Othello, Act 4, Scene 3, 83-102
Arden 3 | E.A.J. Honigmann | London: Bloomsbury, 2016 | 298-299
“Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’vantage…”
(20 lines)
Speech
Words + Pronunciation
Translation
Assonance
Alliteration
Consonance
Thoughts
Thought Count
Rhythm
Pacing
Beats
Rhetoric
Full Scene
Given Circumstances
Speech
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
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,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? 100
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Words and Pronunciation +
Arden 3 | 2016
Words
a dozen: a facetious understatement, cancelled out by what follows. Cf. Falstaff, who ‘went to a bawdy-house not above once in a quarter – of an hour’ (1H4 3.3.16–17). (Honigmann)
vantage: in addition; as well; besides (Crystal)
to th’vantage: over and above (Honigmann)
store: stock (Honigmann)
played: gambled, sported amorously (Honigmann)
fall: fall from virtue (Honigmann)
slack: neglect; cease to prosecute in a vigorous manner (OED 1, 2) (Honigmann)
duties: The Book of Common Prayer (‘Of matrimony’) explained ‘the duty of husbands toward their wives, and wives toward their husbands’, but sexual duties were treated less explicitly than in some bibles. Cf. 1 Corinthians 7.2–3, ‘But because of fornication let every man have his own wife … Let the husband render his debt to the wife’. (This is the Catholic ‘Rheims’ bible of 1582; for debt Protestant bibles read ‘due benevolence’.) (Honigmann)
treasures: perhaps alluding to the myth of Danae, who was impregnated by Zeus disguised as a shower of gold. But treasure = seed was not uncommon: cf. 1H4 2.3.45, ‘my treasures and my rights of thee’ (Lady Hotspur to Hotspur); Son 20, ‘Mine be thy love, and thy love’s use their treasure’. (Honigmann)
foreign: another woman’s (Honigmann)
laps: lap could = pudendum (OED 2b)(Honigmann)
break out:
peevish: foolish; mad; spiteful; perverse; irritable (a word that has narrowed in meaning) (Honigmann)
Throwing restraint upon us: i.e. restricting our freedom (Honigmann)
scant:
former having:
despite:
Or scant our former having in despite: or reduce what we had before (our ‘treasures’) out of spite (Honigmann)
galls:
we have galls: i.e. we can feel resentment (Honigmann)
grace: mercy (Honigmann)
sense: sensation, or sensual appetite (Malone); or, emotional consciousness (OED 16) (Honigmann)
palates:
change: exchange (Honigmann)
sport: recreation, fun (Honigmann)
affection:
breed:
affection breed: sensation, or sensual appetite (Malone); or, emotional consciousness (OED 16) (Honigmann)
frailty: moral weakness (Honigmann)
use us well: Cf. 1.3.292, ‘use Desdemona well’, and 5.2.69n. (Honigmann)
ills: wicked or sinful acts (Honigmann)
instruct:
so: i.e. so to do (Malone). Cf. MV 3.1.71–2, ‘The villainy you teach me, I will execute’. This speech (Shylock’s ‘Hath not a Jew eyes?’) is close to Emilia’s here. (Honigmann)
Pronunciation +
th’vantage: thv-an-tidge
lines 83-84: A prose beginning for a verse speech is unusual, but 85–102 are more likely to be a cut in Q than an afterthought in F: see Texts, 12. (Honigmann)
palates: pal-itts
lines 85-102: She resumes 3.4.104–7. Though she begins by thinking of Othello, it is soon clear that she refers to her own marriage. Such protests against ‘double standards’ were not uncommon: cf. CE 2.1.10ff. (Honigmann)
Translation
No Fear Shakespeare
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen of them—as many as there are women in the world, in fact. But I do think it’s the husband’s fault if we wives cheat on them. For instance, our husbands may stop sleeping with us, and give it out to other women instead. Or they may get insanely jealous, and keep us from going anywhere. Or let’s say they hit us, or cut back on the money they give us out of spite. We have feelings. We may be able to forgive them, but we want to get back at them too. Husbands need to know that their wives are human beings too. They see, smell, and taste sweet and sour just like their husbands. Why do they replace us with other women? Do they do it for fun? I think they do. Is it out of lust? I think so. Is it a weakness? It is. And don’t we have passions, and a taste for fun, and weaknesses, just like men? Then tell them to treat us well. Or let them figure out that the bad things we do are just what we learned from them.
Assonance
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
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,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? 100
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Pronunciation +
shamest: (line 23) Q2–3; sham’st Q4, F; not in Q1 (Weis)
Jesu: (line 29) jeez-yoo or jee-zoo; jayz-yoo or jay-zoo
you: (line 29) The more formal pronoun is used consistently by Nurse when addressing Juliet, while the 13-year-old uses the familiar thou, thee, thy to her servant, in conformity with the etiquette of the day in which social class overrides age. (Weis)
marry: (line 62) mah-ree (UK); meh-ree (US) (OED)
trow: (line 62) tr-ah-oo (UK); tr-oh (US) (OED)
hie: (line 68) hah-ee
wanton: (line 70) want-en or want-in
Alliteration
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
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,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? 100
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Consonance
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
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,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? 100
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Thoughts
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
1. Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
2. But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
If wives do fall. 3. Say that they slack their duties
And pour our treasures into foreign laps;
3b. Or else break out in peevish jealousies,
Throwing restraint upon us; 3c. or say they strike us,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: 3d. and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. 4. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: 4b. they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. 5. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? 6. Is it sport?
7. I think it is. 8. And doth affection breed it?
9. I think it doth. 10. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
11. It is so too. 12. And have not we affections?
12b. Desires for sport? 12c. and frailty, as men have? 100
13. Then let them use us well: 13b. else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Thought Count
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Long: 1 | 0
Medium:* 2 or 3 | 0 or 1
Short:* 9 or 10 | 18 or 19
Total: 13 | 19
Complex: 4 | 4,2,2,2
End stopped: 6** | 7
Midline: 7 | 12
Period: 8
Exclamation: 0
Question: 5 (7)***
Dash:
*The one prose line that opens the speech is counted here as either a short or medium thought. It’s about 19 syllables in length.
**The one prose line that opens the speech is counted here as an end-stop, since it’s implied there could be a brief pause here.
***There are seven question marks if you count the two within thought 12: “And have not we affections? | Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have?”
Rhythm
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for. (prose)
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults (10R) [85]
If wives do fall. Say that they slack their duties (11W)
And pour our treasures into foreign laps; (10R)
Or else break out in peevish jealousies, (10R)
Throwing restraint upon us; or say they strike us, (12W)
Or scant our former having in despite, (10R) [90]
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace (10R)
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know (10R)
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell, (10R)
And have their palates both for sweet and sour (10R)
As husbands have. What is it that they do (10R) [95]
When they change us for others? Is it sport? (10)
I think it is. And doth affection breed it? (11W)
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs? (10|10R)
It is so too. And have not we affections? (11W)
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? (10)[100]
Then let them use us well: else let them know, (10R)
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so. (10R)
Pacing
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
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,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? 100
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Beats
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
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,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? 100
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Pronunciation +
shamest: (line 23) Q2–3; sham’st Q4, F; not in Q1 (Weis)
Jesu: (line 29) jeez-yoo or jee-zoo; jayz-yoo or jay-zoo
you: (line 29) The more formal pronoun is used consistently by Nurse when addressing Juliet, while the 13-year-old uses the familiar thou, thee, thy to her servant, in conformity with the etiquette of the day in which social class overrides age. (Weis)
marry: (line 62) mah-ree (UK); meh-ree (US) (OED)
trow: (line 62) tr-ah-oo (UK); tr-oh (US) (OED)
hie: (line 68) hah-ee
wanton: (line 70) want-en or want-in
Rhetoric
Arden 3 | 2016
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
But I do think it is their husbands’ faults 85
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,
Or scant our former having in despite, 90
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do 95
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have? 100
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Scene
Arden 3 | 2016 | pp.292-299
[4.3]
Enter Othello, Lodovico, Desdemona, Emilia and Attendants.
LODOVICO
I do beseech you, sir, trouble yourself no further.
OTHELLO
O, pardon me, ‘twill do me good to walk.
LODOVICO
Madam, good night: I humbly thank your ladyship.
DESDEMONA
Your honour is most welcome.
OTHELLO
Will you walk, sir?
5O, Desdemona –
DESDEMONA
5My lord?
OTHELLO
5Get you to bed
On th’instant, I will be returned forthwith.
Dismiss your attendant there: look’t be done.
DESDEMONA
I will, my lord.
Exeunt Othello, Lodovico and Attendants.
EMILIA
How goes it now? He looks gentler than he did.
DESDEMONA
10He says he will return incontinent,
And hath commanded me to go to bed
And bid me to dismiss you.
EMILIA
Dismiss me?
DESDEMONA
It was his bidding; therefore, good Emilia,
Give me my nightly wearing, and adieu.
15We must not now displease him.
EMILIA
Ay. — Would you had never seen him!
DESDEMONA
So would not I: my love doth so approve him
That even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns
— Prithee unpin me – have grace and favour .
EMILIA
20I have laid those sheets you bade me on the bed.
DESDEMONA
All’s one. Good faith , how foolish are our minds!
