Othello: Suspense

"Hell and night must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light." I.iii.83-84

       Shakespeare's plays were anything but complex. As we have discussed in class, they are simple in stage action and props. No backdrops are used. Therefore, one might think that creating suspense would be difficult to do, right? Not entirely. Nowadays, when we go out to movies, the suspense is so obvious that we can see a climatic moment coming from miles away. In this play, it is a slower pace that builds up over time. This is mostly created through Iago's soliloquies at the end of scenes and acts. The audience discovers his plan bit by bit, always before he plays it out. That way the audience always knows something that the characters of the play do not, creating some suspense. This play sure is a nail-biter!