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...
... middle of paper ...
...ing
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.
The Tragedy of Othello by William Shakespeare is a great work by a great author. Shakespeare was correct in titling it The Tragedy of Othello because Othello lost so much. In the literary sense, a tragedy is the downfall of a character through that character's own flaws. The way most people see a tragedy is a story where there is much suffering and loss, and a not so happy ending. No matter way one looks at it, literary or public sense, this was a correct title. The main character, Othello, brought his own downfall upon him through his flaws, caused the suffering of many people, and he himself loss very much. All of these factors pile up to equal a big tragedy.
Without a general supernatural stigma from the witches, the story would not be as interesting as it is and wouldn’t lay a clear foundation. The reader can enhance their experience by making predictions about the prophecies, thus grabbing the readers attention to continue to read. The role of supernatural is to also create suspense. Suspense of the prophecies gives the reader a sense of what’s to come next. In contrast this will make the reader have motivation to continue as it is a difficult text to understand. The following quote creates suspense as it shows the reader Macbeth is at decline point while constantly relying on the prophecies to save him The mind I sway by and the heart I bear. Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.
Dramatic Tension in William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare's, 'Romeo and Juliet', tells us the story of two feuding families, the Capulets and the Montagues; whose children fall in love with each other and eventually take their lives. The prologue is a brief description of the play. As the play was written in the 16th Century, a time when many people who attended the theatre were inattentive, they needed help with the context and meaning of the play; this is what the prologue is for. The prologue also makes the audience want to know what happened in between the beginning and ending; which they already know. Dramatic irony is introduced this way.
In William Shakespeare’s play, Othello, the power that Iago has over Emilia in their relationship helps manifest the unfairness of gender roles thus, leading to a distortion of the worth of women. The power that Iago has over Emilia hurts Emilia’s self-confidence. The distortion of the worth of women ultimately leads to misunderstandings in Emilia’s view of relationships.
Throughout history, powerful empires with boundless control have had a tendency to fall victim to corruption. It is common knowledge, among political scientists and historians, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. William Shakespeare's "Othello, the Moor of Venice" (reprinted in Laurence Perrine and Thomas R. Arp, Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 6th ed. [Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1993] 1060-1147) contains several themes, but one theme in particular supports the truth of this knowledge. In "Othello, the Moor of Venice," the theme of control is one that causes corruption. Othello's control is stolen by Iago and, Iago's overbearing control of Othello's emotions causes chaos and absence of control until Lodovico arrives at the end of the story.
Shakespeare does not give specific details of Othello’s background, however, it is apparent Othello is a dark-skinned outsider. The characters in the play call him the Moor. A moor is a member of a northwestern African Muslim people of mixed Berber and Arab descent. He is referred to as black by several characters including himself. Roderigo even calls him thick-lips which is a racial slur towards African Americans.
Dramatic Tension in Act 4 Scene 3 of William Shakespeare's Othello. Shakespeare employs the use of dramatic devices to signify the approaching the climax of the play throughout “Othello”. With Act 4 Scene 3 is the final scene to involve Desdemona before her murder. The use of such dramatic devices is prevalent in order to create tension.
“I asked her to wear something revealing, so she showed up in a prophet's toga.”(CITE) Jarod Kintz’s words are an example of miscommunication, or failure to comprehend meaning. In this case, it is implied that one person misunderstood the message of another, but incomprehension also applies to problems other than falsely interpreted requests. Incomprehension can occur when people misinterpret another’s words or intentions, or when a person misreads situations or events. The outcome described in Kintz’s quote is unexpected and unintended, but there are instances of incomprehension that have consequences of greater severity. Perhaps a classic tragedy with a high body count falls under these parameters.
Dramatic Devices in Othello Many people will argue that soliloquies are outmoded, embarrassing and a thing of the past. They hold this idea because they believe audiences want to see more action, rather than talk. However, I disagree and believe that soliloquies are important dramatic devices. which are important in making any kind of drama successful.
due to his race are vast, for example at the start of the play when
Examine the role of jealousy, love, and/or betrayal in Othello. You may want to pick one character (Iago or Othello perhaps?) and focus on one issue.(O) 15
The Tragedy of Othello William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, from the sixteenth century is an excellent example of Renaissance humanism. “A poet of unparalleled genius, Shakespeare emerged during the golden age of England under the rule of Elizabeth I.”(Fiero 3:98) He produced comedies, tragedies, romances and histories. According to Webster’s pocket dictionary, a tragedy is defined as a form of drama in which the protagonist comes to a disaster, as through a flaw in character, and in which the ending is usually marked by pity or sorrow. I would like to concentrate on the character Iago and the theme of deceit.
...conduct the night of the wedding feast. Othello is one who believes in justice and fairness and will make no exception, even for the love of his life. Ultimately, he murders her because he is, “One that loved not wisely but too well.” (V, ii, 398) This, above all, gives the play its powerful end.
The play Othello is Shakespeare's own version of a classic Greek tragedy. A classical dramatic tragedy derives its essence from the ancient Greek plays that were often popular in Athens. These plays would typically consist of the downfall of a famous Greek character in history/legend, or the breakdown of a hero. Typically the hero is forced to struggle against overwhelming odds, and fate only that this characters downfall would be so imposing that regardless of these forces of nature and fate that destroy him, that he would rise and regain glory due to his moral victory. These tragedies would invoke terror and pity on the audience, in a sense a tragedy could be considered a form of a catharsis, literally cleansing the soul as it is performed, even though the horror typically disturbed audiences, at the same time it cleansed their soul and purified the spirit.
killing her himself at the end of Act 5. Othello was led to do this by