Jealousy is a fundamental theme in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello. Both the title character and his conniving ensign Iago prove to be very jealous, but one stands out as the embodiment of the “green-eyed monster”. Othello is more jealous than Iago because his actions are a straightforward response to his jealousy, he becomes jealous with less reason than Iago, and his jealousy causes him to go ballistic, while Iago stays cold and calculating throughout the play.
Throughout the play, Iago provides hints as to why he hates Othello, while Othello demonstrates blind jealousy. In the first scene, Iago explains that he was passed over for a promotion to Lieutenant by Othello, who gave the job to "Michael Cassio, a Florentine...that never set squadron
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Othello is held in high esteem by members of the Venetian government; he is called a “noble moor” (IV.i.215) by the Senator Lodovico and is trusted enough that he is given full command of Cyprus after winning the land for Venice. Othello is a well-respected and well-tempered member of Venetian society before being consumed by jealousy. Once in a jealous rage, though, Othello completely changes. When Othello, believing Desdemona to be unfaithful, tells her he is going to kill her, she pleads with him for mercy, but Othello says that it is “too late” (V.ii.352). The fact that Othello only becomes vengeful Iago makes him jealous signifies that his jealousy is more powerful than Iago’s, and that his murder was simply a response to this jealousy. In addition, Iago’s motivation for his actions against Othello is unclear. Though he states from the onset that he is angry at being passed over for the promotion to Lieutenant, Iago later says that he hates Othello because “It is thought abroad that ’twixt my sheets / He has done my office” (I.iii.369–370)--he has heard that Othello was sleeping with his wife, Emilia. The contrasting reasons Iago gives for hating Othello, as well as his willingness to double-cross anybody, indicate that he enjoys manipulating people just for the thrill of it, not necessarily holding any lasting
In the play Othello, Iago describes jealousy as a “green-eyed monster. The “Green” representing the color of envy, and “monster” shows how destructive and vicious it can be. Iago has a manipulative mind causing people to believe him and listen what he has to say about a certain situation. When Iago is telling Othello to be aware of jealousy it causes Othello to become weary of his wife Desdemona. Although, Othello believes his wife is loyal to him. He starts to listen to Iago and becomes jealous of Roderigo who he believes is all for Desdemona.
There are many different emotions like sadness, happiness, and joyfulness just to name a few that people can experience. One of the most powerful and sometimes dangerous emotions is Jealousy. Jealousy is a powerful emotion that most people experience at some point in their life. However, not everyone is affected in the same way. Some people are filled with insecurity. While others are filled with fear. Most people experience anger. In William Shakespeare’s Othello the audience learns through the characterization of Othello and Iago, the symbolism of the handkerchief, and through Othello denying that he is jealous we learn that jealousy can make people behave irrationally in certain circumstances.
Jealousy is a powerful emotion that can blind oneself from identifying the truth. Shakespeare heavily emphasizes this theme throughout the drama Othello, especially through the actions of characters. In the play the heinous antagonist, Iago, uses each character’s jealousy to deceive that person and manipulate the truth. His false promises and deceitfulness bring to the demise of many of the main characters in the play, including the protagonist, Othello. Othello could not have been deceived if it were not for his powerful jealousy. Therefore, Shakespeare is telling us that jealousy is an ugly trait that can hide the truth, which in turn causes many problems between characters in the play.
