Jealousy in this context, is best described as "the obverse of envy: it is a defensive and possessive fear of losing the loved one rather than a painful grudge against someone else's good fortune" (Nordlund). Behind Othello's anger lies a fear of losing. This definition of jealousy is most suited towards him as he becomes more possessive over his love, Desdemona. Desdemona is completely innocent and is for the most part, completely unaware of Othello's deteriorating mind. Even when Othello killed her, she still remained as innocent as before. From a biological standpoint, the "cause of human jealousy is that we are sexual and affectionate mammals endowed with a capacity for active choice that we usually prefer to exercise if we can" (Nordlund). …show more content…
Even though jealousy carried him away, all of human life is dominated by emotions. Everyone is feeling one or several emotions at all times. The nature of Othello's jealousy, as described by Emilia, is that "[t]hey are not ever jealous for the cause / [b]ut jealous for they are jealous: 'tis a monster . . . born on itself" (III.4.2355). Even when Desdemona "never gave him cause," His jealousy feeds on itself (III.4.2352); Othello's jealousy "doth mock / [t]he meat if feeds on," all he needs is some doubt before he becomes completely obsessed and everything becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because there is always the possibility that Desdemona really could have slept with Cassio (III.3.1817). This is an emotion that does not need a reason. Jealousy is often characterized as being a monster because it has the ability to turn others monstrous. It can turn the loving Othello into a vengeful man. His jealousy affects "what is not witnessed but only imagined" (Bell 43). With almost no proof of unfaithfulness, Othello goes from being deeply in love to hating and killing his new bride. Iago slowly plants the seed of suspicion in Othello's mind, "Men should be what they seem; / Or those that be not, would they might seem none," Iago is …show more content…
. . until the tragic end" (Bell 43). His mindset is purely based jealousy that Desdemona may be cheating on him followed by the fear that he will lose her. Ironically, Othello will lose Desdemona anyways. Iago is able to use imagery to further manipulate Othello. Othello would never suspect Iago to lie to him. He mentions Desdemona being "naked with her friend in bed," causing Othello to picture the scene in his mind's eye (IV.1.2414). With the nickname of "Honest Iago," he is capable of lying without spreading suspicion. He is able to steer Othello into " an intolerable position between hope and despair" (Nordlund). Because this is a Shakespearian tragedy, the audience knows that this plot will not have a happy ending. Othello's sexual jealousy is the main flaw that results in his downfall. It is the driving force that motivates several of the characters actions. Iago is jealous of Cassio's position so he uses it to destroy Othello. Roderigo helps Iago because he is jealous of Othello being with Desdemona. Most importantly, Othello is jealous because of his false belief that his wife is cheating on him. It can be argued that Iago is envies Othello's and
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.
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
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 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
William Shakespeare is famous all over the world for his use of recurrent themes, especially those of love, death and deception. A minute study of the play shows that all these themes are the part and parcel of his tragedy ‘Othello’. Most prominent, however, is jealousy. The story of the drama ‘Othello’ revolves around the doom of Othello and the other major characters as a result of jealousy. In this play, jealousy is mainly portrayed through the two major characters: Iago and Othello. It annihilates their lives absolutely because it causes Iago to show his true self, which in turn triggers Othello to undergo an absolute change that destroys the lives of their friends. The concept of jealousy as explored by Shakespeare in this play clearly indicates how one’s hidden fears and ambiguities can be exploited by those who are envious and how those envious people
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 what drives Othello to kill Desdemona. Othello claims to be a man who "loved not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous..."(V.ii.347). I can relate to this them because through my life I have experienced jealousy. To start with Othello does not show any signs of jealousy and is fully aware of Desdemona's friendship with Cassio and is not concerned. Othello knows that Desdemona "had eyes and chose me" (III.iii.189) until Iago starts his manipulative scheming. Iago has everyone fooled, his own jealousy is the motivation for his destruction of Othello “I do suspect the lusty Moor." Othello gives him no cause to suspect him but Iago will get his revenge “wife for wife" (II.i.303). “Like Iago's jealousy, consumes his life and the life of all around him. (V.ii.285) I can relate to this them because through my life I have experienced
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.
As a result of society‟s prejudice, Othello‟s self-esteem diminishes, allowing Iago to capitalize on his insecurity to invoke the feeling of jealousy in Othello. To start off, Iago insinuates that Desdemona is unfaithful to Othello, as she prefers only people of her „type‟, a class Othello will never belong. Iago convincingly states: “As, to be bold with you,/Not to affect many proposed matches/Of her own clime, complexion, and degree,/Whereto we see in all things nature tends” (III.iii. 232-236). By the same logic, Desdemona would prefer Cassio, who is like her in age, race, and class, as opposed to Othello who is older, black and unattractive(1538). Similarly, Iago uses Desdemona‟s gender and past to convince Othelloof her infidelity. Iago states: “She did deceive her father, marrying you,/And when she seemed to shake and fear your looks,/She loved them most” (III.iii. 210-213). He alludes that Desdemona, having betrayed her father, is very likely to betray Othello. Combined with the knowledge that wome of that time period were unvirtuous and unfaithful, this tips Othello over the
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.
Jealousy was based on Othello’s lack of trust on Desdemona and suspects her cheating on him. “To you, preferring you before her father, so much I challenge that I may profess