course of the talk, which was on a different subject, he laughed much, and by his gestures made as if he were greatly surprised at the other's disclosures. The interview over, and the Moor asking what had passed between them, the ensign then, after much feigning of reluctance, said the lieutenant had boasted of his frequent meetings with Desdemona, and how, the last time he was with her, she had given him the handkerchief. Shortly after, the Moor asked his wife for the handkerchief; and, as she could not find it, this strengthened his suspicions into conviction: still, before proceeding to extremities, he craved the further proof of seeing the handkerchief in the lieutenant's possession. So, while the lieutenant's mistress was sitting at the window of his house, and copying the embroidery, the ensign pointed her out to the Moor. The two then arrange for killing both the parties: the ensign sets upon the lieutenant in the night, and wounds him; but he fights manfully, and raises an alarm, which draws a crowd to the spot, the ensign himself appearing among them, as if roused by the cry. Upon hearing of this, the lady speaks her grief for the lieutenant; which so enrages the Moor, that he forthwith contrives her death. The ensign hides himself in a closet of her chamber; at the time appointed he makes a noise; Desdemona rises and goes to see what it is, and he then beats her to death with a stocking full of sand; the Moor meanwhile accusing her of the crime, and she protesting her innocence. This done, they pull down the ceiling upon her, and run out crying that the house is falling: people rush in, and find her dead under the beams, no one suspecting the truth of the matter. But the Moor soon becomes distracted with remorse. Hating the sight of the ensign, he degrades him, and drives him out of his company; whereupon the villain goes to plotting revenge upon him. He reveals to the lieutenant the truth about the lady's death, omitting his own share in it; the lieutenant accuses the Moor to the Senate, and calls in the ensign as his witness. The Moor is imprisoned, banished, and finally put to death by his wife's kindred. The ensign, returning to Venice, and continuing at his old practices, is taken up, put to the torture, and racked so violently, that he soon dies.

Such, in brief, are the leading incidents of the novel. Of

course the parts of Othello and Desdemona, Iago and Emilia, Cassio and Bianca, were suggested by what the Poet found in the tale. The novel has nothing answering to the part of Roderigo; nor did it furnish any of the names except Desdemona. Some of Iago's characteristic traits may be said to have been taken from the ensign: but this is about the whole of the Poet's obligation in the matter of character. The tale describes the Moor as valiant, prudent, and capable, Desdemona as virtuous and beautiful; and states that she loved the Moor for his nobleness of character, and that her family was much opposed to the match. These are all the hints which Shakespeare had towards the mighty delineations of character in this play, as distinguished from the incidents of the plot. For, as Mr. White remarks, "of the complex psychological structure of the various personages, and of their harmonious mental and moral action, there is not even a rudimentary hint in the story." It is to be observed, also, that Roderigo serves as a most effective occasion in the drama; Iago's most inward and idiomatic traits being made to transpire upon him; and this in such a way as to lift the characters of Othello and Desdemona into a much higher region, and invest them with a far deeper and more pathetic interest.

The island of Cyprus, where the scene of the drama is chiefly laid, became subject to the Republic of Venice, and was first garrisoned with Venetian troops, in 1471. After that time, the only attempt ever made upon that island by the Turks was under Selim the Second, in 1570. It was then invaded by a powerful force, and conquered in 1571; since which time it has continued a part of the Turkish Empire. The play represents that there was a junction of the Turkish fleet at Rhodes for the purpose of invading Cyprus; that the fleet started towards Cyprus, went back to Rhodes, there met another squadron, and then resumed its course to Cyprus. These are historical facts, and took place when Mustapha, Selim's general, attacked Cyprus, in May, 1570; which is therefore the true period of the action.

Officers, Gentlemen, Messengers, Musicians, Sailors, Attendants, &c.

