Othello, Act IV

Roderigo:  "Every day, thou daffest me with some device, Iago, and rather, as it seems to me now, keepest from me all conveniency."  (IV.ii.175-176)

Finally, someone figures out that Iago may not be as honest as everyone thinks.  But of course, it is Roderigo, one of the least independent of the bunch...

In the excerpt above, Roderigo mentions that Iago may not be all that he promises; however, later he falls into Iago's trap, telling Iago that he will kill Cassio.  This dramatic irony creates suspense for the reader.  Suspense is created many times throughout Act IV.  In this act, Iago is finalizing his plan, slowly sowing seeds of treachery and lies along the way.  For example, Bianca returns angrily to Cassio after finding that the handkerchief Cassio had given her "belonged to another woman."  When Othello witnesses this scene, he assumes that Desdemona gave the handkerchief to Cassio, and Cassio in turn gave it to Bianca, his prostitute.  We, the audience, know for a fact that this is not the case because we saw Iago plant the handkerchief in Cassio's path; however, this creates suspense because the audience is constantly waiting on the moment when the characters finally figure out the truth.  The audience possesses a significantly greater amount of information than all of the characters because we are able to witness every character's emotions and thoughts through soliloquies and stage directions.  This effect allows the audience to better understand the dramatic irony of the play.