Wednesday, February 8, 2017


Ay, sooth; so humbled
That he hath left part of his grief with me, to suffer with him. Good love, call him back.
Desdemona
Othello                                                 Act III, Scene iii                 Line 53
This is Desdemona replying to Othello when he asks her if that is Cassio who just left as he, Othello, was approaching. And of course it was Cassio. He and Desdemona spend a lot of time talking in this play. They’re talking about how Desdemona can help Cassio, Good Michael Cassio, get back in Othello’s good graces. I don’t remember how he got out of Othello’s good graces, but apparently he did. And I can pretty much guarantee you that he’s not going to be getting back in them any time soon.

‘Good love, call him back.’ But Othello will not call him back. And the more Desdemona tries to get him to call him back, the more he resists and the more he begins to wonder what’s going on with good Michael Cassio. It’s certainly nice to be able to read this line and understand what the heck is going on, isn’t it? Phoenix and Turtle indeed!

And Desdemona is such a pretty name. But being such a tragic character I don’t suppose it’s a name that’s ever caught on all that much. By the way, sooth means truly. So she’s saying ‘Yes, truly.’ I think that’s a phrase you could use in just tons of places.

‘Are you done with your homework?’

‘Ay, sooth.’

‘Did you have a good day?’

‘Ay, sooth.’

‘Can you say something besides ‘Ay, sooth?’’

‘Ay, sooth.’
Do I know why I've got my hands up in Svalbard as if someone's holding me at gunpoint? Ay, sooth! No, wait a minute. Actually I don't know why I'm holding my hands up in Svalbard. Nuts, that didn't work.




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