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Article SHAKSPERE'S OTHELLO. ← Page 6 of 7 →
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Shakspere's Othello.
" The Moor , howbeit that I endure him not , Is of a constant , loving , noble nature ; And I dare think , he'll prove to Desdemona A most kind husband . Now I do love her too , Not out of absolute lust ( though , peradventure , I stand accountant for as great a sin ) , But partly led to diet my revenge , that do the
For I suspect lusty Moor Hath leap'd into my seat ; the thought whereof Doth , like a poisonous mineral , gnaw my inwards , And nothing can or shall content my sou ] , Till I am even'd with him , wife for wife ; Or , failing so , yet that I put the Moor At least into a jealousy so strong That judgment cannot cure . "
We have surely here motives plain enough , and strongly expressed ; it does not , however , appear in the tragedy , that Iago actually practised on the virtue of Desdemona , as he does in the tale ; for , as Mr . Knight observes , " It is a part of the admirable knowledge of human nature possessed by Shakspere , that Iago does not , even for a moment ,
entertain the thought of tampering with the virtue of Desdemona , either through Cassio or Roderigo , or any other instrument . " No , in all probability Shakspere departed in this instance from the novel , purposely to bring this highest testimony to the virtue of Desdemona ; her purity was not only superior to assault or artificebut above the reach of trial : had she been
, tried , and remained firm , her virtue would have been heroic , —removed from the possibility of trial , it is divine . And here we observe the well-balanced contrast to the villany of Iago : the characters are extremes , or they would not correspond . Minor points of comparison will suggest themselves on a
perusal of the story . In the latter , the Ensign , at the entreaty of the Moor , attacks and wounds the Captain ; but in the play it is a natural conclusion of lago ' s treatment of Roderigo to induce him to do the deed : this perfects the plot as regards Roderigo ; he had been the dupe and tool of Iago as long as he could serve his purposes ; but he was now become
dangerous , —the villany had spun its last thread , and the web must break : one service more remained , —to kill Cassio , and thus to relieve Iago of this dangerous deed , and at the same time to furnish him a pretext to slay Roderigo . A word or two , in conclusion , on the much-vexed question among critics and actors respecting the colour and nationality of the Moor . " It is very probable , " well observes Mr . Knight ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Shakspere's Othello.
" The Moor , howbeit that I endure him not , Is of a constant , loving , noble nature ; And I dare think , he'll prove to Desdemona A most kind husband . Now I do love her too , Not out of absolute lust ( though , peradventure , I stand accountant for as great a sin ) , But partly led to diet my revenge , that do the
For I suspect lusty Moor Hath leap'd into my seat ; the thought whereof Doth , like a poisonous mineral , gnaw my inwards , And nothing can or shall content my sou ] , Till I am even'd with him , wife for wife ; Or , failing so , yet that I put the Moor At least into a jealousy so strong That judgment cannot cure . "
We have surely here motives plain enough , and strongly expressed ; it does not , however , appear in the tragedy , that Iago actually practised on the virtue of Desdemona , as he does in the tale ; for , as Mr . Knight observes , " It is a part of the admirable knowledge of human nature possessed by Shakspere , that Iago does not , even for a moment ,
entertain the thought of tampering with the virtue of Desdemona , either through Cassio or Roderigo , or any other instrument . " No , in all probability Shakspere departed in this instance from the novel , purposely to bring this highest testimony to the virtue of Desdemona ; her purity was not only superior to assault or artificebut above the reach of trial : had she been
, tried , and remained firm , her virtue would have been heroic , —removed from the possibility of trial , it is divine . And here we observe the well-balanced contrast to the villany of Iago : the characters are extremes , or they would not correspond . Minor points of comparison will suggest themselves on a
perusal of the story . In the latter , the Ensign , at the entreaty of the Moor , attacks and wounds the Captain ; but in the play it is a natural conclusion of lago ' s treatment of Roderigo to induce him to do the deed : this perfects the plot as regards Roderigo ; he had been the dupe and tool of Iago as long as he could serve his purposes ; but he was now become
dangerous , —the villany had spun its last thread , and the web must break : one service more remained , —to kill Cassio , and thus to relieve Iago of this dangerous deed , and at the same time to furnish him a pretext to slay Roderigo . A word or two , in conclusion , on the much-vexed question among critics and actors respecting the colour and nationality of the Moor . " It is very probable , " well observes Mr . Knight ,