SCENE II-A Bedchamber: DESDEMONA in Bed asleep.-A Light burning. Enter OTHELLO. Oth. It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul, Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars !— It is the cause. Yet I'll not shed her blood; Nor scar that whiter skin of her's than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster, [Takes off his Sword. Yet she must die, else she'll betray more men. Put out the light, and then put out the light : * If I quench thee, thou flaming minister, I can again thy former light restore, Should I repent me:-but once put out thine, Thou cunning'st pattern of excelling nature, I know not where is that Promethean heat, That can thy light relume. When I have pluck'd thy rose, I cannot give it vital life again, It needs must wither: I'll smell it on the tree. [Kissing her. O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade Justice to break her sword!-One more, one more. Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee, And love thee after:-One more, and this the last: So sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep, It strikes, where it doth love.-She wakes- Oth. Ay, Desdemona. Des. Will you come to bed, my lord? Oth. Have you pray'd to-night, Desdemona ? Des. Ay, my lord. Oth. If you bethink yourself of any crime, Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace, Solicit for it straight. Des. Alas, my lord, what may you mean by that? Oth. Well, do it, and be brief; I will walk by: I would not kill thy unprepared spirit: soul. Des. Talk you of killing? Oth. Ay, I do. Des. Then, heaven Have mercy on me! Oth. Amen, with all my heart! Des. If you say so, I hope you will not kill me. Oth. Humph! Des. And yet I fear you: for you are fatal then, When your eyes roll so: Why I should fear, I know not, Since guiltiness I know not; but yet, I feel I fear. Oth. Think on thy sins. Des. They are loves I bear to you. Oth. Ay, and for that thou diest. [tion, Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin; Des. And have you mercy too!-I never did O perjur'd woman! thou dost stone my heart, I saw the bandkerchief. Des. He found it then; I never gave it him :-Send for him hither, Oth. He hath confess'd. Oth. That he hath-us'd thee Des. He'll not say so. Oth. No, his mouth is stopp'd; Honest Iago hath ta'en order for❜t. 1 Des. My fear interprets then,-What, is he dead ? Oth. Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge Had stomach for them all. Des. Alas! he is betray'd, and I undone. to my face? Des. O banish me, my lord, but kill me I think she stirs again :-No.-What's the best ? If she come in, she'll sure speak to my wife : Des. That death's unnatural, that kills for My wife! my wife! what wife?—I have no loving. Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip? Oth Peace and be still! Des. I will so: What's the matter? Oth. That handkerchief, which I so lov'd, and gave thee, Thou gav'st to Cassio. Des. No, by my life and soul; Send for the man, and ask him. Oth. Sweet soul, take heed, [bed. Take heed of perjury; thou'rt on thy death- A sacrifice atoning for thy crime. In the old copies, after this speech, there is an invo cation from Desdemona, consisting only of the sacred name thrice repeated; omitted in consequence of the Stat. 3. James 1. c. 21, imposing a penalty on the profane use of God's name in stage-plays, &c. I is a passage of supererogatory horror, being uttered whilst she is struggling with death. It is supposed that some theatrical direction has been omitted, and that when Othello says, " So, so," he then stabs her. After the repetition of wounds, Desde mona might speak again with propriety, and yet very soon expire. Emil. [Within.] I do beseech you I may speak with you, O good my lord! Oth. Ha! Emil. Do thy worst: This deed of thine is no more worthy heaven, Oth. I had forgot thee: O come in, Emi-Than thou wast worthy her. lia: [Dies. Oth. Why, how should she be murder'd'? Oth. You heard her say herself, it was not I, Emil. She said so; I must needs report the truth. Oth. She's like a liar, gone to burning hell; 'Twas that kill'd her. Emil. O the more angel she, And you the blacker devil? Oth. She turn'd to folly, and she was a whore. Emil. Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil. Oth. She was false as water. Emil. Thou art rash as fire to say That she was false; O she was heavenly true! Oth. Cassio did tup her; ask thy husband else. 01 were dann'd beneath all depth in hell, But that I did proceed upon just grounds To this extremity: Thy husband knew it all. Emil. My husband? Oth. Thy husband. Oth. Peace, you were best. Emil. Thou hast not half the power to do me harm, As I have to be hurt. O gull! O dolt ! Though I lost twenty lives :-Help! help, ho! help! The Moor has kill'd my mistress; Murder! murder ! Enter MONTANO, GRATIANO, and IAGO. Mon. What is the matter ?