Lit Gen- Discuss the techniques used to heighten the impact of at least one of the moments of crisis

 Question: 

“Different techniques may be used to heighten the impacts of moments of crisis in texts” 

Discuss the technique(s) used to heighten the impact of at least one of the moments of crisis in one of the texts you have studied for your comparative course. Support your answer with reference to the text.” 

                                                                                            --(30 marks) 2016 paper 2, question 2 Literary Genre 

 

 

Answer: 

As part of my comparative course, I studied the play Othello written by William Shakespeare. In the last scene of the final act Iago’s plan falls through and we reach the climax that the entire play was leading up to. A few different techniques are used to here to heighten the drama in this crisis. 

This scene portrays the ultimate tragedy; a man falsely accusing his wife of disloyalty and deeming it to be in his right to brutally kill her. Once her discovers that he was led to believe these lies by his good friend Iago he is so disgusted in himself that he kills himself and Cassio is left to his own devices to decide the fate of Iago. This scenes drama and moment of crisis is heightened right from the beginning with the use of imagery, short sentences, as well as dramatic irony. 

In this scene Othello describes Desdemona using light and white imagery. Act five scene two opens with Othello’s soliloquy where he describes Desdemona and why killing her is an act of “Justice.” Othello mentions light five times in this soliloquy alone saying “Put out the light” meaning that he “must” ill Desdemona. Light symbolizes love and innocence and by killing Desdemona his light will be gone and so will the innocent heart of Cyprus. Perhaps the killing of Desdemona is not only death of the innocent but death of all innocence. By comparing Desdemona to someone of an angelic status it makes the whole ordeal far more heartbreaking. As the audience knows what is about to happen, seeing Othello so saddened and without hope yet still so in love only heightens the drama in this moment of crisis because this loving encounter will be the last. 

The short sentences (5:2:70) keeping the scene rolling at a fast pace. The snappy lines are spoken by all the characters giving the reader/audience little time to keep up, as if all characters are not having a moment's thought before expressing their opinions. The short sentences create a sense of tension and drama. Desdemona asks, “But half an hour!” to which her request is declined by her husband Othello. Without these quick sentences the scene would have less of an intense feel. The sentences add to the impact of this moment of crisis because it allows the reader to understand that what is about to happen is purely impulsive without rational thought. 

Other techniques such as hyperbole and paradox are used, but in my opinion neither are quite as effective as Shakespeare’s brilliant use of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is seen throughout the play, most commonly when Othello referred to Iago as “Honest Iago,” but my favorite use is at the very end of this scene. Once the mass deaths and tragedy has occurred the bed is seen with Othello, his wife and another woman lying on it. It is exactly what he feared that Desdemona was doing behind his back with Cassio. Lodovico says “Look on the tragic loading of this bed,” as he refers to the three dead young people. This dramatic irony gives a clear image of the tragedy that has just unfolded which causes the reader to see the damage that one deceitful man can cause, heightening both the sadness as well as the crisis at hand.