Othello Act 4: Emilia's badass monologue and someone needs to do a cover of the Willow song

4.1
The scene starts with more twisting of words by Iago and lots of discussion about how Cassio had the handkerchief Othello gave Desdemona. A play about a handkerchief. Iago continues to imply sexy times between Desdemona and Cassio only he's getting more bold and more graphic as he continues to  mess with Othello's head:

IAGO
'Faith, that he did--I know not what he did.
OTHELLO
What? what?
IAGO
Lie--
OTHELLO
          With her?
IAGO
                          With her, on her; what you will.

If you don't get mileage  out of the scansion in that shared line there, I'm not sure I can help you with verse work. it's so good and so cheeky and dirty and quintessential Iago. After he works up Othello, Cassio comes in and sees Othello freaking out. Which brings us to this interesting line:

My lord is fall'n into an epilepsy:
This is his second fit; he had one yesterday.
Does Othello really have epilepsy? Or is he just shaking with rage/freaking out? I have seen it played both ways and I think both are interesting choices. The key tends to also be in how Cassio reacts. Is this something he doesn't know about Othello until now? Does he believe Iago? etc.

Then Othello freaks out some more assuming his plight and the plight of all men is that all women are whores

O, 'tis the spite of hell, the fiend's arch-mock,
To lip a wanton in a secure couch,
And to suppose her chaste! 

Iago then tells Othello that he will have Cassio talk about his time with Desdemona again and othello can spy on them out of ear shot, but after Othello is further away he tells the audience he will really ask Cassio about his exploits with Bianca.

He, when he hears of her, cannot refrain
From the excess of laughter. 
Can I just say that excessive laughter is a goldmine for an actor?! (See also: the virginity test in The Changeling) I mean, laughing like crazy is a great way to get the audience to laugh too. Which, you know, is pretty needed at this point in the play… Iago continues to let us know how he's manipulating everyone:

As he shall smile, Othello shall go mad;
And his unbookish jealousy must construe
Poor Cassio's smiles, gestures and light behavior,
Quite in the wrong.

And then Cassio comes on stage and it falls out just as Iago said it would. Only at this point I feel even less sorry for Cassio since this is the reaction to Iago asking about Cassio marrying Bianca:

This is the monkey's own giving out: she is
persuaded I will marry her, out of her own love and
flattery, not out of my promise.
AHAHAHA I'm not disabusing her of this thought though because I want her to keep doing textile work for me and giving me sexual favors. AHAHAHAHAHA HILARIOUS! Keep going Cassio!

(She) So hangs, and lolls, and weeps upon me; so hales,
and pulls me: ha, ha, ha!

And almost immediately after this Bianca confronts Cassio, is pissed, and his only concern after the fact:
IAGO
After her, after her.
CASSIO
'Faith, I must; she'll rail in the street else.
IAGO
Will you sup there?
CASSIO
'Faith, I intend so.
So… I want to keep seeing you and doing you… just don't make it public because you know i'm really concerned about my reputation. And whores don't look super for one's reputation. But that doesn't mean I'll stop seeing you. it's cool. Hey Iago, in case you need to now where I am tonight, I'll be at Bianca's. Not that YOU would ever use that against me…. #idiot

OTHELLO

Ay, let her rot, and perish, and be damned to-night; for she shall not live: no, my heart is turned to stone; I strike it, and it hurts my hand. O, the world hath not a sweeter creature: she might lie by an emperor's side and command him tasks.

she will sing the savageness out of a bear

Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even
the bed she hath contaminated.

DESDEMONA
Why, sweet Othello,--
OTHELLO
[Striking her] Devil!
DESDEMONA
I have not deserved this.

Goats and monkeys!

IAGO
Alas, alas!
It is not honesty in me to speak
What I have seen and known. You shall observe him,
And his own courses will denote him so
That I may save my speech: do but go after,
And mark how he continues.
LODOVICO
I am sorry that I am deceived in him.

4.2
The scene starts with Othello questioning Emilia about Cassio and Desdemona.

For, if she be not honest, chaste, and true,
There's no man happy; the purest of their wives
Is foul as slander.

She says enough; yet she's a simple bawd
That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,

OTHELLO
Why, what art thou?
DESDEMONA
                             Your wife, my lord; your true
And loyal wife.