Shakespeare’s Othello is a play consistently based on jealously and the way it can destroy lives. One is quick to think this jealously is based on Othello’s lack of belief in Desdemona’s faithfulness to him or his suspensions over Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Upon closer inspection of the jealously that exists throughout the play it becomes clear that his jealously is not the sole start and reason for all of the destruction that occurs. Iago, a good friend of Othello, is not who he appears to be. Iago’s own jealously of those around him pushes him over the edge. He begins to deceive all those who believe he is a true, honorable, and faithful man. Throughout Othello, Iago incites his own jealously in
Throughout the play jealousy is shown within almost every character, ago mostly causes everyone in the play to be jealous of someone by doing what he does best, manipulating everyone and getting them to do his dirty work. Jealousy plays a big role within the play, and influences almost every decision made by each character at some point in the play. Sadly, the decisions made due to the characters being jealous are mostly bad, the play mainly shows how jealousy affects Iago, Othello, and Roderigo. Iago at some point gets each character to believe everything he has to say and talks them into doing anything he wishes them to do all for the sole purpose of revenge and jealousy
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, tragedy unfolds on the account of one man’s actions, Iago. He is a twenty eight year old military veteran from Venice. His personality consists of being obsessive, manipulative, relentless, and bold. From the beginning he expressed his hatred towards the Moor, or North African named Othello. Othello is a highly respected general and is also married to the pure Desdemona. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona is destroyed due to Iago’s actions and lies. His actions consist of getting Michael Cassio discharged as lieutenant and convincing the Moor that his wife is cheating on him. The motives Iago has for despising Othello are he passed him over for a promotion to be his lieutenant, instead he chose
Evidence of jealousy in Iago is more prominent and very evident in the beginning of the play when he explains to Roderigo that Othello has moved Cassio to lieutenant (the position Iago desires) although three of Venice’s most noble nobleman have informed Othello and Iago has fought in front of Othello in Rhodes and Cyprus (Shakespeare 1.1. 10 - 30). Iago’s sly behavior and ability to use other character’s roles and trust such as Othello’s love for Desdemona, Cassio’s pride in serving as Othello’s trustful lieutenant, and Rodrigo's over commitment to win over Desdemona from Othello allows his plan to fall through. His motive throughout the play is to get Cassio demoted from the
Jealousy out of all human emotions is the most common to cause detriment. When an individual becomes consumed by its nature it ultimately leads to their worst self. Jealousy is a major theme in Othello and it is what drives Othello to commit his heinous deed of killing his wife. Through Shakespeare’s exploration of how Othello becomes corrupted the underlying question of whether human nature when challenged reveals an inner demon. A monstrous, violent green eyed monster. The corruption of Othello is provoked by Iago, Iago is aware of his insecurities and therefore uses this knowledge to his advantage. As stated “Oh, Beware, My lord of jealousy!/ It is the green eyed monster which doth mocks/ that meat feeds on” this metaphor used by Iago is a warning to Othello of the dangers associated with Jealousy, that it has an appetite for its victims. It is ironic that Iago preaches his own diagnosis. Jealousy is what fuelled his anger and unloyal behaviours towards his colleague. Through the juxtaposition of Othello's gullible nature and Iago's noxious villainy, the picture of envy is genuinely exemplified as an all-expending "green-eyed monster". Othello is not seen as a
Jealousy is a powerful drug. When someone is jealous, one can only imagine how far someone would go because of it. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, there were several characters that went through different ways of processing their jealousy. Iago’s jealousy provokes his idea to get back at the people he felt was not deserving enough of the things they had or their happiness. His plans succeeds but by the end, no one wins. Iago’s jealousy forms at the beginning of the play which causes Othello’s jealousy towards the end and because of it, it results in people hurt mentally and physically.
William Shakespeare’s Othello, the Moor of Venice is a play of great manipulation and jealousy. Iago is the antagonist character of the play Othello. Iago becomes irate and filled with jealousy when Othello names Michael Cassio as his lieutenant, because Iago believed he should have been the one promoted not Michael Cassio. By manipulating everyone around him, Iago portrays himself as an honest noble man whom can be trusted. Iago being known for the honest man he earns everyone’s trust and therefore learns their weakness for his ultimate plan of destruction. Iago’s greatest skill is disguising his manipulative schemes of destroying and betraying the ones around him with what he leads people to believe as honesty. Iago uses their
Jealousy is described as someone who is feeling or showing envy of someone because of their achievements and advantages. Jealousy plays a major role in Shakespeare’s play Othello. There are many instances throughout the play that show jealousy between the characters. Throughout the play, jealousy is used for destructive purposes only. I believe that Iago longed to get revenge on Othello for previous issues. This only results in a long line of accusations and disputes between the characters in Othello.
Othello is a play about jealousy’s causes and effects. Each character in the play had different reasons to be jealous and each of them chose to deal with it a certain way. All three characters Iago, Othello, and Roderigo had such cases and in the end dealt with different conflicts and outcomes. It’s important to understand that their actions in dealing with their jealousies were a reflection of their characters, and persona.
first of all the characters in the play to be attacked by the "green -
Othello gets most of all his orders from the duke and the senate of the lands. Iago job is less complex to where he is called to do small jobs in the military. While the commander (Othello) sets the rules, the strategies, and the vision. Iago by natural humanism is forced to be the servant of the “moor” hating him and feeling the sense of humiliation.
In the story of Othello, all of the conflict, violence, and harm that occured was a result of jealousy. Iago, one of the victims of jealousy, made a hypocritical statement to Othello where he called jealousy a green-eyed monster. This monster known as jealousy not only consumes the people that it hates, but also consumes the person itself. Jealousy is the culprit for any character that had died in the story. Jealousy fueled each scene to the next in Othello and the more that is added, the more damage it does as seen with its effects on Roderigo, Iago, and Othello.