Othello - What if?

Question:

How would the effect of the play have been different if Othello had died before discovering Desdemona's innocence?

Answer:

The most obvious difference would be that he would not have killed himself. Othello takes his own life only after realizing that he wrongfully - even though it was already wrong to kill someone; it was just LESS wrong because she was cheating on him - murder Desdemona. The regret he felt after killing her was something I think all audiences could relate to on some level. Therefore, he received sympathy. In addition, this could ruin the audiences hatred for Iago. I can admit that while reading the whole story, I was a little bit on Team Iago, as I'm sure a lot of people were. However, when Othello killed himself due to Iago's actions, my love turned to a dislike (I can't say hate because who didn't love that creepy smile at the end?!). So if Othello never killed himself after knowing the truth, then people would remain on Team Iago perhaps forever.

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The effect of the play would be different because audiences love to have problems resolved. So if Othello were to die before the innocence was revealed, then Shakespeare would have had an uproar of angry fans demanding an immediate refund, throwing tomatoes at the actors, crossing their hearts to never ever see another play again, etc. etc. But as for the characters within the play, they would not know of Desdemona's innocence and would theoretically go on forever thinking that she had committed adultery. This could greatly effect Cassio as well, considering he was the one that had been accused of being a partner in crime, if you will.