Original: Soft you; a word or two before you go.
Modern: Wait a moment; let me say a word or two before you leave.

Original: I have done the state some service, and they know’t.
Modern: I have served Venice well, and they know it.

Original: No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,
Modern: But enough about that. I beg you, when you write your reports,

Original: When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Modern: When you tell the story of these tragic events,

Original: Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate,
Modern: Describe me exactly as I am; don’t make things sound better than they were,

Original: Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak
Modern: And don’t write anything out of spite: then you must describe

Original: Of one that loved not wisely but too well;
Modern: A man who loved not with good judgment but with too much intensity;

Original: Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
Modern: A man not quick to jealousy, but once worked up

Original: Perplex’d in the extreme; of one whose hand,
Modern: Confused to the point of madness; a man whose hand,

Original: Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away
Modern: Like an ignorant fool, threw away a precious pearl

Original: Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdued eyes,
Modern: Worth more than everything his people owned; a man whose defeated eyes,

Original: Albeit unused to the melting mood,
Modern: Even though not accustomed to crying,

Original: Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees
Modern: Shed tears as quickly as the Arabian trees

Original: Their medicinal gum. Set you down this;
Modern: Drip their healing sap. Write this down;

Original: And say besides, that in Aleppo once,
Modern: And also say that once in Aleppo,

Original: Where a malignant and a turban’d Turk
Modern: Where an evil, turban-wearing Turk

Original: Beat a Venetian and traduced the state,
Modern: Attacked a Venetian citizen and insulted Venice,

Original: I took by the throat the circumcised dog,
Modern: I grabbed that dog by the throat,

Original: And smote him, thus.
Modern: And struck him down, like this.

In Act V, Scene ii of Othello, the tragic climax unfolds in the bedchamber where Desdemona lies sleeping. Othello enters with a light, wrestling with his resolve to kill his wife, whom he believes has been unfaithful with Cassio. He kisses the sleeping Desdemona, waking her, and despite her pleas of innocence and requests for time to pray, he smothers her with a pillow. When Emilia arrives and discovers the murder, she calls for help, bringing Montano, Gratiano, and Iago to the scene.

The truth rapidly unravels as Emilia reveals that she gave Desdemona’s handkerchief to Iago, exposing his manipulation. When Iago attempts to silence his wife, she defies him and reveals his villainy before he fatally stabs her. Othello, realizing he has been deceived, wounds Iago but fails to kill him. In his final speech, Othello asks to be remembered as one who “loved not wisely but too well,” then stabs himself and dies upon a kiss with Desdemona. The play concludes with Lodovico placing Cassio in command of Cyprus and ordering that Iago be tortured, while Othello’s body is removed from the scene.

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.