murder of his wife, is equal to the first speech in which he gave
them an account of his courtship of her, and 'his whole course of
love'. Such an ending was alone worthy of such a commencement.

If anything could add to the force of our sympathy with Othello, or
compassion for his fate, it would be the frankness and generosity of
his nature, which so little deserve it. When Iago first begins to
practise upon his unsuspecting friendship, he answers:

--Tis not to make me jealous,
To say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company,
Is free of speech, sings, plays, and dances well;
Where virtue is, these are most virtuous.
Nor from my own weak merits will I draw
The smallest fear or doubt of her revolt,
For she had eyes and chose me.

This character is beautifully (and with affecting simplicity)
confirmed by what Desdemona herself says of him to Aemilia after she
has lost the handkerchief, the first pledge of his love to her:

Believe me, I had rather have lost my purse
Full of cruzadoes. And but my noble Moor
Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness,
As jealous creatures are, it were enough
To put him to ill thinking.

Aemilia. Is he not jealous?

Desdemona. Who he? I think the sun where he was