If Ron Burgundy were playing Othello, now would be the time when he would shout

But instead he says:

Was this fair paper, this most goodly book,
Made to write 'whore' upon? 
So close enough…
Othello even involves Emilia in his hatred, treating her like a bawd:
We have done our course; there's money for your pains:
I pray you, turn the key and keep our counsel.
Nothing as classy as throwing money at women and assuming they are all whores… oh wait…
Desdemona has perhaps a strange reaction to all this:
Prithee, tonight
Lay on my bed my wedding sheets: 
the general consensus on this seems to be that either Desdemona knows she's going to die or this is a desperate attempt to remind Othello of their love. (I happen to think it's much more interesting if it's the latter. Who wants to watch someone resigned to death? I also think that very few Shakespearean characters go gently into that good night… I mean, aside from the ones that off themselves and even then… they seem pretty bold when they go about it…)
Then we have Emilia unknowingly curse her husband. (If you think this is interesting wait till we get to all the cursing in Richard III!!)

EMILIA
I will be hang'd, if some eternal villain,
Some busy and insinuating rogue,
Some cogging, cozening slave, to get some office,
Have not devised this slander; I'll be hang'd else.
IAGO
Fie, there is no such man; it is impossible.
DESDEMONA
If any such there be, heaven pardon him!
EMILIA
A halter pardon him! and hell gnaw his bones!
I love that this is said in front of Iago. I think in some ways that makes this better than the RIII scene. We also get a little more of a hint about the marital strife between Iago and Emilia and reminded of some of Iago's potential motivation for unleashing all this havoc:
EMILIA
O, fie upon them! Some such squire he was
That turn'd your wit the seamy side without,
And made you to suspect me with the Moor.
IAGO
You are a fool; go to.
Then Iago tries to make excuses for Othello's behavior.
IAGO
I pray you, be content; 'tis but his humor:
The business of the state does him offense,
And he does chide with you.
If your partner is stressed from work and takes it out on you? RED FLAG. Just felt I needed to reiterate that…

After the women leave, Roderigo comes to confront Iago and it seems that Iago no longer has the verbal sway he used to as Roderigo turns Iago's own language back on him:
IAGO
Well; go to; very well.
RODERIGO
Very well! go to! I cannot go to, man; nor 'tis not very well: nay, I think it is scurvy, and begin to find myself fobbed in it.
I just have to say that "find myself fobbed in it" should give us a MUCH NEEDED laugh at this point. Then Iago takes Roderigo's contributions to his plans a step further:
IAGO
 the removing of Cassio.
RODERIGO
How do you mean, removing of him?
IAGO
Why, by making him uncapable of Othello's place; knocking out his brains.
Knocking out his brains… for when subtle is no longer an option…

Moving on...

4.3
This is the scene with the willow song. It's also chilling and has one of my favorite speeches in the play. You can hear one rendition of the willow song here:

DESDEMONA

Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?

EMILIA

Why, would not you?

DESDEMONA

No, by this heavenly light!

EMILIA

Nor I neither by this heavenly light;

I might do't as well i' the dark.

ZING! Emilia rocks some bawdy humor. I love her. I want to play her. Just throwing that out there.

DESDEMONA

Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?

EMILIA

The world's a huge thing: it is a great price.

For a small vice.

Funny AND practical. Why would Iago want anyone else for a wife? Why is he so mean to her? Oh, right, misogyny

-why, who would not make her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch?
I can't do justice to Stephen Booth's amazing Blackfriars presentation on this line, so I'm just going to have to reference it and move on and maybe some of you who were there will remember it fondly and others can try and ask me in person…w here I will still fail to communicate the brilliance.

And then Emilia launches into on of my favorite monologues

But I do think it is their husbands' faults
If wives do fall: say that they slack their duties,
And pour our treasures into foreign laps,
Or else break out in peevish jealousies,
Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us,
It's taking all I have not to post the entire monologue so I will just skip to this:
 and though we have some grace,
Yet have we some revenge.
Vengeance. reminds me of Constance. Or Evadne. Should it trouble me that I am more drawn to the vengeful characters than the merciful ones? I guess I like them too but… the vengeful ones seem so much more interesting… I guess at least I have no interest in playing Tamara? Speaking of merciful, Desdemona ends the scene with a counterpoint to Emilia

Good night, good night: heaven me such uses send,
Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!

That's act 4. (Sorry the end was a bit rushed but my allotted blogging/childfree time runs out so fast these days! Seriously though there's not much I can say about Emilia's monologue aside from saying that I could dwell on every line and break down how much I love it!!)

Othello Act 3: Twisting words, misogyny, and trifles

3.1

Act 3 starts with the clown and musicians. There are jokes about how the musicians are paid NOT to play and the obligatory fart joke. 

