Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

Shakespeare often has common themes throughout all of his poems which include love, death, and betrayal. When talking about Othello, all of these major themes are presented. Although, the major theme is jealousy. Throughout the play, jealousy is shown in each character in some way and drives the decisions that they make. The beginning starts with Rodrigo being covetous of Othello for being with Desdemona, and at the end where Othello is envious because he believes Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio. Iago is an important character throughout all of this because he makes up lies and misleads characters into believing things that are untrue. From the beginning, he is envious of Cassio and has hatred towards Othello because Othello

In the play, Othello, written by William Shakespeare, there is the classic good against evil conflict. Evil, in this case, was represented by jealousy in every bad situation. The antagonist, Iago, was jealous of Othello's power as a general, and of Othello's relationship with the fair Desdemona. Othello is a powerful general, a Moor, who married Desdemona, the daughter of Barbantio, who was a senator.

In the play, Othello, jealousy and envy are prominent themes from the beginning to the end. As the play starts to unwind, you can see jealousy is the major cause of all the drama in the play. Jealousy or envy is a feeling of discontented or resentful longing by someone else’s possessions , qualities or luck. Iago becomes engulfed by jealousy and it causes him to corrupt Othello. They are two men that cause similar crimes but we sympathize for Othello and hate Iago because they have different attitudes towards their crime.

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.

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.

   Othello features jealousy as the dominant motive for action and therefore just as reflected in real life we bare witness to jealousy influencing the characters of Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Othello. In this essay I shall be attempting to examine this theme in depth drawing comparison between jealousy and the consequential action.

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.

Iago is a powerful predator who exploits those around him by infecting their perceptions of truth with carefully chosen fallacy. His skill in finding the proverbial chinks in others' armor allows him to skillfully weave his machinations of destroying Othello into their minds and actions; by manipulating character's perceptions of Desdemona, Iago gains the leverage he needs to exploit each character. No one is impervious to Iago's seething purpose; even Othello falls prey to Iago's suggestions and insinuations about Desdemona. Iago's constant presence as the stager, as well as his ceaseless - but subtle - reinforcement of events through narration, allows him to be the pivotal force that directs

Iago’s second soliloquy reveals how he manipulates Cassio and Desdemona. While Desdemona waits for Othello to return from his journey across ravenous seas, Iago joins her. He purposely acts like a jerk to Desdemona and his wife, Emilia in front of Cassio. When Iago departs from the group, Cassio, in his good mannered gentleman way, reassures Desdemona that Othello will make it to shore fine. Having Desdemona confide in his words, Cassio takes interest in her just as Iago had planned.

Now, sir, be judge yourself, Whether I in any just term am affined To love the Moor.” (I .i.37-42) Iago is obvious to Rodrigo about his hatred for Othello, while Othello never acknowledges this. Shakespeare uses this scene to show dramatic irony by exposing Iago’s hatred and jealousy towards Othello.

In Act III, Scene iii of William Shakespeare's Othello, Othello initially appears to be firm in his judgment; however, as the scene progresses, Othello's vulnerabilities are exposed and Iago is able to take advantage of his racial insecurities. Iago uses jealousy to sway Othello into his scheme by making it seem as though Desdemona is to blame, which further decreases Othello's self-assurance. Although Othello initially seems strong willed in his disbelief of Desdemona's disloyalty, his lack of self confidence and decision to trust Iago eventually lead to the detriment of his reasonability. When Othello is first presented with the idea of his wife cheating on him, he chooses to stay firm in his judgment. For example: "No, not much moved.

first of all the characters in the play to be attacked by the "green -

Othello could have protected himself from Iago scheme. Othello should have not allowed his envious ways to take control over him and he should have not trusted Iago. Othello had flaws within himself that gave Iago the advantage to manipulate him. “Why, why is this?

Imagine two people named George and Edward, two employees who work at Burger King. After some time, the manager sees the time the two employees put into their individual shifts. The manager then gives a special promotion and a pay rise to George, leaving the other employee, Edward to continue toiling away at his mundane shift, feeling rather upset at George for receiving the promotion Edward himself thought he deserved. While there can many positive emotions or feelings that the brain can develop, there are a few negative feelings that are very destructive to not only an individual’s well-being, but others around them; jealousy is one such emotion. Jealousy can bring about the dark side of a person, along with many other feelings such as sorrow, rage, and worthlessness. One can even say it can turn a human into a beast. The nature of jealousy is quite unsettling, can have different causes and results, and is an important theme shown in English poet William Shakespeare’s “Othello” story however, there are ways that one can deal with jealousy.

Envy is an emotion naturally evoked by human beings. It is a desire to take ownership of a certain possession that someone else owns. As mentioned in Aaron Ben-Ze’ev article “Envy and Jealousy”, it is a negative attitude that stems from a “subject’s inferiority to another agent” and differences in “characteristics, possessions, or positions” (Ben-Ze’ev 491). It is a theme prominently showcased in the tragic play Othello through the narcissistic and villainous ploy of the antagonist Iago. The exploration of his role as the “villain” conveys how envy fostered by the desire for power, an inferiority complex, and his psychopathic mentality can be a destructive force in the lives of those that bear the epitome of his discontent.