The Creation of Tension and Suspense in Othello by William Shakespeare

The Creation of Tension and Suspense in Othello by William Shakespeare

“Killing myself, to die upon a kiss”. These are Othello’s last words,

as he commits suicide and dies next to his wife. After ironically

killing her himself at the end of Act 5. Othello was written in 1608 a

time when the Ottoman Empire was at war with the Venetians. Othello is

a tragedy because of the deception and betrayal of Iago which causes

many people to die. The play explores many different themes each

trying to convey a specific message. The main themes of the play are

betrayal, revenge, love, trust, honesty, racism and social hierarchy.

These are only some of the themes explored in the play.

White men were seen as trustworthy, respected people and arrogant,

like Iago for example. Black men however, were racially abused because

of their colour, and easily mislead, by white men, like Iago who used

this to destroy Othello’s relationship with Desdemona. Othello is

referred to as the Moor. a racial comment used to him to make him feel

different to other people. This reveals the theme of racism. Women

were seen as being subservient to men. or weaker than men. They were

also expected to respect and obey their husbands and fathers; “But

here’s my husband, and so my duty as my mother showed you”, here

Desdemona says to her father that her duty as Othello’s husband is to

respect him. This shows the sexism throughout the play. Maids were

also seen to be subservient to men and even there mistresses, Emilia

for example has to respect Desdemona as she her maid, but usually

they are polite respectable people. This reveals the theme of social

hierarchy.

The play b...

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couplet, he says “this the night, that either makes me or foredoes me”

this is good use of language as the audience know what he means, they

are feeling anxious to know what Iago’s fate will be.

In Othello’s last and final speech, he speaks in poetry he says “when

you shall these unlucky deeds relate, speak of me as I am, nothing

extenuate” this is done almost to add to the dramatic ending of the

play, and make it seem more interesting for the reader.

Overall I think, the play was very successful in revealing all its

main themes and plots, teaching us a very good lesson; to trust and

have confidence in ourselves. To beware of deceitful people like Iago.

I feel that Shakespeare intended to write this play to make people

aware of the society we live in. He did this through his well

organized characters.