Cassio then pulls the same thing on the clown that the clown just pulled on the musician and pays him to please shut up. He asks the clown to go find Emilia for him but before she arrives Iago shows up.

Then Cassio gives us this lovely piece of dramatic irony with an aside to the audience about Iago:

I never knew
A Florentine more kind and honest.

That is either a your typical aside joke at the naiveté of Cassio, a joke at how terrible Florentines are that Iago is the most kind and honest you get, or both…

Emilia comes out and tells Cassio that Desdemona is pleading his case but things don't look great. Cassio asks for time with Desdemona to help her get Cassio back in Othello's good graces and Emilia agrees to help.

3.2

Ridiculously short scene. only a few lines long. It basically lets us know that Iago is supposed to deliver some messages and Othello is going out to oversee some "fortification" presumably of the docks/naval works. Basically: Othello won't be at home.

3.3

Now we get the ball rolling/into the longer scenes.
We have another fun moment for the audience regarding Iago and his motives when Emilia and Desdemona have this little exchange:

EMILIA

Good madam, do: I warrant it grieves my husband,

As if the case were his.
DESDEMONA

O, that's an honest fellow.

I'm just going to say that there are about a dozen more times in the play where Iago is called honest, etc. I won't highlight them all, but it's a running theme. I'd like to say it makes the other people in the play seem gullible, but the truth is that sometimes it feels like every other day we are shocked by the "honest" upstanding citizens/people we place our trust in that are then found to be a part of a huge cover up for scandal. more on this with Cassio at the end of the act.
Speaking of Cassio, Desdemona promises to plead his case to Othello, and maybe goes a little overboard:

If I do vow a friendship, I'll perform it
To the last article: my lord shall never rest;
I'll watch him tame and talk him out of patience;
His bed shall seem a school, his board a shrift;
I'll intermingle every thing he does
With Cassio's suit
Free relationship advice for both men and women: Your bed, especially if you are in a romantic relationship, should be a place for sleep and sex ….  No one wants to look at their bed as a place to get nagged. I mean, no one wants to be nagged in general but you do not want to take that to the bedroom. If anything, follow the HIMYM Lilly and Marshall rule of pausing arguments. But if it's not even a major argument… come on Desdemona. A little compartmentalization would be nice.
Desdemona keeps her word and when she sees Othello she immediately mentions Cassio. Othello is vague with her about what his action will be so she starts asking for specifics to make sure he will not wait to long and ends up saying this little gem which I really need to use in daily life:

I prithee, name the time, but let it not
Exceed three days: 

Yup, that's going in my honey-do vocabulary. Also probably for friends and co-workers at some point. Then we have this little exchange which, for me, has some red flags on the Desdemona/Othello relationship in general:

OTHELLO

Prithee, no more: let him come when he will;

I will deny thee nothing.
DESDEMONA

Why, this is not a boon;

'Tis as I should entreat you wear your gloves,

Or feed on nourishing dishes, or keep you warm,

Or sue to you to do a peculiar profit

To your own person: nay, when I have a suit

Wherein I mean to touch your love indeed,

It shall be full of poise and difficult weight

And fearful to be granted.
OTHELLO

I will deny thee nothing:

Whereon, I do beseech thee, grant me this,

To leave me but a little to myself.
DESDEMONA

Shall I deny you? no: farewell, my lord.

Yeah… healthy relationships are NOT built on just saying YES all the time. Not the way it works. not how anyone grows or becomes a better person. Also, if this is something as minor as Desdemona telling Othello he should wear his gloves or eat healthy, it would not be a big deal if he said no. Annoying? yes. have bad consequences? probably eventually. but NOT worth nagging about 24/7. or in bed. A relationship built on thinking you can always say yes and give your partner anything they want is doomed to either failure or serious rethinking down the line and probably sooner rather than later. I think if I ever teach Othello, my lessons will have the themes of: Reputation and Red Flags- LIFE LESSONS.

 Perdition catch my soul,
But I do love thee! and when I love thee not,
Chaos is come again.
Bring on the chaos then because things are about to get ugly. Also, for any of you who are more into musicals than Shakespeare- this is basically the early modern version of Jason Robert Brown's lyric:
Nothing about us was perfect or clear, but when paradise calls me I'd rather be here…
AKA I'll take hell over heaven as long as I have you. Again, not a super basis for a relationship…
After Desdemona and Emilia leave, Iago begins to work on Othello. He mentions Cassio, and the word honest begins to have absolutely no meaning by the end of the scene...

