For my own amusement, I made a list of the words that made me go “pffft, you made that up” (until shortly after intermission when I decided I’d need a more attentive ear and a lot more paper if I really wanted to keep up):
englut
Despite my conviction at the time that Shakespeare just threw a prefix or suffix on a word whenever he needed another syllable for his iambic pentameter, turns out most of these actually are or were real words.
I also made a list of my rediscovered favorite Othello quotations:
“I am not what I am.” (I.i)
Because that’s so Iago.
“Your daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs.” (I.i)
Because, oh, that’s where that saying comes from.
“Men should be what they seem; / Or those that be not, would they might seem none!” (III.iii)
What can I say? I’m a seeming-versus-reality fan.
“O! beware, my lord, of jealousy; / It is the green-ey’d monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on.” (III.iii)
Again, etymology.
“Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore, / Be sure of it; give me the ocular proof; / Or, by the worth of mine eternal soul, / Thou hadst been better have been born a dog / Than answer my wak’d wrath.” (III.iii)
Because angry Othello is not a man to be trifled with.
“Unkindness may do much, / And his unkindness may defeat my life / But never taint my love.” (IV.ii)
Because that’s so Desdemona.
“Demand me nothing: what you know, you know: / From this time forth I never will speak word.” (V.ii)
Because “What makes Iago evil? some people ask. I never ask.” (Joan Didion, Play It As It Lays)
“I kissed thee ere I killed thee, no way but this, / Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.” (V.ii)
Because everyone loves a little morbid romance. Right?
