1

The death of Cassio to be undertook
By 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 villain ;
But that, belike, Iago, in the interim,
Came in and satisfied him.
Oth.

O, the pernicious caitiff !--
How came you, Cassio, by that handkerchief
That was my wife's ?
Cas.

I found it in my chamber :
And he himself confessed, but even now,
That there he dropped it, for a special purpose,
Which wrought to his desire.
Oth.

O fool! fool! fool!
Cas. There is, besides, in Roderigo's letter,-
How he upbraids Iago, that he made him
Brave me upon the watch ; whereon it came
That I was cast. And even but now he spake,
After long seeming dead,- Iago hurt him,
Iago set him on.

Lod. You must forsake this room, and go with us; Your

your command is taken off,
And Cassio rules in Cyprus. For this slave,-
If there be any cunning cruelty,
That can torment him much, and hold him long,
It shall be his. You shall close prisoner rest,
Till that the nature of your fault be known
To the Venetian state.—Come, bring him away.

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,
When

you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am ; 2 nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice. Then must you speak

power and

1 The first quarto reads, " in the nick.”
2 Thus the folio. The quarto reads, “Speak of them as they are.”

a

Of one, that loved not wisely, but too well ;
Of one, not easily jealous, but, being wrought,
Perplexed in the extreme; of one, whose hand,

,
Like the base Júdean,' threw a pearl away,
Richer than all his tribe ; of one, whose subdued eyes,
Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Their medicinal gum. Set you down this;
And say, besides,—that in Aleppo once,
Where a malignant and a turbaned Turk ?
Beat a Venetian, and traduced the state,
I took by the throat the circumcised dog,
And smote him-thus.

[Stabs hintself. Lod. O bloody period ! Gra.

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

[Dies. Cas. This did I fear, but thought he had no

weapon ; For he was great of heart. Lod.

O Spartan dog, More fell than anguish, hunger, or the sea ! Look on the tragic loading of this bed ;

[To lago. This is thy work: the object poisons sight :Let it be hid. Gratiano, keep the house, And seize upon the fortunes of the Moor, For they succeed to you.—To

. you,

lord

governor, Remains the censure 4 of this hellish villain ;

upon a kiss.

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 Marianne. 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.

a

The time, the place, the torture,-0, enforce it!
Myself will straight aboard ; and, to the state,
This heavy act with heavy heart relate. [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, her 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 80 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 Iago is so conducted, that he is, froin 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.

The scenes from the beginning to the end are busy, varied by happy interchanges, and regularly promoting the progression of the story; and the narrative in the end, though it tells but what is known already, yet is necessary to produce the death of Othello.

Had the scene opened in Cyprus, and the preceding incidents been occasionally related, there had been little wanting to a drama of the most exact and scrupulous regularity.

JOHNSON.

THE END.