Another example of telescoped time can be found in 2.3 of Othello, which begins with Othello giving Cassio instructions for the evening's watch, and with Iago stating it is "not yet ten o' the clock." We then witness drinking and singing on the part of the soldiers - all of which is staged by Iago for the purpose of getting Cassio drunk and into a brawl with Roderigo, who is waiting offstage. When an awakened Othello intercedes, he listens to the accounts of the incident and admonishes and demotes Cassio on the spot. Iago then pretends to sympathize with Cassio, and suggests that he should present his case to Desdemona, who will, out of kindness, convince Othello to change his mind. Then follows a soliloquy by Iago during which he gives his real plan:

... whiles this honest fool

Plies Desdemona to repair his fortunes

And she for him pleads strongly to the Moor,

I'll pour this pestilence into his ear,

That she repeals him for her body's lust;

And by how much she strives to do him good,

She shall undo her credit with the Moor.

After this, Roderigo, who is both secretly in love with Desdemona and Iago's dupe, enters and is told to have patience and to go get some sleep, because "'tis morning''. The entire scene is usually performed in slightly less than twenty minutes.

The death of King Lear is, perhaps, an example of what some critics call "telescoped" time. With this technique, the events of several months are shown to us in a few minutes of actual stage time. In this case, Lear seems to die of heartbreak right in front of our eyes, which considering his ordeal is plausible. But it's interesting to consider as a possibility his death occurring, say, two or three weeks after Cordelia's, and that we see that amount of time condensed into the two or three minutes of the end of the play. Looked at this way, Shakespeare is doing something much more advanced than simply allowing large periods of time to elapse between scenes - which anyone can do - he is allowing them to elapse during them. (More on this, and another example, tomorrow.)