunt Othello, Lodovico, and
Attendants.
  EMILIA. How goes it now? He looks gentler than he did.
  DESDEMONA. He says he will return incontinent.
    He hath commanded me to go to bed,
    And bade me to dismiss you.
  EMILIA.                       Dismiss me?
  DESDEMONA. It was his bidding; therefore, good Emilia,
    Give me my nightly wearing, and adieu.
    We must not now displease him.
  EMILIA. I would you had never seen him!
  DESDEMONA. So would not I. My love doth so approve him,
    That even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns--
    Prithee, unpin me--have grace and favor in them.
  EMILIA. I have laid those sheets you bade me on the bed.
  DESDEMONA. All's one. Good faith, how foolish are our minds!
    If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me
    In one of those same sheets.
  EMILIA.                        Come, come, you talk.
  DESDEMONA. My mother had a maid call'd Barbary;
    She was in love, and he she loved proved mad
    And did forsake her. She had a song of "willow";
    An old thing 'twas, but it express'd her fortune,
    And she died singing it. That song tonight
    Will not go from my mind; I have much to do
    But to go hang my head all at one side
    And sing it like poor Barbary. Prithee, dispatch.
  EMILIA. Shall I go fetch your nightgown?
  DESDEMONA.                               No, unpin me here.
    This Lodovico is a proper man.
  EMILIA. A very handsome man.
  DESDEMONA. He speaks well.
  EMILIA. I know a lady in Venice would have walked barefoot to
    Palestine for a touch of his nether lip.
  DESDEMONA. [Sings.]

        "The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,
          Sing all a green willow;
        Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,
          Sing willow, willow, willow.
        The fresh streams ran by her, and murmur'd her moans,
          Sing willow, willow, willow;
        Her salt tears fell from her, and soften'd the stones--"

    Lay by these--

    [Sings.]   "Sing willow, willow, willow--"

    Prithee, hie thee; he'll come anon--
    [Sings.]   "Sing all a green willow must be my garland.
               Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve--"

    Nay, that's not next. Hark, who is't that knocks?
  EMILIA. It's the wind.
  DESDEMONA. [Sings.]

        "I call'd my love false love; but what said he then?
          Sing willow, willow, willow.
        If I court moe women, you'll couch with moe men--"

    So get thee gone; good night. Mine eyes do itch;
    Doth that bode weeping?
  EMILIA.                   'Tis neither here nor there.
  DESDEMONA. I have heard it said so. O, these men, these men!
    Dost thou in conscience think--tell me, Emilia--
    That there be women do abuse their husbands
    In such gross kind?
  EMILIA.               There be some such, no question.
  DESDEMONA. Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?
  EMILIA. Why, would not you?
  DESDEMONA.                  No, by this heavenly light!
  EMILIA. Nor I neither by this heavenly light; I might do't as
well
    i' the dark.
  DESDEMONA. Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?
  EMILIA. The world's a huge thing; it is a great price
    For a small vice.
  DESDEMONA.          In troth, I think thou wouldst not.
  EMILIA. In troth, I think I should, and undo't when I had done.
    Marry, I would not do such a thing for a joint-ring, nor for
    measures of lawn, nor for gowns, petticoats, nor caps, nor
any
    petty exhibition; but, for the whole world--why, who would
not
    make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch? I should
    venture purgatory for't.
  DESDEMONA. Beshrew me, if I would do such a wrong
    For the whole world.
  EMILIA. Why, the wrong is but a wrong i' the world; and having
the
    world for your labor, 'tis a wrong in your own world, and you
    might quickly make it right.
  DESDEMONA. I do not think there is any such woman.
  EMILIA. Yes, a dozen, and as many to the vantage as would store
the
      world they played for.
    But I do think it is their husbands' faults
    If wives do fall; say that they slack their duties
    And pour our treasures into foreign laps,
    Or else break out in peevish jealousies,
    Throwing restraint upon us, or say they strike us,
    Or scant our former having in despite,
    Why, we have galls, and though we have some grace,
    Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
    Their wives have sense like them; they see and smell
    And have their palates both for sweet and sour,
    As husbands have. What is it that they do
    When they change us for others? Is it sport?
    I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
    I think it doth. Is't frailty that thus errs?
    It is so too. And have not we affections,
    Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?
    Then let them use us well; else let them know,
    The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
  DESDEMONA. Good night, good night. Heaven me such uses send,
    Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!
Exeunt.

 Cyprus. Before the castle. Othello is trying, even after swearing that Desdemona was unfaithful, not to condemn her too harshly. He is talking with Iago about the handkerchief still, and its significance in being found; but, soon, Iago whips Othello into an even greater fury through mere insinuation, and Othello takes the bait. Othello falls into a trance of rage, and Iago decides to hammer home his false ideas about his wife. Iago calls Cassio in, while Othello hides; Iago speaks to Cassio of Bianca, but Othello, in his disturbed state, believes that Cassio is talking of Desdemona, which is the last "proof" he needs before declaring his wife guilty. Bianca comes in, and gives the handkerchief back to Cassio, since she swears she will have nothing to do with it. Othello is incensed by Cassio, still believing that he was speaking of Desdemona, rather than Bianca. Now, Othello is resolved to kill Desdemona himself, and charges Iago with murdering Cassio. Lodovico, a noble Venetian whom Desdemona knows, has recently landed; Desdemona and Othello welcome him there. But, when Desdemona mentions Cassio, Othello becomes very angry and slaps her in front of everyone; she rushes off, very upset. Lodovico especially is shocked at this change in Othello, and has no idea how such a noble man could act so cruelly. Othello questions Emilia about Desdemona's guilt, or the chance she has had an affair with Cassio. Emilia admits to having seen nothing, though Othello does not believe her. Emilia swears that she has seen and heard all that has gone on between Cassio and Desdemona, and that Desdemona is pure and true. Othello believes that Emilia is in on the deception; he accuses Desdemona, and her insistence that she is innocent only infuriates him further. Othello leaves, and Desdemona and Emilia try to figure out what has happened to Othello, and what they can do; Desdemona feels especially helpless, and Emilia is very angry. Emilia thinks that someone has manipulated Othello into accusing Desdemona, and has poisoned his mind; however, Iago is there to dispel this opinion, so that Emilia does not inquire further into her theory. Upon leaving the women, Iago comes across Roderigo; he is not pleased with how Iago has handled things, and knows that although Iago is promising him Desdemona's favor, he has done nothing to indicate that he has worked to achieve this. Iago quiets him by making him believe that if he kills Cassio, then he will win Desdemona; Roderigo decides to go along with it, but Iago is coming dangerously close to being revealed. Othello tells Desdemona to go to bed, and dismiss Emilia; Emilia regrets Desdemona's marriage, although Desdemona cannot say that she does not love Othello. Desdemona knows that she will die soon; she sings a song of sadness and resignation, and decides to give herself to her fate. Desdemona asks Emilia whether she would commit adultery to win her husband the world. Emilia, the more practical one, thinks that it is not too big a price for a small act; Desdemona is too good, and too devout, to say that she would do so.

