The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 10.1643  Tuesday, 28 September 1999.

From:           Elena Fernandez del Valle <
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Date:           Monday, 27 Sep 1999 20:37:18 -0500
Subject:        False as water?

Reading Othello 5.2  I was puzzled by Othello's reply to Emilia, "She
(Desdemona) was false as water".  Of course I recalled the "cistern for
foul toads" to which Othello compares Desdemona in 4.2, 63, but even
so...  To a reader whose first language is Spanish (that's me), "false
as water" sounds decidedly strange.  We say "est