Jealousy and its Role in Othello
In Shakespeare’s Othello Jealousy is the main themes throughout the play. Along the play Jealousy is the reason for most of the misfortune in the play. This is shown through the actions of the characters Iago, Roderigo and Othello.
Iago has a strong manipulative trait which helps him on his ploy to destroy Othello’s relationship, Cassio’s title and of course himself, Because of his Jealousy towards Cassio and Othello. As the play opens Iago is expressing his reasoning for hating Othello, he says “I hate the Moor,/ And it is thought abroad that ’twixt my sheets/ He’s done my office. I know not if ’t be true,/ But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,/ Will do as if for surety”.(1.3.123-27). Here Iago says he
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Rodriego jealous nature gets influenced by his extreme desire for Desdemona, his Jealousy and Iago influence caused misfortune for Cassio and himself. Roderigo has been paying Iago to help him win the hand of the lovely Desdemona, but he’s learned that Desdemona has married Othello, Roderigo thinks he’s chances with Desdemona are finished he asks Iago “What should I do? I confess it is my shame to be / so fond, but it is not in my virtue to amend it”(1.3.305-6) Iago takes this opportunity into using Iago’s Jealousy and tells him “Let us be conjunctive in our / revenge against him”(1.3.315-14) this resulted into Roderigo helping Iago. Iago convinces Roderigo to provoke Cassio into a fight in order for Cassio to lose his job and thus another obstacle for the hand of Desdemona is removed, which works, Cassio’s was removed as lieutenant and Iago got the position he wanted. Presumably Iago promises that Roderigo will have Desdemona the following night, but because cassio is being promoted to take Othello’s place as defender of Cyprus Iago lies and says that instead of returning to Venice, Othello and Desdemona are being sent to Mauritania he convinces Rodrigo that the only way to stop him from never seeing Desdemona ever again he has to remove Cassio, he has to kill him.” Oh, no, he goes into Mauritania and taketh away / with him the fair Desdemona, unless his abode / be lingered here by some accident—wherein / …show more content…
Iago explains that he would speak with Cassio about a woman he is seeing at the moment Bianca making Othello hide thinking he’s talking about his wife Desdemona, Bianca then enters and accuses Cassio to cheating on her with other women because of the handkerchief. The handkerchief was given to Desdemona by Othello as a token of their love for each, Iago could steal it and placed it in Cassio hands, making seem as though Cassio and Desdemona were seeing each other, When Othello saw Bianca throwing it to Cassio, he got jealous and promises to kill Desdemona for her disloyalty, Othello planning to do it with poison Iago says” Do it not with poison. Strangle her in her bed, even the bed, she hath contaminated” (4.1.159-200) which Othello agrees “Good, good, the justice of it pleases! Very good! “Later Othello enters quarters”. (4.1.201) Othello later enters their quarters and tells Desdemona that he will kill her, he tells her “Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin,/ For to deny each article with oath/ Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception/ That I do groan withal. Thou art to die” soon after Othello Suffocates Desdemona. In the end Emilia tells the truth of Iago’s ploy, because of the sudden realization of what he has done he says to Lodovico, Desdemona’s cousin, and Gratiano, a kinsmen, that when he tells the people of Venice this new they speak as someone who “loved not
Some traits of a jealous person are insecure, overly attached, spying, and low-self esteem. Othello’s jealousy started when he believed Iago’s lies about his wife infidelity. Iago’s claim became stronger when Othello found out his wife doesn’t have the handkerchief that symbolized their love. Iago exhibits jealousy in the play. Iago was jealous of Cassio’s rank as lieutenant. Roderigo was jealous of Othello’s union with Desdemona. Othello’s jealousy was based on false information. Iago’s jealousy was based on the desired job position and Roderigo’s jealousy was based upon his love for Desdemona. As human beings, I think it is almost impossible to avoid jealousy, but a person can overcome it. It is part of the human nature feel jealous, but
Iago' s jealousy rises mainly from a his boss, Othello, picking Cassio to be his right hand man. "One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, a fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife; that neverset a squadron in the field, nor the division of a battle knows more than a spinster;" (1.1.2.) Iago believes Cassio is way too under qualified. Therefore (not on purpose), Iago feel less like a man and giving Iago little power. He hates when people are in a higher position than him. Also when giving Cassio the lieutenant job, it gave Iago someone new to direct his attention and jealousy toward. Iago makes a plan to get revenge by making it look like Othello's wife and his newfound lieutenant are having an affair behind his back. And then Iago can get the job he believes he rightful deserved in the first place.