If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me
In one of these same sheets.
EMILIA
Come, come, you talk.
DESDEMONA
My mother had a maid called Barbary,
25She was in love, and he she loved proved mad
And did forsake her. She had a song of ‘ willow ’,
An old thing ’twas, but it expressed her fortune
And she died singing it. That song tonight
Will not go from my mind. I have much to do
30But to go hang my head all at one side
And sing it like poor Barbary. Prithee dispatch.
EMILIA
Shall I go fetch your night-gown?
DESDEMONA
No, unpin me here.
Emilia
This Lodovico is a proper man. A very hand
35some man.
DESDEMONA
He speaks well.
EMILIA
I know a lady in Venice would have walked
barefoot to Palestine for a touch of his nether lip.
DESDEMONA
[Sings.]
The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree,
40Sing all a green willow:
Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee,
Sing willow, willow, willow.
The fresh streams ran by her and murmured her moans,
Sing willow, willow, willow:
45Her salt tears fell from her and softened the stones,
Sing willow, willow, willow.
[Speaks.] Lay by these.
Willow, willow
[Speaks.] Prithee hie thee: he’ll come anon.
50Sing all a green willow must be my garland.
Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve —
[Speaks.] Nay, that’s not next. Hark, who is’t that knocks?
EMILIA
It’s the wind.
DESDEMONA
[Sings.]
I called my love false love; but what said he then?
55Sing willow, willow, willow:
If I court moe women, you’ll couch with moe men.
[Speaks.] So, get thee gone; good night. Mine eyes do itch,
Doth that bode weeping?
EMILIA
’Tis neither here nor there.
DESDEMONA
I have heard it said so. O, these men, these men!
60Dost thou in conscience think – tell me, Emilia –
That there be women do abuse their husbands
In such gross kind?
EMILIA
There be some such, no question.
DESDEMONA
Wouldst thou do such a deed for all the world?
EMILIA
Why, would not you?
DESDEMONA
No, by this heavenly light!
EMILIA
65Nor I neither, by this heavenly light:
I might do’t as well i’th’ dark.
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.
DESDEMONA
Good troth, I think thou wouldst not.
EMILIA
70By my troth, I think I should, and undo’t when I
had done. Marry, I would not do such a thing for
a joint-ring, nor for measures of lawn, nor for gowns,
petticoats, nor caps, nor any petty exhibition. But for
all the whole world? ud’s pity, who would not make
75her husband a cuckold to make him a monarch? I
should venture purgatory for’t.
DESDEMONA
Beshrew me, if I would do such a wrong
For the whole world!
EMILIA
Why, the wrong is but a wrong i’th’ world; and
80having the world for your labour, ’tis a wrong in your
own world, and you might quickly make it right.
DESDEMONA
I do not think there is any such woman.
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen, and as many to th’ vantage as would
store the world they played for.
85But 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,
90Or scant our former having in despite,
Why, we have galls: and though we have some grace
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sense like them: they see, and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
95As husbands have. What is it that they do
When they change us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections?
100Desires for sport? and frailty, as men have?
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so .
DESDEMONA
Good night, good night. God me such usage send
Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!
Exeunt.
Pronunciation +
shamest: (line 23) Q2–3; sham’st Q4, F; not in Q1 (Weis)
Jesu: (line 29) jeez-yoo or jee-zoo; jayz-yoo or jay-zoo
you: (line 29) The more formal pronoun is used consistently by Nurse when addressing Juliet, while the 13-year-old uses the familiar thou, thee, thy to her servant, in conformity with the etiquette of the day in which social class overrides age. (Weis)
marry: (line 62) mah-ree (UK); meh-ree (US) (OED)
trow: (line 62) tr-ah-oo (UK); tr-oh (US) (OED)
hie: (line 68) hah-ee
wanton: (line 70) want-en or want-in
Emilia’s speeches and analyses.
Othello
Yes, a dozen: and as many to th’vantage…
Source
Oxford | TBA
EMILIA
Yes, a dozen: and as many to the vantage as would
store the world they played for.
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,
Or scant our former having in despite–
Why, we have galls; and though we have some grace,
Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know
Their wives have sins like them: they see and smell,
And have their palates both for sweet and sour
As husbands have. What is it that they do,
When they charge us for others? Is it sport?
I think it is. And doth affection breed it?
I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?
It is so too. And have not we affections,
Desires for sport, and frailty, as men have?
Then let them use us well: else let them know,
The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.
Thought Counts
Arden | 1979
Thoughts |TBD
Short: 3
Medium: 4
Long: 2
Total: 9
End-stopped: 8
Mid-line: 1
Periods: 7
Exclamations: 1
Questions: 1
Unfinished: 0
Helena needs the audience to