Jealousy is a driving motive in Othello, it is an emotion that causes brawls throughout the novel. In William Shakespeare’s introduction of Othello, he emphasizes Roderigo’s love for Desdemona and how far he is willing to go for her love, to this statement, Iago’s reacts and proclaims the hatred he feels towards Othello. Iago claims that the major reason for the root of his hatred is the fact that Othello promoted Michael Cassio, a man with no prior experience in war as lieutenant, while Iago has been a loyal servant in battle and contains recommendation of the three great ones, he is deprived of this privilege. Shakespeare uses this scene to evoke a feeling of resentment in the reader and makes them realize that jealousy is a powerful emotion that drives many to commit irrational decisions, just like it drove Iago to plot revenge against Othello for his misdeed. …show more content…
For instance, he goes in look for Desdemona’s father and advises him that they are “making beasts with two backs”, meaning they are having sexual relations. He presents a balanced view on what the response would be to the decision Othello made. I believe Shakespeare does a magnificent job of portraying these actions, it is human instinct to desire anything more than what you already have, especially when one thinks they deserve it. Yet, he overlooks the fact that Iago seeks revenge towards Othello and not towards the person that took his spot,
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
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.
In Othello, William Shakespeare portrays how Othello is a highly respected figure in Venetian society, but that the racially prejudiced reality he faces threatens to unmask his deepest insecurities. Iago despises Othello due to how he has vastly excelled him in military rank. He desires to reduce Othello’s glittering reputation and love life to dust. He is keenly aware of how Othello has always felt different than everyone else in Venice due to his African background. Othello believes that his relationship with Desdemona will finally allow him to escape his insecurities. However, Iago uses Othello’s greatest strength against him as he allows his love for Desdemona to become his greatest weakness. Iago’s racial prejudice leads him to manipulate
In Shakespeare’s play Othello, tragedy unfolds on the account of one man’s actions, Iago. He is a twenty eight year old military veteran from Venice. His personality consists of being obsessive, manipulative, relentless, and bold. From the beginning he expressed his hatred towards the Moor, or North African named Othello. Othello is a highly respected general and is also married to the pure Desdemona. The marriage between Othello and Desdemona is destroyed due to Iago’s actions and lies. His actions consist of getting Michael Cassio discharged as lieutenant and convincing the Moor that his wife is cheating on him. The motives Iago has for despising Othello are he passed him over for a promotion to be his lieutenant, instead he chose
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.
Shakespeare explores themes that are still as relevant today as they were during the Elizabethan era. As humanity's flaws haven’t changed, there are still attitudes that conform to racist stereotypes and the greed for power and control .These concepts that are portrayed throughout Othello are of a timeless nature.
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 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.
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 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.
Almost all people, at some point in their lives, have experienced jealousy. But almost all people are given an equal opportunity to overcome this most unbecoming quality. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, however, this fatal flaw developed by the play’s main protagonist, Othello, is not easily subdued. Instead, Iago, the catalyst for Othello’s jealousy, manipulates him into believing that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with his lieutenant, Cassio, transforming Othello from respected general to reviled outsider. Iago achieves this desired effect by fabricating a web of illusions that not only mislead the Moor, but turn him against those whom he loves the most.
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.
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.
Dominating the protagonist in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello is the passion of sexual jealousy. Dominating the antagonist is another type of jealousy toward Cassio, and hatred toward the general. Let us look closely at the concept of jealousy as it is revealed in this drama.
The play Othello by William Shakespeare was published during the 16th century, it is one of Shakespeare’s popular and controversial plays. Shakespeare depicts Othello’s race as placing him apart in some respects from the predominantly white European society in which he lives. Jealousy is another of the main themes in Othello. Iago is the first character to start the sparks of jealousy in Othello, and in the end, causes the downfall of Othello and Desdemona. In the end, racism and jealousy are the causes of the tragedy in Othello.