Pisanio reads a letter sent to him from his former master, Posthumus, which requests his assistance in murdering Imogen, whom Posthumus falsely believes has conducted an affair with Iachimo. Outraged by the contents of the letter, Pisanio reads part of it aloud and then personifies the letter as a traitor:
Do ’t! The letter
That I have sent her, by her own command
Shall give thee opportunity.O damned paper,
Black as the ink that’s on thee! Senseless bauble,
Art thou a fedary for this act, and look’st
So virginlike without? Lo, here she comes.
In the letter, Posthumus encourages Pisanio to follow his instructions, noting that he has sent a separate letter for Imogen that will give Pisanio the “opportunity” to kill her by luring her out into the countryside. Pisanio, however, has become loyal to Imogen in Posthumus’s absence, and he knows that the accusations against her are false. He condemns the letter as some “damned paper” that is as black-hearted as the ink with which it was written, attributing human characteristics to the letter. Further, he describes the letter as a “fedary” or co-conspirator in Posthumus’s wicked plot, emphasizing the contrast between its “virginlike” or innocent appearance and the dark message it conveys. In his speech, then, Pisanio blames the letter itself for Posthumus’s own thoughts and feelings, personifying it in the process.
