Jealousy in Shakespeare's Othello Othello features jealousy as the dominant motive for action and therefore just as reflected in real life we bare witness to jealousy influencing the characters of Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Othello. In this essay I shall be attempting to examine this theme in depth drawing comparison between jealousy and the consequential action. The dominance of jealousy as the chief causative force of action in the drama is very obvious to most critics. In William Shakespeare: The Tragedies, Paul A. Jorgensen exposes the main motivation in the story: In 'roundest' terms, Othello is a story of raging sexual jealousy prompted apparently by the least credible of motives. Othello has eloped with Desdemona, the white, refined, and pure daughter of a Venetian senator, Brabantio. [. . .] The marriage might have succeeded had it not been for one of the most hateful characters ever created: Iago. This essentially puny man is, he tells his dupe Roderigo, jealous because his general Othello has appointed as lieutenant not the seasoned plain veteran Iago but a learned soldier of the new type, Cassio. In soliloquy (1.3.377), Iago tells us also of the reasons for his jealousy and proposed revenge, all of them sexual: he claims both Cassio and Othello have seduced his wife, Emilia, a warm-hearted, simple wom... ... middle of paper ... ...n Shakespeare?s Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55) Jorgensen, Paul A. William Shakespeare: The Tragedies. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985. Neely, Carol. "Women and Men in Othello" Critical Essays on Shakespeare?s Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 68-90) Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos. Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Picture this- William Harold Shakespeare, the most coveted playwriter in the history of the world, sitting at his desk, perspicaciously pondering over what shall become his most prominant and delicated tragedy of yet. Of course, given what little is known about Shakespeere displays, such deepseated imagery cannot simply be accomplished without first the propriety of haste and vinction.And yet, his very own rhetorical vibe displays allows such a vague pictoration to be concieved. Throughout the whole of Othello, the great Shakespeare remarks through an astounding displays show of pronouns, allitteration, and cacophonous diction his own resentment of both the King of Italy and the poor conditions of the said novelist.
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987.
Snyder, Susan. "Beyond the Comedy: Othello" Modern Critical Interpretations, Othello Ed. Harold Bloom, Pub. Chelsea House New Haven CT 1987. (page 23-37)
Henningfeld, Diane Andrews. "Critical Essay on 'Othello” Drama for Students. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web. 27 Nov. 2013.
Shakespeare is prominent in his use of recurring themes throughout his works, particularly those of love, death, and betrayal. All these themes are present in Othello. Most para- mount, however, is jealousy. Jealousy runs the characters’ lives in Othello from the beginning of the play, when Roderigo is envi- ous of Othello because he wishes to be with Desdemona, and to the end of the play, when Othello is furious with envy because he believes Cassio and Desdemona have been engaging in an affair. Some characters’ jealousy is fashioned by other charac- ters. Iago is involved in much of this, creating lies and imple- menting misleading situations. He is consumed with jealousy of Cassio and masked with hatred of Othello because he was not chosen as lieutenant, Cassio was. Iago is selfish in that he wants everyone to feel as he does so he engineers the jealousy of other
According to Carl Martin Lindner, “Freedom is central to Whitman’s vision of life – the artistic life, the individual life, and the life of the society.” The notion that freedom is intrinsic to American life is a central theme of Whitman’s writings. The preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass outlines his admiration of the American people and “their deathless attachment to freedom.” In his letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1856, he refers to the “free modes, characteristic of The States.”
This character is so noble, Othello's feelings and actions follow so inevitably from it and from the forces brought to bear on it, and his sufferings are so heart-rending, that he stirs a passion of mingled love and pity which readers feel for no other hero in Shakespeare, and to which not even Mr Swinburne can do more than justice. Yet there are some critics and not a few readers who cherish a grudge against him. They do not merely think that in the later stages of his temptation he showed a certain obtuseness, and that, to speak pedantically, he acted with unjustifiable precipitance and violence; no one, I suppose, denies that. But, even when they admit that he was not of a jealous temper, they consider that he was "easily jealous"; they seem to think that it was inexcusable in him to feel any suspicion of his wife at all; and they blame him for never suspecting Iago or asking him for evidence. I refer to this attitude of mind chiefly in order to draw attention to certain points in the story. It comes partly from inattention (for Othello did suspect Iago and did ask him for evidence); partly from a misconstruction of the text which makes Othello appear jealous long before he really is so; [Endnote 2] and partly from failure to realise certain essential facts. I will begin with these.
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55)
- - -. Othello. 1968. Ed. Kenneth Muir. The New Penguin Shakespeare. London: Penguin Books, 1996.
"Othello." Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 649-87. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. .
Kids with a dog love "Dumb Dog" by Shirlee Curlee Bingham (A Bad Case of the Giggles).
William Shakespeare’s literary masterpiece, ‘Othello’, has been analysed and thought over since its conception in 1603. Critics from our modern day to over four centuries ago, have varying, and starkly contrasting theses about most aspects of the play. One of these well-debated aspects is the motivation behind malicious antagonist Iago’s malevolent actions, what exactly it was that drove him to cause the misfortunes that resulted in the deaths of almost every main character. I believe that Iago’s motivation lay in his hamartia, which he shared with the play’s titular character – jealousy.
- - -. Othello. 1968. Ed. Kenneth Muir. The New Penguin Shakespeare. London: Penguin Books, 1996.