Haley Johnson
Professor Smith
Dual Enrollment Composition 2
20 April 2015
Jealousy Destroys
Relationships revolve around love and trust, and when the trust is broken the act of jealousy can take and destroy. In William Shakespeare's "Othello" the act of jealousy is the prominent theme throughout. In the beginning Othello was not jealous until another character, Iago, convinces him the Desdemona, Othello's wife, has been unfaithful. This destructive trait leads to the horrific death of his loving wife, Desdemona, and eventually to Othello's suicide. It is ironic that Iago uses the act of jealousy against Othello, yet jealousy is the probable reason that Iago convinced Othello about Desdemona. In "Othello" there are different types of jealousy that happen, but it does not
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Othello did not wake up one day and say that he was going to be jealous; he was corrupted and persuaded into it. Iago is the one main character of many characters that persuades Othello into the nasty trait of jealousy. Othello represents how jealousy is one of the most corrupting and destructive of emotions (“Theme”). This destructive emotion eventually leads Othello to do things he does not want to do. Iago is the main character that makes Othello do these things and one of the main characters that lies to Othello to make him jealous of everyone. Iago is always persuading Othello that Desdemona has been an unfaithful wife throughout their marriage (Act 3. Scene 3). Othello never believes Iago in the beginning but near the end he starts to go over his thoughts and does start to believe Iago (3.3). The reason Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is unfaithful is because Iago thinks that Othello is sleeping with Iago's wife, Emilia. Iago makes up the lie that Desdemona is unfaithful to make Othello jealous. It is another of Iago's successes that he reveals that underlying the idealism of Othello's spiritual love there is an unacknowledged sexuality (Newton).
However, Iago has already supplanted jealousy and suspicion into Othello's mind. This causes little amounts of evidence seem like absolute proof and will haunt his mind and memory. Furthermore, proving that jealousy is a dangerous tool used to get into people's heads and make them think differently/ out of proportion. Another example of jealousy causing Othello to destroy himself is after he kills his wife and learns the truth. Othello begs everyone, “Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak of one that loved not wisely but too well; of one not easily jealous, but being wrought Perplex'd in the extreme” (V. ii.
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, 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.
Although the audience knows that Othello is jealous. Othello himself denies that he has been consumed by jealousy, and that he has been behaving irrationally. Othello claims that “it is the cause, [his] soul. Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars. It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed [Desdemona’s] blood” (Shakespeare 5.2.1-3). Denying that he is jealous Othello claims that he is not going to kill Desdemona as of this moment. He also insist that the reasoning to killing Desdemona would be because of justice, and not jealousy. After killing Desdemona Othello argues with Emilia that “Cassio did top [Desdemona]. Ask thy husband [Iago] else O, I were damned beneath all depth in hell [b]ut that proceed upon just grounds” (Shakespeare 5.2.139-142). Othello insists that he was justified in killing his wife because she cheated on him with Cassio. Otherwise he would have gone to hell for
Othello is an easy target in this drama, because Iago already knows that he is a very insecure person. With that stated, it will be easy for Iago to use Othello’s jealousy to trick him into thinking that Desdemona is an unfaithful wife. Iago will manipulate the way Othello sees things in order to convince him that what he sees is innocent acts between Desdemona and Casillo. Iago’s starts to plant the idea in Othello’s head of an affair after Othello sees Casillo rush leaving Desdemona in a manner that looked as though he is guilty (1223). Alone with Othello, Iago begins to make Othello feel threatened by Casillo and Desdemona’s apparent relationship by bringing up the fact that Casillo served as Desdemona’s and Othello’s go-between during the time of their courtship. The conversation ends with Iago asking Othello to watch carefully of Desdemona and Casillo, and Iago exits giving Othello time to question the accusation of Iago (1225-1228).
Othello's Jealousy is mostly a figure of his imagination made from all of iago's lies and being mislead. The ironic part about that is that iago said to othello”beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock, The meat it feeds on”(III,iii,195-198). Iago is warning Othell that nothing good can come from jealousy.Then Iago starts to question desdemona's loyalty but othello gets mad and says”No, Iago; I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove; And on the proof, there is no more”(III,iii,220-223). Othello wants evidence of his claims before he finally decides if she was cheating on him with Cassio.
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
Iago does this because he not only hates Othello but he is jealous of him. He tells him that his wife is unfaithful to him. Othello is in the early stages of his relationship so he believes Iago. Iago makes it seem as if Desdemona is cheating on Othello with someone else. Othello does not even check to see if these things are true. Iago had pushed him so far that he was past all reason and logic. He rages and kills his wife and the man she is allegedly having an affair with.
Love and jealousy are ideas that have gone hand in hand for many years. From the beginning of time, jealousy has caused strife and division among families and friends. Adam, the first man, had Cain and Abel as his sons. The first family on earth had jealousy that tore the family apart, when Cain killed Abel, because of Cain’s jealousness towards God’s favor on Abel (English Standard Version, Genesis 4:4-5). Jealousy abounds in all avenues of life, sometimes to the point of destroying everything in the path, including the jealous party. In Shakespeare’s masterpiece Othello, the character Iago reveals himself to be extremely wicked in the following ways: his extreme jealousy towards Cassio’s promotion, his
Othello is a classic Shakespearean tragedy that consists of many underlying themes depicted in the story. One of the most significant themes portrayed in this play revolve around the aspect of jealousy. Jealousy is a strong feeling of resentment that can overpower a person’s good will and compel them to take involuntary action against one. During the course of this play, we see three main characters that possess this idea of a jealous nature. The theme of jealousy is recognized in the villainous Iago which exposes his true self, the pathetic Roderigo, who in turn faces severe consequences, and the great Othello himself whom jealousy devours, leading him to make rash decisions.
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 plays a major role in Othello as it is the driving force which leads to the plays events being carried out. The theme of jealousy is prevalent through characterization and the dishonoring of the values of trust and loyalty. The character if Iago is the main who endures jealousy and dishonours trust and loyalty which in the end he uses as a method to lead Othello to his downfall. Iago dishonours Othello’s trust by stating “My lord, you know I love you” but this contrasts with Iago line “I follow him to serve my turn upon him”.
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.
In Othello, one of the most significant scenes that portrays jealousy is when Roderigo uses Iago to get closer to Desdemona. It doesn’t seem as though Iago really wanted Desdemona,