Othello (5)

#6 How do the various physcial effects-theatrical components such as sets, lights, costuming, makeup, gestures, stage movements, musical effects of song and dance, and so forth-reinforce the meanings and contribute to the emotional effects? By what means does the playwright indicate the nature of these physcial effects-explicitly, through stage directions and set descriptions, or implicitly, through dialogue between the characters?

"Do but encave yourself, / And mark the fleers, the gibes, and notable scorns, / Thar dwell in every region of his face." IV.i.79-81
"That's not amiss. / But yet keep time in all. Will you withdraw? (Othello retires)" IV.i.89-90

The physical effects are an important part of the play. Without the theatrical components, it would be much harder to understand the play. It is very important to pay attention to the stage directions, especially in certain scenes like the one in the quote. The quote above is from a scene where Iago is telling Othello to hide so he can hear Cassio admit to the affair. However, if the reader doesn't notice the stage direction that says Othello hides, than the reader would think Othello is talking to Cassio in the following conversation but he is not. While Iago is talking to Cassio, Othello is in a corner listening and making comments to himself. Therefore, the stage directions are important and the audience show pay close attention to them.

The playwright indicates the nature of these physical effects both explicitly and implicitly. The quote above is an example of both of these. First, the action is indicated implicitly by Iago when he tells Othello to hide. Then, the action is indicated explicitly by the stage direction.