Jealousy In William Shakespeare's Othello

In Iago's soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 3, Iago exclaims 'I hate the Moor'; he repeats this sentence many times during the first act of the play. The reasons for his hatred are vast, they could stem from racism, for Iago uses derogatory terms to describe Othello many times, ‘Barbary horse', ‘devil' and ‘old black ram'. It could also come from Iago's resentment that Cassio was promoted above him by Othello. One of the main

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.

There are many different emotions like sadness, happiness, and joyfulness just to name a few that people can experience. One of the most powerful and sometimes dangerous emotions is Jealousy. Jealousy is a powerful emotion that most people experience at some point in their life. However, not everyone is affected in the same way. Some people are filled with insecurity. While others are filled with fear. Most people experience anger. In William Shakespeare’s Othello the audience learns through the characterization of Othello and Iago, the symbolism of the handkerchief, and through Othello denying that he is jealous we learn that jealousy can make people behave irrationally in certain circumstances.

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

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.

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.

When Iago makes a point of including Othello’s race in a conversation with a confidant, it proves that he feels that Othello’s race is the reason for his actions. There is an obvious abhorrence for Othello based upon his race. Later in the play, Iago goes on to say “If she had been blessed, she would never have loved the Moor” (Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum “WRAC” ). This statement shows that Iago is jealous of Othello because he won the love of Desdemona and is cause for insecurities on his part. Iago must now question his marriage and whether or not Othello is cause for infidelity. These insecurities act as extra motivation for Iago’s actions.

In Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello, good is often confronted by evil, in which almost every case is in the form of jealousy. Iago, the plays antagonist, is a very manipulative villain. Iago uses his own agony and distress brought upon him by his envy of others, to provoke the same agony within the characters in the play. Jealousy’s ability are shown to influence people to new ends and make all humanistic judgment disappear leaving that man a monster torn apart by envy. Jealousy’s true destructive wrath and the pure evil it brings out in people can be revealed through Iago’s actions throughout the tragedy Othello.

Explore How Shakespeare Presents The Theme Of Jealousy In Othello During Elizabethan times, jealousy had a significantly wider meaning than it does in today's society. Then, it was most often used in order to indicate suspicion of someone’s sexual partner. Within the play, Shakespeare has used two of the main characters, Iago and Othello in order to represent the jealousy, specifically focussing on the tragedy it can cause and how jealousy can lead to the downfall of the perceived tragic hero.

To torment Othello Iago takes some of his jealousy and puts on Othello so he can feel the pain Iago felt. Iago tells Othello to never let Jealousy get to you can it can be a silent killer and destroy his heart. “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on” (3.3.195-197). Othello thinking je would be fine started the denial faze stating he will not let jealousy get the best of him. But jealousy is like a infection it gets in your body and it spreads like a wildfire and does not stop until there is nothing left to burn anymore.

Hence, he carries this deep desire to exterminate Othello. Iago executes his sinful plans by intentionally inundating Othello with negative portrayals of the loathsome Venetian culture. Othello voluntarily affirms Iago’s tales because from Othello’s perspective because of (what Othello thinks to be) their friendly relationship with each other. He believes that since and Iago is a Venetian himself, he is a credible source into the Venetian way of thinking. Othello, oblivious to white Venetian culture, foolishly believes Iago’s lies because he has no reference point or judgment for white Venetian people since he is new to the environment.

In Shakespeare’s classic seventeenth-century play, Othello, readers see how jealousy affects the human mind. The antagonist, Iago, is jealous he did not receive a promotion from his boss Othello. Iago then concocts a plan of revenge to make Othello think his wife cheated on him. Throughout Othello, readers see how jealousy drives Othello and Iago to harm others without the fear of consequences. Shakespeare’s Othello explores how our fears and uncertainties can be used to exploit and manipulate others by using the literary elements of character, setting, and plot.

Jealousy is a powerful and potentially dangerous emotion that has the ability to control people, their mind, and their actions. Throughout the play Othello by William Shakespeare, the majority of the plot is driven by the antagonistic character, Iago’s, cruel actions brought upon him by his jealousy. The play opens with Othello, the general of the Venetian army, marrying Desdemona, a woman going against her father’s wishes by marrying Othello. He has appointed the lieutenancy position of the army to Michael Cassio over Iago, who desperately wants said position. This provokes a jealousy deep within him, and he acts upon it, becoming the perfect puppet master of every character in the play.

In the story of Othello, all of the conflict, violence, and harm that occured was a result of jealousy. Iago, one of the victims of jealousy, made a hypocritical statement to Othello where he called jealousy a green-eyed monster. This monster known as jealousy not only consumes the people that it hates, but also consumes the person itself. Jealousy is the culprit for any character that had died in the story. Jealousy fueled each scene to the next in Othello and the more that is added, the more damage it does as seen with its effects on Roderigo, Iago, and Othello.