SCENE. For the First Act, in Venice; during the rest of the Play, at a

Rod. Tush, never tell me; I take it much unkindly That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse

As if the strings were thine, shouldst know of this.1

1 The intended elopement. Roderigo has been suing for Desdemona's hand, employing Iago to aid him in his suit, and paying his service in advance. The play opens pat upon her elopement with the Moor, and Roderigo presumes Iago to have been in the secret of their intention.

Iago. 'Sblood, but you will not hear me !

If ever I did dream of such a matter,

Abhor me.

Rod. Thou told'st me thou didst hold him in thy hate. Iago. Despise me, if I do not. Three great ones of the

city,

In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,

Oft capp'd to him;2 and, by the faith of man,
I know my price, I'm worth no worse a place :
But he, as loving his own pride and purposes,
Evades them, with a bombast circumstance 3
Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war;

And, in conclusion, nonsuits my mediators;
For, Certes, says he, I've already chose
My officer. And what was he?
Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,

A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wight ;4

2 It appears that to cap was used for a salutation of respect, made by taking off the cap. So explained by Coles in his Dictionary: "To cap a person, coram aliquo caput aperire, nudare; to uncover the head before any one." And Shakespeare uses half-cap for a cold or a slight salutation. So in Timon of Athens, ii. 2: “With certain half-caps and cold-moving nods they froze me into silence."

3 A bombastic circumlocution; or a speech strutting through a circumstantial detail with big words and sounding phrases.

4 In is sometimes equivalent to on account of. See page 59, note 7.Wight was applied indifferently to persons of either sex; often with a dash of humour or satire. Iago seems to be rather fond of the term: he has it again in ii. I: "She was a wight, if ever such wight were," &c. In the text, he probably alludes to Cassio's amorous intrigue with Bianca, which comes out so prominent in the course of the play. - Cassio is sneeringly called "a great arithmetician" and a "counter-caster," in allusion to the pursuits for which the Florentines were distinguished. The point is thus stated by Charles Armitage Browne: "A soldier from Florence, famous for its bankers throughout Europe, and for its invention of bills of exchange, bookkeeping, and every thing connected with a counting-house, might well be ridiculed for his promotion by an Iago in this manner."

That never set a squadron in the field,
Nor the division of a battle 5 knows

More than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric,
Wherein the togèd consuls can propose

As masterly as he :6 mere prattle, without practice,
Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had th' election:
And I — of whom his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds
Christian and heathen — must be be-lee'd and calm'd
By debitor-and-creditor: 7 this counter-caster,
He, in good time, must his lieutenant be,

And I

God bless the mark! - his Moorship's ancient.8 Rod. By Heaven, I rather would have been his hangman. Iago. Why, there's no remedy; 'tis the curse of service, Preferment goes by letter and affection,

And not by old gradation, where each second
Stood heir to th' first. Now, sir, be judge yourself,
Whether I in any just term am affined9

5 The arrangement, ordering, or marshalling of troops for a battle. Theoric for theory; what may be learned from books. See vol. xii. page 9, note 7.-"The togèd consuls" are the civil governors; so called by Iago in opposition to the warlike qualifications of which he has been speaking. There may be an allusion to the adage, “Cedant arma togæ."- -Propose, probably, in the sense of prate or propound. See vol. iv. p. 196, n. 1.

7 By a mere accountant, a keeper of debt and credit. Iago means that Cassio, though knowing no more of war than men of the gown, as distinguished from men of the sword, has yet outsailed him in military advancement. In nautical language, being be-lee'd by another is the opposite of having the windward of him; which latter is a position of great advantage. See vol. xvi. page 321, note 2.- Again, he calls Cassio "this counter-caster," in allusion to the counters formerly used in reckoning up accounts.

8 Ancient is an old corruption of ensign; used both for the flag and for the bearer of it. See vol. xi. page 105, note 8, God bless the mark" is

an old phrase of prayer or deprecation, meaning May God avert, or invert, the omen used with reference to any thing that was regarded as a bad sign or token. See vol, xiii. page 191, note 10.

9 Whether I stand within any such terms of affinity or relationship to the Moor, as that I am bound to love him.