The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 15.1163  Tuesday, 1 June 2004

From:           John Briggs <
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Date:           Tuesday, 1 Jun 2004 10:14:45 +0100
Subject: 15.1149 There was a young man from Stratford....
Comment:        Re: SHK 15.1149 There was a young man from Stratford....

Graham Hall wrote (in passing, concerning limericks in Othello):

 >And on the matter being perused in another thread of using or not using
 >"God", it is of note that the earlier Q and F differ in respect of
 >Cassio's appreciation ("God" gone; "Heaven" installed). But this is
 >beyond J.C's remit.

The Othello F text is expurgated because it prints a scribal transcript
made after the Act of 1606 - that it is divided into acts and scenes
makes this almost certain.  Although whether the transcript was made for
the printing of F, or for a late theatrical production, is a nice
question.  Honigmann (Arden 3) mentions a performance in 1610, but
doesn't give any details.  Q is also divided into acts, somewhat
aggravatingly.  This may be a reflection of its late date of publication
(1622), or it may represent a court performance (one is recorded for
1604).  I would welcome advice on the operation of Occam's Razor.
Talking of cuts, Pervez Rizvi has demonstrated that Q represents a text
revised for performance - although as the revision consists mostly of
cutting, I would suggest that this was not done by Shakespeare himself.

John Briggs

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