Jealousy In William Shakespeare's Othello

Jealousy is symbolised as “the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on," a complex and destructive human emotion which spawns from human ambition and selfishness. Othello the noble ‘fairer than black’ begins the play characterised as the composed, eloquent protagonist of the play with high status and good reputation, correlating with the social hierarchy of the Elizabethan era. This contrasts with the enraged person he degrades into at the end of the play, consumed by the symbolic “green eyed monster” and engulfed with jealous rage of infidelity and honesty, instigated by the Machiavellian villain, Iago of the play who is also engulfed in jealousy:“…That I put the moor in to a jealousy so strong,” . Iago is spurred on by jealousy caused by Cassio’s promotion which he believed was rightfully his and shows his plan to bring Othello down with jealousy during his first soliloquy in Act 2. Soon after imagery is used to depict Iago as a gardener planting his “seed of doubt” in Othello which results in Othello being entangled in the of lies and deceit on Desdemona’s infidelity. This reduces him to a jealousy induced seizure as : “Is’t possible? – Confess? Handkerchief? O devil! [He] falls into a trance,” Iago’s jealousy is further enhanced during Othello’s seizure where he says “Work on my medicine, work on”. The motif of jealousy leads Othello to feel that he would “Rather

¨To what profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul.¨Othello who was a great man of much grace was on a crusade to restore “honor” to his appellation. In the tragedy of "Othello", a play composed by William Shakespeare which explores the many motifs and themes, touches on one with great effect, jealousy and the implication of what is real and what is not. Jealousy is the overarching theme and the main motivation of most of the characters in”Othello.” Othello who had sufficed with the mere thought of killing his wife was a victim of self-perception borderlining illusion and reality, which was orchestrated by “honest” Iago, his ancient. Othello had chosen to go the wrong way about the whole situation and waited until he essentially become mad and wanted to “fix”the problem. Othello, our tragic hero who fell from such divine grace had suffered mentally under the thumb of Iago’s schemes. A poise man such as Othello had lost his way as he coped with the thoughts of being “cuckold” by his wife. Putting Othello in modern day context we must recognize that we also fall prey of jealousy, the green-eyed monster. Othello, like many of Shakespeare's tragedies, focuses on the protagonist, whose life is ruined due to an hamartia. Part of the human condition is that the act of being jealous has been repeated countless times throughout history, in a multitude of different ways.

Jealousy is a form of hatred built upon insecurity. It can cause assumptions to arise that are very far from the truth. In Othello, by William Shakespeare, many of the conflicts that arise are built off pure jealousy. Iago uses his own jealousy as an excuse to come up with evil plans to ruin innocent peoples lives. In addition, he uses others jealousy as their weakness, to convince them into going along with his plans. Ultimately, Shakespeare conveys that the feeling of jealousy causes untrue conclusions to appear and logics to be distorted.

Jealousy is a strong emotion which everyone has experienced in some point or time in their life. Throughout Othello by William Shakespeare, the character Iago is known as “honest Iago” and deals with the roots of jealously. Iago uses jealousy, lies, and deception to manipulate and hurt other characters for his own personal gain. Iago is consumed with jealousy for Michael Cassio and Othello because he was not chosen as lieutenant, and Cassio was. Because of Iago jealously and hatred for Othello, he strives to destroy Desdemona and Othello’s marriage.

“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on:”(46). Iago warns Othello of jealous intuitions and tries to guard him against them explaining jealousy as a monster that preys upon the souls it attaches to. Othello is truly in love with Desdemona but Iago is trying to tear them apart because he is jealous of Othello for being married to Desdemona. Iago tries to plant these false stories in Othello’s mind to try to get him fired up against Desdemona and thus disowning her. “Why, why is this? Think’st thou I ‘ld make a life of jealousy, … I’ll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove; and on the proof, there is no more but this, away at once with love or jealousy” (46). Iago tries to plant false rumors in Othello’s mind so as to provoke a jealous fit in Othello and make him go mad but Othello will not buy Iago’s claims without justified proof. Othello is not giving into Iago’s provocations so easily. Iago has not given up either because he has one more trick in his pocket to prove to Othello what he thinks is true. “And let him find it. Trifles light as air Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of holy writ:” (50). Iago will not give up his scheming until Othello has his proof enough to believe Iago’s thoughts and claims. Iago is so jealous of the other characters especially Cassio that he is trying to turn his jealous tendencies into a plot to provoke a jealous wrath in Othello against Cassio. “As he

Jealousy can influence peoples’ decisions and action. In the play Othello, written by William Shakespeare, which is believed to be written in the early 1600’s, jealousy is one of the main concepts or themes of the story. Othello, the main character is a general in the army who marries Desdemona, a fair woman of wealthier status, without her father’s permission. They elope but jealous people rat them out and try to break them up. Iago, a selfish guy who is working as Othello’s ensign in the army, is envious of Othello’s success and good luck. He decides to ruin everything in Othello’s life for his benefit. Iago hates his superior so much that he literally ruins lives of other people to get to Othello’s happiness. When Othello is consumed by the jealousy that Iago has planted in his mind, he completely transforms into a murderous green-eyed monster. In this jealous form of mind, he cannot see the truth although it is right in front of him. Lastly there are the people who got used and deceived by Iago to do the dirty work for him. They do not really understand the work they do for Iago, but they do it anyways because they are motivated from their own jealousy.

