Act 4 Scene 3


If wives do fall. Say that they slack their duties, And pour our treasures into foreign27 Or else break out in peevish28


laps, jealousies,


Throwing restraint upon us – or say they strike us, Or scant our former having in despite29 Why, we have galls30


– , and though we have some grace,31 90


Yet have we some revenge. Let husbands know Their wives have sense32


100


And have their palates both for sweet and sour, As husbands have. What is it that they do When they change us for others? Is it sport?33 I think it is. And doth affection breed it?34 I think it doth. Is’t frailty that thus errs?35 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.36


DESDEMONA


Good night, good night. God me such uses send,37 Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!38 [Exeunt]


Key Quotations DESDEMONA My love doth so approve him,


That even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns – Prithee, unpin me – have grace and favour in them.


EMILIA DESDEMONA


Then let them use us well: else let them know, The ills we do, their ills instruct us so.


God me such uses send, Not to pick bad from bad, but by bad mend!


Commentary


This scene is quiet and melancholic in contrast to the tension and drama of the preceding scene. There is a sense of foreboding in this scene. Desdemona has a vague premonition of her own death and instructs Emilia that she wishes to be buried in her wedding sheets: ‘If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me / In one of those same sheets.’ Desdemona also recalls the death of her mother’s maid, Barbary, and how she died singing the tragic love song ‘Willow’. Barbary was abandoned by a lover who became mad. This echoes Othello’s mad jealousy and Barbary’s death foreshadows Desdemona’s. ‘Willow’ is sung by Desdemona throughout this scene and provides a haunting reminder that Othello is planning to kill Desdemona. Desdemona’s saint-like devotion is moving for the audience. Despite Othello’s aggression and accusations, she cannot help but love him: ‘My love doth so approve him, / That even his


140 like them. They see and smell


27 foreign: other women’s 28 peevish: irritable/cranky


29 scant…despite: spitefully reduce


our allowance 30


galls: resentment 31 grace: mercy


32 have sense: are sensual 33 sport: fun/pleasure 34 And doth…breed it?: Is it caused


by passion? 35


Is’t frailty…errs?: Is weakness the cause?


36


The ills…us so: the bad things that we do, are learnt from men


37 God me…send: God, expose me


to such behaviour 38


Not to pick…bad mend!: not to learn bad habits, but to improve myself by knowing what is bad!


Othello


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