Iago sets everyone up in the play and makes them think that he is helping each of them while he is really tricking them into what he wants them to do. He does this all because he wants a higher ranking job. Othello is a very jealous person and is sensitive when it comes to Desdemona that Iago is able to trick him into thinking that she is cheating on him with Cassio. Iago takes advantage of Cassio’s youth and gets him drunk which winds up with him getting fired from his job. Iago then encourages Cassio to request to get his job back from Desdemona. He convinces Othello that Cassio and Desdemona are very close making him jealous. He gets help from his wife Emilia who finds Desdemona’s handkerchief and gives it to him. Iago takes the handkerchief and puts it in Cassio’s room to prove to Othello that Desdemona was there. Othello puts way too much trust in Iago and believes everything he is telling him. Othello becomes very angry and wants to kill Cassio. Rodrigo also in love with Desdemona finds out that Cassio loves her too. Iago uses this to convince Rodrigo to kill Cassio and both of them ultimately are killed. Othello then tells Desdemona that Cassio is dead and wants her to admit to cheating with him but she denies it all. Othello’s jealousy and trust in Iago is too strong and he doesn’t believe her and kills her before Emilia realizes and tells Othello what Iago has done. Iago in the end is jailed and refuses to give his reas...
Have you ever been jealous of someone due to some reason? One can understand how jealousy can affect him or her to do horrible things. Jealousy causes people to perform stupid actions that they would not have done if they were not jealous of something or someone. The protagonist and the antagonist are mostly driven by love and filled with the feeling of jealousy. Due to the feeling of jealousy felt by the antagonist, Iago about not getting the job he wanted, he makes a plan to somehow destroy Othello’s love for Desdemona. As the play progresses, the protagonist, Othello begins to appear more like Iago, as his jealousy destroys his wife and consumes his life. Therefore, jealousy is personified as a “green eyed monster” through the combination of Othello’s credulous nature and Iago’s malicious villainy. It is the reason for the change in Iago’s and Othello’s behavior, impacts the insecurity
His plan is to continue giving Roderigo unfulfilled promises. Iago continues to manipulate Roderigo. He convinces him that Desdemona will soon grow tired of Othello and begin to search for a younger, handsome man to fulfill her desires. Continuing to build on Roderigo’s rationality, Iago tells him that Desdemona will fall for Cassio, and the only way to win Desdemona is by taking Cassio out of the picture.... ...
In the play Othello, there are many jealous and selfish characters. Each of the characters at one point or another let their jealousy take over. It seems like they all have these plots and plans on how to hurt another character in the play either physically or emotionally, as an act of selfishness, so that they can feel better about themselves. One main character who seems extremely jealous in this play is Iago. Infact, probably the most jealous. Many bad things happen because of Iago. The first bad thing that Iago did, was tell Barbantio (Desdamona's father) that Desdemona has married Othello, the Moore. Iago was mad at Othello, because Cassio had made Othello a higher position and not Iago. Iago thought that he was the one who qualified for the position as general, not Othello. Iago was jealous because of this, so he decided to tell Barbantio about Desdemona and Othello. This was bad, because Barbantio did not know yet, and something like that should have been said by his own daughter, not someone who was not part of the family. The way Iago went about telling him was also bad. He called to his house in the middle of the night. He yelled it to Barbantio from downstairs into his window in a rude manner. " quote from Othello here." He wanted Barbantio to be upset about what had happened, and most of all, he wanted Barbantio to be mad at Othello and do something bad to him.
She mentions how she physically cares for Othello, asking him to take care of himself and his body. She then uses this as a segway proving that if he trusts her council in these small matters then her advice on larger matters should hold even more weight and proof upon them. Othello agrees to her council and asks to be alone so that he may think, However Iago had different plans. Previously Desdemona had spoken to Cassio and had told him she would try to win back Othello’s favor for him, and Iago used this friendship to his advantage. After Othello had spoken to Desdemona and agreed to meet with Cassio, Iago began to whisper poisonous thoughts into his ears saying Desdemona is unfaithful. Desdemona is clueless to this change of events and continues to play in to Iago’s hands, innocently continuing to befriend Cassio and entreat Othello to accept him. Even so, she continues to love her husband even when he begins to act distant and strange. Desdemona tries again to comfort Othello when he is distraught, but this time he pushes her away, wishing not to be comforted by his wife as he is now suspicious of her. Later, Desdemona realizes her handkerchief is missing, not knowing Emilia took it as Iago had instructed her. Desdemona realizes that Othello will be cross with her, but she does not realize the torrent of frustration she has now been placed in the
In accordance with the definition of jealousy, Roderigo desires the possessions of another. It is this jealousy which moves him to do many evil things in the play. He pays Iago large amounts of money to conjure up a scheme to acquire Desdemona.
