One of the questions in the book asks how Shakespeare creates dramatic suspense -- in other words, what makes the reader ask, "What's going to happen next?" The quote above is an instance of dramatic irony PLUS an example of where the reader awaits the fates of characters, two main factors in the suspense of this play.
Dramatic irony is a driving force behind the suspense in Othello. The Moor of Venice endows Iago with the epithet "honest" because he believes Iago that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair. This explicitly conflicts with what the audience knows: that Desdemona is honest, and Iago is the disloyal character to Othello. While that's the main irony in the play, other examples appear -- "Oh, no," speaks Iago of Othello to Roderigo, "he goes into Mauritania, and takes away with him the fair Desdemona, unless his abode be lingered here by some accident, wherein none can be so determinate as the removing of Cassio" (IV.ii.217-9). This is a false statement, but Roderigo does not know that -- Iago successfully manipulates him to kill (or at least pathetically try) to kill Cassio. The question from the reader then becomes, "When and how will these clueless characters* figure out what's actually going on here?"
Another creation of suspense is the audience's awaiting the fates of the characters. Obviously, since this is the Tragedy of Othello, Othello is going to die somehow -- but how? The quote above builds suspense because it lays out the plan for Desdemona's death. Will Othello be successful in this scheme? If so, how will that affect Othello, her husband, and Emilia, her friend? More importantly, while killing Desdemona, will he go with a pillow or just use his hands? I'm just asking a bunch of questions to which I already know the answers, but those were the questions I was asking myself as suspense built.
*clueless characters: everyone but Iago
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