Original: Three great ones of the city,
Modern: Three important men from the city,

Original: In personal suit to make me his lieutenant,
Modern: Came to personally ask him to make me his lieutenant,

Original: Off-capp’d to him: and, by the faith of man,
Modern: Took off their hats to show respect to him, and I swear,

Original: I know my price, I am worth no worse a place:
Modern: I know my worth, I deserve nothing less than that position:

Original: But he; as loving his own pride and purposes,
Modern: But he, loving his own arrogance and personal agenda,

Original: Evades them, with a bombast circumstance
Modern: Avoided them with fancy, overblown language

Original: Horribly stuff’d with epithets of war;
Modern: Terribly packed with military titles and words;

Original: And, in conclusion, Nonsuits my mediators;
Modern: And in the end, he rejected those speaking for me;

Original: for, ‘Certes,’ says he, ‘I have already chose my officer.’
Modern: because, “Certainly,” he says, “I have already chosen my officer.”

Original: And what was he? Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
Modern: And who was this man? Indeed, a great mathematician,

Original: One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,
Modern: One Michael Cassio, a man from Florence,

Original: A fellow almost damn’d in a fair wife;
Modern: A guy who’s cursed with having a beautiful wife;

Original: That never set a squadron in the field,
Modern: Who has never commanded troops in battle,

Original: Nor the division of a battle knows
Modern: And doesn’t know how to organize an army

Original: More than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric,
Modern: Any better than an old woman; except for book knowledge,

Original: Wherein the toged consuls can propose
Modern: Which any senator in robes can discuss

Original: As masterly as he: mere prattle, without practise,
Modern: Just as expertly as he can: all talk, no experience,

Original: Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had the election:
Modern: Is all his military skill. But he, sir, got chosen:

Original: And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof
Modern: And I, whose abilities he has witnessed with his own eyes

Original: At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds
Modern: At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other battlefields

Original: Christian and heathen, must be be-lee’d and calm’d
Modern: Both Christian and non-Christian, must be left stranded and powerless

Original: By debitor and creditor: this counter-caster,
Modern: By this bookkeeper and number-cruncher: this accountant,

Original: He, in good time, must his lieutenant be,
Modern: He gets to be Othello’s lieutenant,

Original: And I—God bless the mark!—his Moorship’s ancient.
Modern: And I—what a joke!—am just his Lordship’s flag-bearer.

In Act I, Scene 1 of Othello, Iago and Roderigo stand outside Brabantio’s house in Venice during the night. Roderigo expresses his anger at Iago for not informing him that Desdemona has secretly married Othello, the Moorish general. Iago reveals his own resentment toward Othello for promoting Michael Cassio to lieutenant instead of him, despite Iago’s years of military service and experience. He declares his intention to serve Othello only outwardly while plotting against him, explaining his philosophy of self-serving loyalty.

The two men wake Brabantio by shouting crude warnings about his daughter’s elopement, with Iago using particularly vulgar imagery to describe Othello and Desdemona’s union before slipping away to avoid being seen. Brabantio initially dismisses their claims as the ravings of a rejected suitor, but Roderigo’s persistence and specific details convince him to investigate. Upon discovering Desdemona’s absence from her room, Brabantio becomes enraged and decides to pursue the couple. He arms himself and gathers men to search for Othello, vowing to use both legal means and force to retrieve his daughter and punish the man who has taken her.

Othello opens in Venice, where the Moorish general Othello has secretly married Desdemona, the daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio. When Iago, Othello’s ensign who harbors deep resentment for being passed over for promotion in favor of Cassio, reveals this marriage to Brabantio, the senator accuses Othello of using witchcraft to seduce his daughter. However, when the Duke of Venice summons Othello to lead the Venetian forces against a Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Desdemona herself testifies that she married Othello willingly out of love. The Duke dismisses Brabantio’s charges, and Othello departs for Cyprus with Desdemona, Iago, and his officers.

Once in Cyprus, the Turkish fleet is destroyed by a storm, but Iago begins executing his plan for revenge. He manipulates Cassio into a drunken brawl that results in Cassio’s demotion, then convinces Cassio to seek Desdemona’s help in regaining Othello’s favor. Iago uses these innocent meetings between Desdemona and Cassio as evidence to plant seeds of jealousy in Othello’s mind, suggesting that his wife is having an affair with the former lieutenant. To strengthen his deception, Iago arranges for Othello to overhear him speaking suggestively with Cassio about Bianca, Cassio’s mistress, while Othello believes they are discussing Desdemona.

The manipulation reaches its climax when Iago obtains Desdemona’s handkerchief—Othello’s first gift to her—through his wife Emilia, who serves as Desdemona’s attendant. Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassio’s chambers and later shows it to Othello as proof of the affair. Consumed by jealousy and convinced of Desdemona’s infidelity, Othello smothers her in their bed. When Emilia discovers the murder, she reveals Iago’s treachery before he kills her. Othello, realizing he has murdered his innocent wife, stabs himself and dies beside Desdemona. Iago is arrested, Cassio is appointed to govern Cyprus, and Iago is taken away to face torture and execution for his crimes.