Why is the play considered the most intense of Shakespeare's tragedies?

Othello is unlike other Shakespearean dramas in that there is a scarcity of comic relief, which only appears briefly at the beginning of this short scene. Even Hamlet had Polonius and the gravedigger to lighten up certain scenes, but in Othello, there is no relief from the tragedy that unfolds. Also, there are no subplots running through Othello, as in most Shakespearean plays. Both of these differences make Othello one of Shakespeare's most focused, intense tragedies.