Part 39 (1/2)

The idea suggested by these facts is that the MS. from which Q1 was printed was mutilated in various places; that (_b_) and (_c_) occupied the bottom inches of two successive pages, and that these inches were torn away; and that this was also the case with (_d_) and (_e_).

This speculation has amused me and may amuse some reader. I do not know enough of Elizabethan ma.n.u.scripts to judge of its plausibility.

NOTE K.

OTh.e.l.lO'S COURTs.h.i.+P.

It is curious that in the First Act two impressions are produced which have afterwards to be corrected.

1. We must not suppose that Oth.e.l.lo's account of his courts.h.i.+p in his famous speech before the Senate is intended to be exhaustive. He is accused of having used drugs or charms in order to win Desdemona; and therefore his purpose in his defence is merely to show that his witchcraft was the story of his life. It is no part of his business to trouble the Senators with the details of his courts.h.i.+p, and he so condenses his narrative of it that it almost appears as though there was no courts.h.i.+p at all, and as though Desdemona never imagined that he was in love with her until she had practically confessed her love for him.

Hence she has been praised by some for her courage, and blamed by others for her forwardness.

But at III. iii. 70 f. matters are presented in quite a new light. There we find the following words of hers:

What! Michael Ca.s.sio, That came a-wooing with you, and so many a time, When I have spoke of you dispraisingly, Hath ta'en your part.

It seems, then, she understood why Oth.e.l.lo came so often to her father's house, and was perfectly secure of his love before she gave him that very broad 'hint to speak.' I may add that those who find fault with her forget that it was necessary for her to take the first open step. She was the daughter of a Venetian grandee, and Oth.e.l.lo was a black soldier of fortune.

2. We learn from the lines just quoted that Ca.s.sio used to accompany Oth.e.l.lo in his visits to the house; and from III. iii. 93 f. we learn that he knew of Oth.e.l.lo's love from first to last and 'went between' the lovers 'very oft.' Yet in Act I. it appears that, while Iago on the night of the marriage knows about it and knows where to find Oth.e.l.lo (I.

i. 158 f.), Ca.s.sio, even if he knows where to find Oth.e.l.lo (which is doubtful: see I. ii. 44), seems to know nothing about the marriage. See I. ii. 49:

_Cas._ Ancient, what makes he here?

_Iago._ 'Faith, he to-night hath boarded a land carack: If it prove lawful prize, he's made for ever.

_Cas._ I do not understand.

_Iago._ He's married.

_Cas._ To who?

It is possible that Ca.s.sio does know, and only pretends ignorance because he has not been informed by Oth.e.l.lo that Iago also knows. And this idea is consistent with Iago's apparent ignorance of Ca.s.sio's part in the courts.h.i.+p (III. iii. 93). And of course, if this were so, a word from Shakespeare to the actor who played Ca.s.sio would enable him to make all clear to the audience. The alternative, and perhaps more probable, explanation would be that, in writing Act I., Shakespeare had not yet thought of making Ca.s.sio Oth.e.l.lo's confidant, and that, after writing Act III., he neglected to alter the pa.s.sage in Act I. In that case the further information which Act III. gives regarding Oth.e.l.lo's courts.h.i.+p would probably also be an after-thought.

NOTE L.

OTh.e.l.lO IN THE TEMPTATION SCENE.

One reason why some readers think Oth.e.l.lo 'easily jealous' is that they completely misinterpret him in the early part of this scene. They fancy that he is alarmed and suspicious the moment he hears Iago mutter 'Ha! I like not that,' as he sees Ca.s.sio leaving Desdemona (III. iii. 35). But, in fact, it takes a long time for Iago to excite surprise, curiosity, and then grave concern--by no means yet jealousy--even about Ca.s.sio; and it is still longer before Oth.e.l.lo understands that Iago is suggesting doubts about Desdemona too. ('Wronged' in 143 certainly does not refer to her, as 154 and 162 show.) Nor, even at 171, is the exclamation 'O misery' meant for an expression of Oth.e.l.lo's own present feelings; as his next speech clearly shows, it expresses an _imagined_ feeling, as also the speech which elicits it professes to do (for Iago would not have dared here to apply the term 'cuckold' to Oth.e.l.lo). In fact it is not until Iago hints that Oth.e.l.lo, as a foreigner, might easily be deceived, that he is seriously disturbed about Desdemona.

Salvini played this pa.s.sage, as might be expected, with entire understanding. Nor have I ever seen it seriously misinterpreted on the stage. I gather from the Furness Variorum that Fechter and Edwin Booth took the same view as Salvini. Actors have to ask themselves what was the precise state of mind expressed by the words they have to repeat.

But many readers never think of asking such a question.