Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Apology For The Character And Conduct Of Iago.
ducted that he is , from the first scene to the last , hated and despised . But not so , ' adds the learned critic , ' Sbakspetzre ' s Richard . ' Now with all due submission to the translator of the Poetics , I conceive that the crimes of Iago , when fairly compared with those of Richard , will fade , like the new moon overpowered by meridian splendour .
To the unrelenting cruelty of a Borgia Richard added more than Pharisaic hypocrisy . The only virtue which he possessed , if an inborn faculty deserves that name , was courage ; but he possessed it in common with Iago . The latter , to revenge injuries , which I shall shew were of no trivial kind , is guilty of murther ; and insufficient as this plea may be to exculpate him , not one of so mitigating a nature
can be urged in extenuation of the various murthers committed by Richard . The intended victims of lago ' s revenge are three ; Othello , Cassio , and Desdemona ; yet neither seems to have had the least claim to his regard . A host , on the contrary , is sacrificed by the sanguinary tyrant . A wife , * a faithful friend , an affectionate brother , two amiable nephews , whom he was bound by every sacred tie fte
protect : ' Wlio should against the murtherer shut the door , Not bear the knife himself . ' All these , and many other innocent victims , he immolates to' his diabolical ambition , without the least remorse or compunction : nor till he awakens from his horrid dream , does he betray the slightest
feeling of humanity . He then , indeed , exclaims , ' My conscience hath a thousand several tongues , And every tongue brings in . a several tale ; And every tale condemns me for a villain . Perjury , perjury to the highest degree ; Murther , stern murther to the direst degree ; All several sins , all urged in each degree , Throng to the bar , all crying guilty ! guilty ' '
As men are not apt to see their own conductin the most unfavourable point of view , I will rest Richard ' s character on the account he gives of himself , and proceed to that of Iago . The principal charges urged against him are , his ingratitude and treachery to Othello ; his perfidy to Cassio and to Desdemona . ' Previous to the opening of the drama , we are led to understand that lago ' s character was respectable both as an officer and a man . —
His military services are often alluded to . He is made known to the gentlemen of Cyprus , by Cassio , as * the bold Iago . ' Othello reports him to the Duke of Venice as ' a man of honesty and trust . '—• In another place he talks of him as ' Of exceeding honesty , And knows all qualities with a learned spirit Of human dealings . '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Apology For The Character And Conduct Of Iago.
ducted that he is , from the first scene to the last , hated and despised . But not so , ' adds the learned critic , ' Sbakspetzre ' s Richard . ' Now with all due submission to the translator of the Poetics , I conceive that the crimes of Iago , when fairly compared with those of Richard , will fade , like the new moon overpowered by meridian splendour .
To the unrelenting cruelty of a Borgia Richard added more than Pharisaic hypocrisy . The only virtue which he possessed , if an inborn faculty deserves that name , was courage ; but he possessed it in common with Iago . The latter , to revenge injuries , which I shall shew were of no trivial kind , is guilty of murther ; and insufficient as this plea may be to exculpate him , not one of so mitigating a nature
can be urged in extenuation of the various murthers committed by Richard . The intended victims of lago ' s revenge are three ; Othello , Cassio , and Desdemona ; yet neither seems to have had the least claim to his regard . A host , on the contrary , is sacrificed by the sanguinary tyrant . A wife , * a faithful friend , an affectionate brother , two amiable nephews , whom he was bound by every sacred tie fte
protect : ' Wlio should against the murtherer shut the door , Not bear the knife himself . ' All these , and many other innocent victims , he immolates to' his diabolical ambition , without the least remorse or compunction : nor till he awakens from his horrid dream , does he betray the slightest
feeling of humanity . He then , indeed , exclaims , ' My conscience hath a thousand several tongues , And every tongue brings in . a several tale ; And every tale condemns me for a villain . Perjury , perjury to the highest degree ; Murther , stern murther to the direst degree ; All several sins , all urged in each degree , Throng to the bar , all crying guilty ! guilty ' '
As men are not apt to see their own conductin the most unfavourable point of view , I will rest Richard ' s character on the account he gives of himself , and proceed to that of Iago . The principal charges urged against him are , his ingratitude and treachery to Othello ; his perfidy to Cassio and to Desdemona . ' Previous to the opening of the drama , we are led to understand that lago ' s character was respectable both as an officer and a man . —
His military services are often alluded to . He is made known to the gentlemen of Cyprus , by Cassio , as * the bold Iago . ' Othello reports him to the Duke of Venice as ' a man of honesty and trust . '—• In another place he talks of him as ' Of exceeding honesty , And knows all qualities with a learned spirit Of human dealings . '