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. Throughout the play, jealousy is a ruler over Iago’s thoughts and actions, influencing the way he feels about himself. Iago’s jealousy is exhibited while speaking with Roderigo “One Michael Cassio, a Florentine/ (A fellow almost damned in a fair wife)/ That never set a squadron in the field, / Nor the division of a battle knows/ More than a spinster—unless the bookish theoric, / Wherein the toged consuls can propose/ As masterly as he.
Continuing Act three, Scene three, Othello feels the beginning of a headache. Desdemona offers Othello a handkerchief to ease the pain upon Othello’s forehead. The handkerchief is a gift from Othello to Desdemona as a symbol of the love shared by Othello and Desdemona. In Othello’s pain the handkerchief falls from Othello’s hand and Emilia steals the handkerchief. Iago uses the characters of the play as pawns, including wife Emilia. Jealousy is the fuel and the handkerchief is the spark. With the handkerchief in Iago’s possession, Iago can continue to spin the web of lies and deceit. Iago plans to leave the handkerchief in Cassio’s lodgings to further support the suspicion of Desdemona’s infidelity.
Othello has many positive traits, including being a great leader and loyal. He also has one negative trait that ultimately leads to his death; jealousy. Iago provokes deep, strong emotions in Othello, jealousy being the strongest. Jealousy is a nasty little emotion. It causes people to do terrible things because once it is on a person’s conscience, it stays for quite some time. Because of these effects, jealousy can impact some of the strongest people such as Othello. The love between Desdemona and Othello was portrayed so elevated and pure and was filled with religious words and phrases that just added to the strength and sanctity of their love. Othello has such a strong mind, but jealousy caused by the manipulation of Iago, negatively impacts him. Iago convinces Othello that Desdemona is cheating on him with his friend Cassio. When Othello asks Iago for proof of Desdemona’s deceit, Iago describes scenes and events in which Othello has a reason to be jealous. In Act III, Scene I Iago is describing to Othello, Desdemona and Cassio’s imagined relationship, “It is impossible you should see this/ were they as prime as goats, as hot as monkeys, as salt as wolves in pride, and fools as gross as ignorance made drunk.” These images planted themselves inside Othello’s mind and haunted him until he did something about it. These images led to Othello believing Desdemona really did love
Upon proof that Cassio has the handkerchief, Iago gets Othello to effectively divorce Desdemona and align himself with Iago. His plan to kill her is not only persuasive but very clever: he knows that Othello will be put to death for the crime. Othello says,
His jealousy overcame his usual respectable, noble personality and he became irrational and violent. His jealousy and rage led him to kill his wife, something he would never have done if he had not been jealous. Iago’s initial jealousy of Cassio led him to seek revenge, thus moving the entire plot. He also fuels his hatred of Othello by convincing himself that Othello slept with his wife. His jealousy initiated many of the other characters’ jealousy, which resulted in multiple negative consequences.
Jealousy is built in Iago and Othello's minds due to different circumstances. While Iago is covetous of other's power, love is an element which makes Othello becomes a victim of suspicion. In a conversation with Roderigo at a random street of Venice, Iago shows his waves of indignation, "One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,/ That never set a squadron in the field,/Nor the division of a battle knows/ More than a spinster—unless the bookish theoric,… But [Cassio], sir, had the election;" (Shakespeare 1.1.20-27).
When Emilia discovers Othello and Desdemona in their bedroom she demands to know what happened. Desdemona, dying in bed, still does not implicate her love in her murder before she finally dies. Othello then tells Emilia about the handkerchief, in which she tells him that he was wrong and that she had taken the handkerchief and given it to Iago. Iago then kills his wife and tries to escape but is soon captured by Lodovico, Montana, and Cassio. The truth is soon revealed, that Othello and Iago planned Cassio’s death. Othello tries to reason with the men but they will not hear any of it. Othello, overwrought with grief over what he had done, kills himself and dies on top of his wife.