Men should be what they seem;
Or those that be not, would they might seem none!
should be. But even for people striving to live a truly virtuous life this is a DIFFICULT task. and they didn't even live in the age of social media where you are basically expected to market a version of yourself to the online world. Even if you aren't trying to seem one way, you may. Should your whole reputation hang on what seems? Where do facts play a role?

Anyway, Othello is not big on this beating around the bush thing and tells Iago:

give thy worst of thoughts
The worst of words.

Othello, refusing to play passive aggressive Wednesday since 1603(ish).

Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands:
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
Iago continues down passive aggressive lane talking about how he doesn't want to gossip because reputations are hard to undamaged and why would he even have the motive to do that. This line struck me though because the devilish thing about Iago is that he is continually described as honest and he speaks in SO MANY truths and half truths. It's very Screwtape Letters.

But, O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!
This line is so beautiful. And also an ideal representation of chiasmus (no, seriously, it's the example that my favorite rhetoric website, linked just there, uses and it's really hard to find a more succinct, perfect example of that rhetoric.) Bonus: on top of the chiasmus there's some rocking alliteration. it's like Shakespeare was good at writing or something… and now that we've stated the obvious let's move on.

Poor and content is rich and rich enough,
But riches fineless is as poor as winter
To him that ever fears he shall be poor.
DEAR GOD I MUST add that to the list of Shakespeare store etsy quotes. how amazing would that be on a wallet? dark and twisty yet also oh so true. Also, adding the first line to my artist's journal. poor and content is rich and rich enough… is there any saying better for a young family of artists?!

For she had eyes, and chose me.
I love this. This should be really reassuring for Othello. It's a good defense against jealousy. I also like that it focuses on love being a choice. Except… turns out that Othello and Taylor Swift have something in common- they both get drunk on JEALOUSY… and before you know it Othello is on his own and asking

Why did I marry?
well THAT was a fast reversal. Dear O, have you met Leontes? You two should go to support group together. (Oh, did we not get to Winter's Tale yet? we'll revisit this…) Also yes, Othello, why DID you marry if you didn't understand your vows?:

If I do prove her haggard, ...
I'ld whistle her off and let her down the wind,
To pray at fortune.
SO MUCH FOR THAT WHOLE FOR BETTER OR WORSE THING

O curse of marriage,
That we can call these delicate creatures ours,
And not their appetites!
Oh those women… if only they weren't such whores and we could own all of them….

Speaking of the woman he wants to own, Desdemona comes in and sees that Othello is not well. She tries to wipe his brow and wrap his head with the handkerchief he gave her and then this happens:

Your napkin is too little:

[He puts the handkerchief from him; and it drops]

Let it alone. Come, I'll go in with you.

So… the implied stage direction here is that she bends down to pick it up and Othello doesn't let her. Let's remember this little moment next scene. Also, let's remember to talk about the Paula Vogel Play Desdemona, a Play about a Handkerchief  (Sorry folks, it's a long one. I've been gone for a while! Lots to catch up on!) In Vogel's feminist response play, the only characters who appear onstage are the women- Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. In this version of the play, Desdemona really is sleeping around and kind of a terrible person in general who treats Emilia as just a servant, and pretty poorly at that. A core message of the play though, aside from giving the women a hell of a lot more of a voice than they have in this play (we'll come back to that…), is- what if Desdemona IS guilty of adultery? Is it OK for Othello to (spoiler alert) KILL HER if that's the case?! Are the terrible things Othello and Iago say about women OK if someone has been unfaithful? Just something to think about in the next few scenes… well really for the rest of the play… and here's a bonus picture from the production I did of Desdemona…  

(Featuring Laurie Riffe, Bonnie Morrison, directed by Mary Coy and photo by Woods Pierce)

But back to Shakespeare's play… After Othello and Desdemona leave, Emilia picks up the handkerchief and tells the audience:

I'll have the work ta'en out,
And give't Iago: what he will do with it
Heaven knows, not I;
I nothing but to please his fantasy.
The production I mentioned before by the ASC that seemed to be more the tragedy of Emilia in a really beautiful way showed a woman desperate to rekindle the love between her and her husband. So much so that she will betray her friend in what she thinks is a small way. And as timing would have it, in comes Iago who is mean as usual to his wife.

