Othello is a single black man amongst many white men, he is also a soldier among civilians. The audience learns from an early stage in the play when Iago is talking to Roderigo that Othello is ‘ a moor’ and is ‘thick lipped’, they go so far as to say he is ‘an old black ram’. It is because of this the audience is suprised when they see Othello and hear his passionate speech about his love for Desdemona. Another shock to the audience is when Iago, although he said such horrible things about Othello, he still acts as though he was Othello’s friend to his face. This is another early point that the audience begins to realise that Iago could be trouble. The audience can see that Iago has the opportunity to destroy Desdemona and Othello’s happiness because Othello trusts him so much. However at this point they do not know Iago’s plan. At the very start of the play Othello speaks very little then with modesty and self-control he speaks giving the audience an insight into his personality, culture and background.
Othello’s love for ‘fair Desdemona’ was strong that when his secret marriage was discovered by Brabantio he didn’t run and hide but instead spoke to him while remaining calm and at ease. This is important for the audience to know as this may have given them clues to what Othello will do in the forthcoming parts of the play. When Othello and Desdemona were reunited after the trip to Cyprus there is a love and happiness so strong ‘the bliss of heaven can not equal it’. When the couple embrace it is though they are separated from all other characters. Very slowly this love weakens. Othello and Desdemona both love each other all the way through the play. Even when Othello killed Desdemona she loved him and he loved her. It is partially because their love was so strong that the marriage ended as it did. Othello couldn’t bear the thought of Desdemona being unfaithful and their happiness being false he never asked Desdemona about it for fear of it being true. Had he done this, the play would end very differently. Othello became paranoid and was extremely vulnerable because of this he believed everything Iago said. When the audience saw how vulnerable Othello was and how evil Iago was they might have realised the potential problem. It is because of Othello’s character that the play ended as it did, if he had not been so trusting in Iago then he wouldn’t have thought Desdemona was being unfaithful. When the audience sees Othello’s and Iago’s character together they realise that this could lead to trouble. They already know that Iago is very persuasive at getting people to do as he wants. He was able to get Cassio to drink too much so he would fight with Roderigo and he was also able to get Roderigo to give him money supposedly to buy gifts to give to Desdemona. It is because of this the audience knows it is not beyond his powers to get Othello to believe Desdemona is cheating on him. At the beginning of the play Iago said he had a diet for revenge, he wants to ‘put the moor into a jealousy so strong that judgement can not cure’. At this point the audience are able to foresee a tragedy. Desdemona and Othello’s love now revolves around Iago’s actions.
When Othello sees Cassio talking about Bianca, Othello thinks he’s talking about Desdemona. When Cassio says ‘I think by faith she loves me’ Othello becomes very jealous. Othello thinks back to what Brabantio said to him about Desdemona ‘She has deceived her father and may deceive thee’. This is another reason why Othello doubts her faithfulness. The audience realises how Othello feels and know he is beyond thinking rationally. He will want revenge, whether it is on Desdemona and Cassio for being unfaithful or it is on Iago for lying. When Othello says ‘to furnish me with some swift means of death for the fair devil’. At this point death looks for certain, the audience knows at this point that something bad will happen.
On Desdemona’s last night before her murder she tells Emilia about a song one of her mother’s maids sang called ‘Willow Willow’ the night she died. This is an example of tragic irony as Desdemona said ‘that song tonight will not go from my mind’, she too was singing it on the night of her death. This is like a symbol to the audience hinting that Desdemona is going to die. The song intensifies the suspense of the scene as the song relates to Desdemona’s situation perfectly as it was ‘the song of forsaken lovers’.
There is no exact point in the play that reveals to the audience what is to happen for certain in the play as Shakespheare, like Iago, gives small amounts of the plot away throughout the play, without all of them the audience can’t tell what will happen. He does this to keep the audience in suspense. The audience never knows what will happen until the very end because there is always the fact that Iago’s lies could be uncovered and Desdemona and Othello could have lived.
By Victoria Sugent