Othello Act V

pg 1119 Question 4 "How is dramatic suspense created?"

Iago: "Live Roderigo,
He calls me to a restitution large
Of gold and jewels that I bobbed from him
As gifts to Desdemona.
It must not be. If Cassio de remain,
He hath a daily beauty in his life
That makes me ugly"
Act V, Scene i, 14-20

Suspense is created in a number of ways in Othello. First off, suspense is created by Iago's soliloquies and conversations with Roderigo. His inner plans are revealed during these moments and they make us wonder what will happen next in the play, as Iago always seems to come up with a new plan to create conflict. Suspense is also created through the other character's actions. In Iago's manipulation of the kind Othello, we have to truly wonder if Othello is really going to kill Desdemona, a woman he claimed to be so in love with at the beginning of the play. Suspense is created through the character Emilia too. At the beginning of the story, she was passive and held back her thoughts; by act five she was defiant and when she learned that her husband, Iago was behind all of the drama occurring, she stood up for herself. When Emilia is angry with Iago and the audience begins to wonder if she will turn him in for what he's started. Lastly, suspense is evident through the character's deaths. Within the first few lines or so of act five, Roderigo and Cassio were both stabbed with potentially fatal wounds. At this point I could only wonder who else Iago might plan to kill. And it turned out that Desdemona was killed by Othello. Iago ended up killing his own wife, in an attempt to save his reputation as that honest guy. And then Othello killed himself. Apparently, for Iago, death/murder is the best revenge there is.