EMILIA
Do not you chide; I have a thing for you.
IAGO
A thing for me? it is a common thing--
If you do not put ALL the sexual innuendo into these lines from both sides you are missing a wonderful opportunity… just saying…
Emilia almost immediately regrets her decision and tries to take it back:
If it be not for some purpose of import,
Give't me again: poor lady, she'll run mad
When she shall lack it.
but of course Iago dismisses this and now that he has the handkerchief there's no going back because he already has his plan:

Trifles light as air
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ:
Isn't trifles a great word?! Questioning what human nature takes for proof is incredibly powerful. And I think it's particularly timely too… the surest proof dismissed and the lightest trifles given weight both in our daily lives and in our dealing with the world. Some things about human nature never change… Othello comes back in and is pissed at Iago for putting him in doubt:

If thou dost slander her and torture me,
Never pray more; abandon all remorse;
On horror's head horrors accumulate;
(the auditory proximity of "whore" and "horror" never ceases to amuse me.) Iago comes back with asking Othello what he wants for proof- does he expect to catch them in the act?  (Iago hopes not, because it's not even happening…) He points out that it's unlikely they would be so careless as to get caught while having sex even:

Were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys,
As salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross
As ignorance made drunk. 
Inappropriate Etsy shop addition: a bachelor or bachelorette card saying: May you always be "prime as goats…" etc. for each other! It could go over big in some groups… (one of these days I really am going to craft these things… probably when my child is in high school… good thing Shakespeare never goes out of style.)
Anyway, Iago tries to share some proof and makes up this super strange story about Cassio:

In sleep I heard him say 'Sweet Desdemona,
Let us be wary, let us hide our loves;'
And then, sir, would he gripe and wring my hand,
Cry 'O sweet creature!' and then kiss me hard,
As if he pluck'd up kisses by the roots
That grew upon my lips: then laid his leg
Over my thigh, and sigh'd, and kiss'd; and then
Cried 'Cursed fate that gave thee to the Moor!'
How does Othello not hear this and say WTF? You let him put his leg over you and kiss you?! Do you have a thing for Cassio? Is that why you didn't wake him up and say hey… stop sleep molesting me?! I mean, I can MAYBE get over the being kissed thing b/c it was a surprise, but then why WHY why would you not either move further away or wake the dude up? Iago's story makes NO SENSE to anyone but crazed Othello.

In the due reverence of a sacred vow
I here engage my words.
Funny, for a man who is eager to break off his marriage vow he's sure quick to jump into a new sacred vow… He then tells Iago:

Now art thou my lieutenant.
So if Iago only wanted a promotion mission accomplished. But of course we know this is about more than that.

3.4
More clown bits to start off this scene. An excellent parallel here about the treachery of words. (See Feste in 12th night for more on this… ) The clown can twist words as easily as Iago, they just twist them to different ends… to sum up:
I will catechise the world for him; that is, make questions, and by them answer.

This is the scene where the handkerchief that Othello threw to the ground and would not let Desdemona pick up earlier suddenly becomes not only super important, but MAGICAL:

she told her, while she kept it,
'Twould make her amiable and subdue my father
Entirely to her love, but if she lost it
Or made gift of it, my father's eye
Should hold her loathed and his spirits should hunt
After new fancies: she, dying, gave it me;
Ah, the keys to any good relationship. a magical handkerchief and submission.

After Othello's strange behavior and exit, Emilia simply states:
Is not this man jealous?

When Desdemona tries to defend him, Emilia gives us hint into what her life experience has taught her about men and it. is. depressing:
'Tis not a year or two shows us a man:
They are all but stomachs, and we all but food;
To eat us hungerly, and when they are full,
They belch us.
She goes on to warn:
They are not ever jealous for the cause,
But jealous for they are jealous: 'tis a monster
Begot upon itself, born on itself.
Let's take a moment to talk about all the red flags.

Jealousy and isolation- signs of an abusive relationship. If you ever teach this play please please please take a moment to warn the young women and men in your class to get out of abusive relationships. That may seem hokey or like a long shot, but I have helped students get out of bad situations before they got worse through teaching plays before (though the play I taught was the Country Wife- same issues of jealousy and isolation… my student thought this was totally normal par for the course behavior. THIS is why we need the arts!)

After Desdemona and Emilia leave, Cassio comes onstage and encounters Bianca. He talks about how he probably should not be seen with her, which SERIOUSLY makes me question how much this guy really cares about his reputation. And Bianca at least calls him on his verbal shenanigans:
CASSIO
Not that I love you not.
BIANCA
But that you do not love me.
Rhetoric!
But she still agrees to copy the work on the handkerchief Cassio brought her (that he just found… not weird at all…) in spite of his vagueness and equivocation…

That's Act 3. It only gets darker from here.