Othello had so many heartaches and heartbreaks throughout the whole thing. It did not matter whether if it was betrayal, mistakes, love, and murders. It was one of the most crucial Shakespeare plays. Shakespeare has an ability to compose plays of deceit, trickery, love, revenge, and jealousy. In Othello, one of his most recognized tragedies was evolving around the central theme of jealousy. The theme of jealousy goes with love as it is with real life. Love consumes all those who take part in it and in Othello’s case; his love for Desdemona has blinded him. And it gave Iago a chance to corrupt him so easily. The wicked emotion of jealousy, not only resulted in the deaths of three of Othello's main characters, it caused the sudden deaths of innocent

“Like hatred, jealousy is forbidden by the laws of life because is it essentially destructive ” (Bob Marley). In the beginning of the play, Iago and Roderigo met up late at night in the streets of Venice, and discussed about how to ruin Othello’s life. Iago hated Othello because he picked Michael Cassio as his second command instead of Iago. Roderigo hated Othello because he is married to the love of his life. Both Iago and Roderigo are both jealous in a sentiment being desirous. In Othello, William Shakespeare created the most evil person in all of literature, Iago. Out of revenge, Iago successfully planted the seeds of jealousy into Othello’s mind when in the garden he insulated that Cassio and Desdemona were having an affair, when

Jealousy is a theme that is developed throughout the play Othello. Jealousy has ruined many lives in Othello Jealousy has ruined many lives in Othello because of Iago becoming jealous of Cassio when he found out that Cassio got the lieutenant position, Roderigo being jealous of Othello because Othello married Desdemona, and Othello becomes jealous of Cassio because he believe Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona.

Jealousy is such a strong evil emotion that it can eat away what a person has left to themselves. The biggest mistake Othello makes is thinking Iago is “…of exceeding honesty, And knows all qualities, with a

Shakespeare is well for his ability to compose plays full of deceit, revenge, and jealousy. Othello, one of Shakespeare’s most recognized tragedies, was consistently evolving around the central theme of jealousy. As these lies are unraveled the central theme of his play became distinct, and clearly visible. Furthermore the theme of jealousy goes hand in hand with love, as often is the case in real life. Love consumes all those who take part in it, and in Othello's case his flaws lie in his loving Desdemona so blindly. It is for that single reason that Iago knows that such a naïve man as Othello, who loves his wife so blindly and unrealistically, can be corrupted.

Jealousy is originally introduced into the story when Iago becomes upset by Othello’s successful convincing of Desdemona to marry him. His hate for him is further increased by Othello’s other accolades like becoming a general in the Venetian army. In the mind of Iago, he is inferior to Othello in these two areas, which is why he plans to attack him on these points. Iago then makes plans to both make Othello lose his prestigious General position in the military (I,iii,395), and cause mistrust and grief for Othello and Desdemona, eventually causing a rift in their relationship (I,iii,339). Despite Iago’s ideal encapsulation of the “villain” persona, in which his nature is one of very untrustworthy and extremely manipulative, he manages to

In conclusion, jealousy is shown through many aspects of this play. Such as the people, their own doubts and insecurities, and sometimes their overall situations that they create for themselves within this tragedy. This sentiment affects them all especially Othello mainly because he become too trusting of Iago and allows him to manipulate his mind. In which leads to Othello allow himself to lose all control of his emotions and rationality and eventually his overall downfall. Truly this fiercely strong emotion caused all of this destruction and chaos to the characters’ minds and personal situations within it starting feeding off of just one person it spread to the rest of them like horrific disease. So it was really true when Iago said

“When jealousy gets out of control, it drives us to do the most vengeful things.” (Simmer-Brown 87) Iago expressed his feelings toward Othello with animosity. When we are

In the play “Othello’’ according to William Shakespeare 1604 during the Elizabeth era, there are many literary devices to help the reader understand the theme of the story because one of the those many literary devices that used in the play was the range of the jealousy.But there are many example in the play with othello and the big example of jealousy was throughout the play when there was a triangle between Cassio, Othello and Lago. Jealousy is a major theme in Othello and it is what drives Othello to commit his heinous deed of killing Desdemona. Othello also claims to be a man who "loved not wisely, but too well , of one not easily jealous."(V.ii.347). He doesn't want to addit that he's always jealous of something , othello just want to be the hero. Othello was one of the most extraordinary characters in the play, because he was the most dramatic type of person. But even though he has great success in the battlefield, he has a dramatic flaw that causes a downfall in his life. The dramatic flaw that causes his downfall is jealousy because he was always jealous of his wife. But sometimes Othello makes some point of presenting himself just as an outsider, whether he recognizes his exotic appeal because for example, in spite of his obvious eloquence in Act I, scene iii, he protests, “Rude am I in my speech, And little blessed with the soft phrase of peace” (I.iii.81–82). But the reason why Othello is never rude in his speech, because he allow his eloquence to suffer as he