Jealousy In Othello Analysis

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.

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

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.

My topic is jealousy in the play Othello. Shakespeare wrote this play as a focus on the dangers of jealousy. It shows how jealousy can be kept going by nothing more than circumstantial evidence and how it can destroy people’s lives. In Othello jealousy appears in many ways, from sexual suspicion to professional competition, but as in all cases it is destructive. Shakespeare proves that jealousy is inherently unreasonable in this play. He proves it is founded in the psychological issues of the jealous person, not the behavior of the one who prompts the jealous feelings.

Othello was jealous that he was told his wife was cheating on him because he was older and not as attractive as some of the men interested in her. O.J. was jealous because Nicole, someone he was married to for seventeen years, was partying with different guys. Both of the men’s jealous were caused by insecurities. Othello was insecure because Desdemona had the option to find a younger, handsomer man if she wanted to. Othello’s jealousy turned abnormal after Iago brought him “proof” that his wife was cheating on him and he then planned to kill her.

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”.

Iago’s jealousy ends up ruining multiple people’s lives. “Jealousy, once awakened, becomes self-perpetuating, self-intensifying, and where no justifying evidence for it exist... “ (Godfrey, !972, pg. 418). As long as he is gaining from what people have to lose then he is happy. He does not care what he has to put people through in order to get what he wants. His jealousy forms from two reasons: thinking Othello was sleeping with Emilia and Othello giving the position to Cassio instead of giving to him. “Off-Capp’d to him: and, by the faith of man, I know my price, I am worth no worse a place: But he, as loving his own pride and purposes, Evades them, with a bombast circumstance Horribly stuff’d with epithets of war; And, in conclusion, Nonsuits my mediators; for, “Certes,” says he, “I have already chosen my officer.” And what was he? One Michael

Another area of jealousy in Othello is when there are accusations of Othello having an affair with Iago’s wife, Emilia. Emilia was a woman who thought her husband was unfaithful, but stayed with him anyway. Along with these rumors, there were also rumors that Cassio had slept with Emilia too. I believe that jealousy is a powerful thing, and it’s hard to overcome rumors and accusations when they involve everyone’s husbands and wives. Not every character handled themselves the same while getting through these accusations of affairs and what not.

Jealousy shaped the events in Othello. Without jealousy the plot of Othello would have been completely different. Othello would have never killed Desdemona and they still would have been together, if jealousy was not a factor in the play. It also made the play more interesting by adding drama to the play. But jealousy was the catalyst that ultimately ends Othello and Desdemona’s life.

Iago is a jealous beast and he knows the true power and control jealousy holds on a man, Iago knows the danger it holds and uses it in his favor against Othello. In Act 3 scene 3 Iago says “Dangerous conceits are, in their natures, poisons. /Which at the first are scarce found to distaste, /But with a little act upon the blood. /Burn like the mines of Sulphur. I did say so:/Look,

There being two forms of jealousy present is not immediately evident. Upon analyzing, one notices the distinct differences between Iago and Othello’s jealousy. Often

     Shakespeare is known for his exceptional ability to compose plays full of deceit, trickery, revenge, and jealousy. The play Othello, evolves around the theme of jealousy.

Jealousy of power is first displayed through Iago, a solider under Othello’s command. ”One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, a fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife, that never set a squadron in the field”(Act 1, Scene 1). Iago is consumed by jealousy of Cassio, which he masks with hatred of Othello, because Othello took up Cassio as lieutenant and not Iago. In this same scene, we are also introduced to Roderigo, a wealthy Venetian, who is desperately in love with Desdemona, Othello’s wife. This scene is significant because it crafts Iago as the perfect villain. He plans on exploiting Othello’s insecurities in exchange for his own vengeful agenda.