-How now, general? Emil. O are you come, Iago? you have done well, That men must lay their murders on your neck. Gra. What is the matter? Emil. Disprove this villain, if thou be'st a Iago. I did. Emil, You told a lie; an odious, damned lie; Upon my soul, a lie; a wicked lie: She false with Cassio ?-Did you say, with Cassio? Iago. With Cassio, mistress; Go to, charm your tongue. Emil. I will not charm my tongue; I am bound to speak; My mistress here lies murder'd in her bed. Emil. And your reports have set the murder on Oth. Nay, stare not, masters; it is true, indeed. Gra. 'Tis a strange truth. Mon. O monstrous act! Emil. Villany, villany, villany !— I think upon't,-I think,-I smell't;-O villany! I thought so then;-I'll kill myself for grief.— O villany, villany! lago. What, are you mad? I charge you, get you home. Emil. Good gentlemen, let me have leave to And she did gratify his amorous works Emil. O heaven! O heavenly powers! Emil. 'Twill out, 'twill out ;-I hold my peace, No, I will speak as liberal as the air; Let heaven, and men, and devils, let them all, Gra. Fie! Your sword upon a woman? Be not afraid, though you do see me weapon'd Pale as thy smock! when we shall meet at This look of thine will burl my soul from heaAnd fiends will snatch at it. Cold, cold, mv girl? Even like thy chastity. [IAGO offers to stab his Wife. O cursed, cursed slave !-Whip me ye devils, Emil. O thon dull Moor! that handkerchief I found by fortune, and did give my husband; Jago. Villanous whore! Emil. She gave it Cassio! no, alas; I found it, And I did giv't my husband. Iago. Filth, thou liest. Emil. By heaven, I do not; I do not, gen tlemen: O murd'rous coxcomb! what should such a fool Do with so good a wife? [IAGO stabs EMILIA, then runs out. Oth. Are there no stones in heaven But what serve for the thunder? villain ! Precious Gra. The woman falls; sure, he has kill'd his wife. Emil. Ay, ay; O lay me by my mistress' side! Gra. He's gone, but his wife's kill'd. weapon, Enter LODOVICO, MONTANO, CASSIO, carried in a Chair, and Officers with IAGO prisoner. Lod. Where is this rash and most unfortunate man? Oth. That's he, that was Othello; here I am. Lod. Where is that viper? bring the villain forth. Oth. I look down towards his feet; +-bat If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee. For, in my sense, 'tis happiness to die. Lod. O thou Othello, that wast once so good, Take you this An honourable murderer, if you will; Which I have here recover'd from the Moor: [Exeunt MONTANO and GRATIANO. Emil. What did thy song bode, lady? villany: Did you and he consent in Cassio's death? Cas. Dear general, I never gave you cause. you know; From this time forth I never will speak word. Gra. Torments will ope your lips. Lod. Sir, you shall understand what hath Which, as I think, you know not: Here is a letter, Found in the pocket of the slain Roderigo, Oth. O villain! 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 vil • Freely. + Steel is hardened by being put red-I hot into very cold water How he upbraids lago, that he made him Lod. You must forsake this room, and Your power and your command is taken off, go That can torment him much, and hold him It shall be his: You shall close prisoner rest, Oth. Soft you; a word or two, before you go. I have done the state some service, and they know it; No more of that:-I pray you, in your letters, Of one that lov'd not wisely, but too well; THE reader will frequently be at a loss to reconcile the order and passages of Othello, as given in the present edition, with their accustomed delivery on the stage; but it is considered a trifling inconvenience, when counteracted by the pleasure of possessing (as nearly as the most authentic resources can afford them,) the actual language and construction of the drama, as given by Shakspeare. in the authorized copies of the prompters' books, and in many editions reprinted from them, the beauty of the original has been somewhat obscured by green-room critics, of conflicting taste, and obsequious managers, more penny-wise than poetical. The scene with the musicians, which introduces Act II.---that incongruous nuisance, the clown---and that equally troublesome excrescence, Bianca the prostitute ---are however, with real judgment, omitted in the representation; and many of the less important passages, such as occur in the scene before the senate---in the soliloquies of fago---in the dialogues between Montano and a gentleman of Cyprus, on the tempest of the preceding night, and between Desdemona and Emilia, on the temptations to adultery, are very considerably abridged. The order of the scenes is also perpetually varied; each theatrical copartnership retaining its peculiar programme of Richard or Othello in common with its wardrobe, thunder, side-scenes, and mould-candles. |