The Dramatic Impact of Act 1 Scene 3 in Shakespeare's Othello and Its Importance to the Whole Play

The Dramatic Impact of Act 1 Scene 3 in Shakespeare's Othello and Its Importance to the Whole Play

Othello is a tragic play by Shakespeare, set in Venice during the

Elizabethan time. It portrays the growth of unjustified jealousy in

the noble protagonist, Othello, a Moor serving as a general in the

Venetian army. The innocent object of his jealousy is his wife,

Desdemona. In this domestic tragedy, Othello’s evil lieutenant Iago

draws him into mistaken jealousy in order to ruin him. Othello is

destroyed partly through his gullibility and willingness to trust Iago

and partly through the manipulations of this villain, who clearly

enjoys the exercise of evildoing just as he hates the spectacle of

goodness and happiness around him. At the end of the play, Othello

comes to understand his terrible error; but as always in tragedy, that

knowledge comes too late and he dies by his own hand in atonement for

his error. In his final act of self-destruction, he becomes again and

for a final time the defender of Venice and Venetian values.

During the Shakespeare time, there was no electricity and therefore,

the special effects that ‘invigorate’ up of a scene and which we take

for granted these days, was not possible to do. This ‘invigorating’ up

a scene attracts the audience’s attention, which was very crucial for

Shakespeare to embark on as his theatre was open, which meant that his

audience could come and go as they pleased. So in order to refrain

them from leaving and to enchant their interest, Shakespeare had to

include something important and dramatic in every scene, which would

grab and retain the audiences attention and also build up a scene of...

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...ealed

at the beginning then concealed throughout the rest of the pay and

then was revealed again, when Othello’s command was taken from him.

On the whole, the importance of Act 1, scene 3 is immense to a great

extent, because if this scene was changed then the entire play could

have ended up as a romance and not a tragedy, other tragedy of

Shakespeare are King Lear and Macbeth.

On the whole ‘Othello’ is about betrayal, betrayal from lago to

Othello and Cassio, betrayal from the Duke and Senators to Othello

and betrayal from Othello to Desdemona, as she is the one person

Othello should have rusted more than anything else. Othello should

have thought back to the wedding vows he took and asked Desdemona if

she really was having an affair with Cassio, as Desdemona had trusted

him in the middle of Act 1, Scene 3.