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Othello, A Tragedy by William Shakespeare, Simplified and Adapted by L. J. Lynn is the fifth in a series of adaptations. It does not purport to replace the original play but to complement it by making it more readable to the contemporary public. Unlike other modern versions, this is not an expository rendition in prose aimed at reducing the content to its simplest form, but it does attempt to keep the meaning, rhythm, and rhyme, line for line, where it is appropriate.For example, in Act I, scene iii, Desdemona must respond to her father how and why she came to be with Othello:DESDEMONAMy noble father,I do perceive here a divided duty:To you I am bound for life and education;My life and education both do learn meHow to respect you; you are the lord of duty;I am hitherto your daughter: but here’s my husband,And so much duty as my mother show’dTo you, preferring you before her father,So much I challenge that I may professDue to the Moor my lord.The adaptation shows this same passage:DESDEMONADear Father, I don’t know what to say,except I’m torn in two and have no wayto please the both of you. I know how much I oweyou for my education and upkeep of my very life,but I also owe this Moor as much, you know,for we wooed and wed. I am his wife.When some of the text is somewhat obtuse, as in:OTHELLO. . . when light-wing’d toysOf feather’d Cupid seal with wanton dullnessMy speculative and officed instruments,That my disports corrupt and taint my business . . . The adaptation becomes:OTHELLOI am saying that I would not let her being there affectmy performance in the field where I do function well, andI don’t want her there just for the sexual pleasure where I am not doing so well, -- for I am too old, you know, and if you found me lying in bed with her instead of doing my job . . . Admittedly, this effort is a purely subjective interpretation of meaning based on research and further readings. It in no way pretends to be authoritative. It does try to extract what the characters intended in terms of modern references. If the result is that a better understanding of the content is achieved, then the effort has been a resounding success.
