Othello is one of the literary works that focus on the dangers of jealousy and how it can destroy lives. I think Othello is compromised by Shakespeare’s absorption with the emotion of jealousy particularly Othello’s reliance on Lago’s statements. The hero succumbs to jealousy when Iago convinces him that Desdemona has been an unfaithful wife. “Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus”. Lago conveys that man has the ability to control his emotions but Othello is poisoned by the monster of jealousy and resultantly murders his wife. In the play, jealousy takes many different forms from professional competition to sexual suspicion, but whichever the form, it always leads to destruction. This paper focuses on the theme of jealousy depicted in Shakespeare’s …show more content…
As the play unfolds slowly it is clear that jealousy leads to a lot of dramatic events which take place throughout the play. Iago says that “jealousy is a green-eyed monster," (Act I, Scene 3) green depicting envy's color and the monster expressing the destruction it causes leading to a lot of vicious actions. The words are described by one of the characters called Lago who has a manipulative mind. It is ironic how the character tries to warn the protagonist, yet what drives Othello to his deeds and jealous acts. Jealousy is a controlling emotion that blinds people from seeing and accepting the truth. The writer of the play emphasizes this theme heavily continuously in the play. Othello, the protagonist through his deeds is an influence of envy. Lago, on the other hand, uses his character to cause deception and manipulate the truth. His deceit and fake promises lead to the demise of many characters in the play. However, the protagonist is easily deceived due to his powerful jealousy. Shakespeare is trying to express the evils of jealousy that can even lead to unbelieving of the facts. The play starts with Lago and Roderigo standing on the Venice streets. Lago starts planning his devious scheme. Roderigo has eyed Desdemona for a while and continuously asked her father for her hand in marriage always to be turned away. Newsletter reaches the people on how Othello the general and Desdemona have …show more content…
Lago has hatred for the protagonist for promoting a younger man who he considers to be incapable as a solder hence using the private marriage to his advantage. He advises Roderigo,“go wake Brabanito and explain the elopement issue” (Act I, Scene 1), while he goes looking for Othello to warn him of Brabanito seeking to destroy him. Brabanito gets angered with the news promising not to rest until the protagonist is beheaded accusing him of seducing his daughter using witchcraft. It is palpable that from the first act, the reader can see how Iago plays with Rodrigo's emotions to get individual revenge on Othello. He uses Roderigo as a pawn in his plan knowing that he has his undivided loyalty. Jealousy is not genetic in an individual but caused by severe actions of their character. The protagonist is inundated with his pride and ego lead to his demise. Otherwise, Othello is a very romantic character full of deep feelings to a person he loves. Apart from the main character, other characters are also affected by resentment and jealousy in the play. For instance, Roderigo suffers from jealousy. He is determined to be with Desdemona, despite her being a wife to another. His racial comments to Othello describing his lips as thick just because of him being black expresses how envious he is of Othello as he has the love of Desdemona. The act of love between Othello and Desdemona leads to a lot of envy in the
Jealously is one of the main central ideas and is shown through many character but mainly Iago and Hugo and Othello and O. In act 4, scene 5 Othello
Shakespeare is prominent in his use of recurring themes throughout his works, particularly those of love, death, and betrayal. All these themes are present in Othello. Most dominant, however, are manipulation and jealousy. Jealousy runs the characters’ lives in Othello from the beginning of the play, when Roderigo is jealous of Othello because he wishes to be with Desdemona, and to the end of the play, when Othello is furious with jealousy because he believes Cassio and Desdemona have been engaging in an affair, but manipulation the prominent action that fuels the jealousy within Othello. Some characters’ jealousy is fashioned by other characters. Iago is involved in much of this, creating lies and implementing confusing situations.
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.
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
In the play Othello, jealousy is shown to be very evident through the actions of the characters. Jealousy is an emotion that everyone shares, and it is ultimately responsible for the tragic ending of the play. Everyone feels jealous at certain times of their lives, and this feeling can cause people to do irrational things. This human emotion also shows people to be weak in the sense that they are never happy with what they have. Shakespeare shows through Othello, Iago, Roderigo, and Brabantio that jealousy is the most corrupt and destructive emotion.
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.
“Othello”, by William Shakespeare, is a story of jealousy’s potential to manipulate thoughts and eventually lead to ultimate demise. The key to extremely detrimental jealousy lies within one’s ability to recognize it or deny it. It seems that the important theme of “Othello” is that if jealousy is not recognized and immediately dealt with, it receives a head start to commence the process of rotting away all normal human reason. Othello’s speech in Act III scene iii beginning with line 178 is the first and most important indicator of the trouble ominously looming on Othello’s horizon. His immediate response to Iago’s accusations is that of total denial. By depriving himself of that initial venting process, Othello gives his jealousy the
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.
Race is still a common subject that people deal with in their daily life. In Othello, race is one of the issues that is dealt with. Othello is a black General among whites. Even though he is black, he marries a white woman named Desdemona. In the beginning, Desdemona’s father has an issue with Desdemona marrying Othello, even though Othello is respected and honored in the society. The issue Desdemona’s father has with Othello is his race. This issue about marrying a different race is looked down upon, even in today’s society. Manny people who have these sentiments like the father or are in a similar situation to Othello and Desdemona, can relate.
Shakespeare uses a combination of recurring themes and motifs such as betrayal, love, conflict, and jealousy throughout his plays and sonnets. In Shakespeare’s Othello, jealousy is the prominent theme, which causes the destruction and tragic downfall of the play’s main characters. Jealousy is masked through lies, misleading situations and manipulation and interpreted in varied ways by the main characters. From beginning to end, jealousy is rooted in every scene, eventually leading to the death and demise of the main character, Othello.
The play, Othello is one of the most famous tragedies composed by William Shakespeare during the Renaissance period. It powerfully portrays a world where the acts of evil ultimately vanquishes fidelity, nobility and integrity. The central themes jealousy and manipulation embodies the foretold tragedies and the downfall tragedies of the characters due to one’s insecurities. Through the use of literary techniques and figurative language, Shakespeare has effectively explored the themes of jealousy and manipulation.
Jealousy is the sensation to envy someone and have the desire to avenge someone. The infamous play Othello portrays the consequences of jealousy. Throughout the play, Othello tragic flaw is his own jealousy. Othello jealousy causes a transition of character. Othello was once the charming noble gentleman and it is now turned into a vicious callous monster. Othello’s jealousy was his downfall that cost the deaths of multiple lives.
Lily B. Campbell in Shakespeare’s Tragic Heroes definitively categorizes Othello as a “study in jealousy”: