Death Forshadowed...

William Shakespeare often utilizes forshadowing in his play Othello. For instance, after realizing that Othello was upset with her, Desdemona speaks to Emilia and says, "All's one. Good faith, how foolish are our minds!/If I do die before thee, prithee shroud me/In one of thsoe same sheets" (IV.iii.21-23). Though Desdemona is aware of Othello's anger, this nonetheless seems an odd request. Isn't that a little dramatic? Desdemona is already fearing death when she has no knowledge of why her husband, who loves her so deeply, is upset with her. Later on, when Othello and Desdemona begin to discuss Othello's accusations, I picked up on another piece of forshadowing, but this time more specific. Othello says to Desdemona. "Therefore confesss thee freely of thy sin,/For to deny ech article with oath/Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception/That I do groan withal. Thou art to die" (V.ii.53-56). Alright, so at this point, the cat is out of the bag: Desdemona is doomed. Knowing that, however, the reader may pick up on Shakepeare's interesting word choice of "choke." He could have used many other words here: eliminate, forget, etc. However, good ol' Bill entertains the reader with a bit of forboding diction.