Oth. I greet thy love, Not with vain thanks, but with acceptance bounteous, Within these three days let me hear thee say, In Lord Surrey's translation of the fourth Æneid, Dido says to her sister: "Sister I crave thou have remorse of me." Again in King Edward III, 1599, that Prince speaking to the citizens of Calais : "But for yourselves, look you for no remorse." Again, in Clyomon Knight of the Golden Shield, 1599: "Who taketh no remorse of womankind." Again, in Sir John Oldcastle, 1600: "Here stand I, craving no remorse at all." I could add many more instances, but shall content myself to observe that the sentiment of Iago bears no small resemblance to that of Arviragus in Cymbeline: "I'd let a parish of such Clotens blood, "And praise myself for charity." Steevens. Before I saw Dr. Johnson's edition of Shakspeare, my opinion of this passage was formed, and written, and thus I understood it: "Let him command any bloody business, and to obey him shall be in me an act of pity and compassion for wrong'd Othello." Remorse frequently signifies pity, mercy, compassion, or a tenderness of heart, unattended with the stings of a guilty conscience. So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV, sc. iii, the crimeless Eglamour is called remorseful. So, in King Richard III, Act III, sc. vii: "As well we know your tenderness of heart, to have re So, in Holinshed's Conquest of Ireland, p. 13: ". morse and compassion upon others distresses;" and in the Dedication, to have regard and remorse to your said land." Tollet. Some of the examples quoted by Mr. Steevens I have omitted, as I think those already inserted are sufficient to prove the meaning of the word. Mr. M. Mason says, he may venture to assert, that Shakspeare seldom, if ever, uses the word in any other sense. Reed. If I am not deceived, this passage has been entirely mistaken. I read : let him command, An' to obey shall be in me remorse, What bloody business ever And for if is sufficiently common: and Othello's impatience breaks off the sentence, I think, with additional beauty. Farmer. What bloody work soever.] So the quartos. The folios : Iago. My friend is dead; 'tis done, at your request:6 But let her live. Oth. Damn her, lewd minx! O, damn her!? Come, go with me apart; I will withdraw, To furnish me with some swift means of death For the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant. Iago. I am your own forever. SCENE IV. The same. [Exeunt. Enter DESDEMONA, EMILIA, and Clown. Des. Do you know, sirrah, where lieutenant Cassio lies? Clo. I dare not say, he lies any where. Des. Why, man? Clo. He is a soldier; and for me to say a soldier lies, is stabbing. Des. Go to; Where lodges he? Clo. To tell you where he lodges, is to tell you where I lie. Des. Can any thing be made of this? Clo. I know not where he lodges; and for me to devise a lodging, and say-he lies here, or he lies there, were to lie in my own throat. Des. Can you enquire him out, and be edified by report? Clo. I will catechize the world for him; that is, make questions, and by them answer.9 6 at your request:] Thus the folio. The quarto, 1622, reads as you request. Malone. 7 O, damn her!] Thus the quarto, 1622. Folio: O damn her, damn her. Malone. 8 To tell you &c.] This and the following speech are wanting in the first quarto. Steevens. 9 Clown. I will catechize the world for him; that is, make questions, and by them answer.] This Clown is a fool to some purpose. He was to go seek for one; he says, he will ask for him, and by his own questions make answer. Without doubt we should read-and bid them answer; i. e. the world; those whom he questions. Warburton. There is no necessity for changing the text. It is the Clown's play to wrench what is said, from its proper meaning. Sir T Des. Seek him, bid him come hither: tell him, I have moved my lord in his behalf, and hope, all will be well. Clo. To do this, is within the compass of man's wit; and therefore I will attempt the doing it.'1 [Exit. Des. Where should I lose that handkerchief, Emilia? Emil. I know not, madam. Des. Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness To put him to ill thinking. Emil. Is he not jealous? Des. Who, he? I think, the sun, where he was born, Drew all such humours from him. Emil. Look, where he comes. Des. I will not leave him now, till Cassio Be call'd to him.3-How is 't with you, my lord? Enter OTHELLO. Oth. Well, my good lady:-[aside] O, hardness to dissemble! More hath briefly worked his character: "he plaieth the iester, nowe with skoffinge, and nowe with his overthwarte woords, to prouoke all to laughter." His design here was to propose such questions as might elicit the information sought for from him, and therefore, BY his questions he might be enabled to answer. Henley. and by them answer.] i. e. and by them, when answered, for my own answer to you. The quaintness of the expression is in character. By is found both in the quarto, 1622, and the folio. The modern editors, following a quarto of no authority, printed in 1630, read-and make them answer. Malone. 1 To do this, is within the compass of man's wit; and therefore &c.] So, in King Lear: "I cannot draw a cart, nor eat wild oats; "If it be man's work I'll do it." Malone. 