865TLN 865: [He kisses Emilia.]

The early printed texts include no stage direction here, but both Cassio's reference to his bold show of courtesy (TLN 868) and Iago's response about his wife's lips and tongue (TLN 869-70) require that the lieutenant welcome Emilia with a kiss. The historical record suggests that this form of greeting would have seemed natural to early modern English audiences. One Greek traveler who visited in 1547 noted such "absence of jealousy" in the treatment of English women that "not only do those who are of the same family and household kiss them on the mouth with salutations and embraces, but even those too who have never seen them" (Nucius 10). For more on the cultural history of kissing in the period, see Turner "Adulterous Kisses."