2 cruzadoes.] A Portuguese coin, in value three shillings sterling. Grey. So called from the cross stamped upon it. Johnson. The exact value of a cruzado is here of no importance, nor does it appear precisely what it was in Shakspeare's time. By a mercantile friend I am informed, that there are at present three sorts. The imaginary one of the value of 2s. or 2s. 4, like the English pound, is only a denomination, and not a coin. The two other sorts are really coins, and all the three differ in value. Reed. till Cassio 3 Be call'd to him.] Thus the folio. The quarto, 1622, reads --Let Cassio be call'd to him. Malone. How do you, Desdemona ? Des. Well, my good lord. For here's a young and sweating devil here, Des. You may, indeed, say so; For 'twas that hand that gave away my heart. Oth. A liberal hand: The hearts of old, gave hands; But our new heraldry is-hands, not hearts.6 4 Hot, hot, and moist;] Ben Jonson seems to have attempted a ridicule on this passage, in Every Man out of his Humour, Act V, sc. ii, where Sogliardo says to Saviolina: "How does my sweet lady? hot and most? beautiful and lusty?" Steevens. Ben Jonson was ready enough on all occasions to depreciate and ridicule our author, but in the present instance, I believe, he must be acquitted; for Every Man out of his Humour was printed in 1600, and written probably in the preceding year; at which time we are almost certain that Othello had not been exhibited. Malone. 5 exercise devout;] Exercise was the religious term. Henry the Seventh (says Bacon) "had the fortune of a true christian as well as of a great king, in living exercised, and dying repentant." So, Lord Hastings in King Richard III, says to a priest: "I am in debt for your last exercise." See Vol. XI, p. 95, n. 3. Malone. But our new heraldry is-hands, not hearts.] It is evident the first line should be read thus: The hands of old gave hearts; otherwise it would be no reply to the preceding words, "For 'twas that hand that gave away my heart." Not so, says her husband: The hands of old indeed gave hearts; but the custom now is to give hands without hearts. The expression of new heraldry was a satirical allusion to the times. Soon after King James the First came to the crown, he created the new dignity of baronets for money. Amongst their other prerogatives of honour, they had an addition to their paternal arms, of a hand gules in an escutcheon argent. And we are not to doubt but that this was the new heraldry alluded to by our au Des. I cannot speak of this. Come now your promise. Oth. What promise, chuck? Des. I have sent to bid Cassio come speak with you. thor: by which he insinuates, that some then created had hands indeed, but not hearts, that is, money to pay for the creation, but no virtue to purchase the honour. But the finest part of the poet's address in this allusion, is the compliment he pays to his old mistress Elizabeth. For James's pretence for raising money by this creation, was the reduction of Ulster, and other parts of Ireland; the memory of which he would perpetuate by that addition to their arms, it being the arms of Ulster. Now the method used by Elizabeth in the reduction of that kingdom was so different from this, the dignities she conferred being on those who employed their steel, and not their gold, in his service, that nothing could add more to her glory, than the being compared to her successor in this point of view: nor was it uncommon for the dramatick poets of that time to satirize the ignominy of James's reign. So, Fletcher, in The Fair Maid of the Inn. One says, I will send thee to Amboyna in the East Indies for pepper. The other replies, To Amboyna? so I might be pepper'd. Again, in the same play, a Sailor says, Despise not this pitch'd canvas, the time was, we have known them lined with Spanish ducats. Warburton. The historical observation is very judicious and acute, but of the emendation there is no need. She says, that her hand gave away her heart. He goes on with his suspicion, and the hand which he had before called frank, he now terms liberal; then proceeds to remark, that the hand was formerly given by the heart; but now it neither gives it, nor is given by it. Johnson. I think, with Dr. Warburton, that the new order of baronets is here again alluded to. See The Merry Wives of Windsor, Vol. III, p. 51, and Spelman's epigram there cited: florentis nomen honoris "Indicat in clypei fronte cruenta manus. "Non quod sævi aliquid, aut stricto fortiter ense "Hostibus occisis gesserit iste cohors." Blackstone. The reader will not find the Epigram alluded to by Sir William Blackstone, in the page to which he has referred [in my edition], for I have omitted that part of his note, (an omission of which I have there given notice) because it appeared to me extremely improbable that any passage in that play should allude to an event that did not take place till 1611. The omitted words I add here, (distinguishing them by Italick characters) as they may appear to add weight to his opinion and that of Dr. War burton. "I suspect this is an oblique reflection on the prodigality of James the first in bestowing these honours, and erecting a new order of knighthood called baronets; which few of the ancient gentry would condescend to accept. See Sir Henry Spelman's epigram on them, GLOSS. p. 76, which ends thus: |