The Manipulation Of Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

“It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat if feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss / Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger; But O, what damned minutes tells he o’er / Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves!” (Shakespeare, III. III) The play Othello by William Shakespeare is a tragedy that tells the story of a strong general, Othello who finds his marriage to be ruined by Iago, a jealous soldier. Othello is an honorable and experienced commander of the Venetian army. Throughout the play, Othello is manipulated by Iago, who makes him believe that his wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with Cassio, Othello’s lieutenant.

Through Iago’s plans, his lies feed Othello’s jealousy and it makes him lose sight

of what is reality and allows him only believe the appearance of things. In the play, Othello gives Desdemona a special gift, which is a handkerchief that was his mother’s. The handkerchief symbolized their love and loyalty. Othello accuses Desdemona of giving the handkerchief to Cassio and sees this as a sign of betrayal. Othello says, “That handkerchief which I so loved and gave thee / Thou gavest to Cassio. No by my life and soul! Send for the man, and ask him. Sweet soul, take heed, / Take heed of perjury; thou art on thy deathbed. Ay, but not yet to die. Yes, presently: 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” (V. II). Othello believes that Desdemona gave Cassio the handkerchief. The giving of the handkerchief is not only a sign of betrayal but of the end of their marriage. But in reality, Iago planted the handkerchief in Cassio’s room in order to make Othello believe that Desdemona is being unfaithful to him.
During the play, we are able to see that Iago has the skill to deceive and encourage Othello to misinterpret what he is really seeing.

As a part of his plan, Iago tricks Cassio into talking about Bianca, a prostitute, and gets him to mimic sexual gestures. While this is happening, Othello sees and hears everything and believes that they are talking about Desdemona. While Othello is hiding, he says to himself, “She was here even now, she haunts me in every place. I was the other day talking on the seabank with certain Venetians; and thither comes the bauble, and, by this hand, she falls me thus about my neck—Crying “O dear Cassio!” as it were: his gesture imports it.” “Now he tells how she plucked him to my chamber. O, I see that nose of yours, but not that dog I shall throw it to.” (IV. I). In reality, what Othello is seeing and hearing is not true. Iago has planned all of this to make it seem like Cassio and Desdemona are really having an

affair.
Throughout Othello, it appears to be that the villain Iago is a loyal and honest man, but in reality he is a manipulative individual that lies to people to gain power.

Iago changes Othello’s mindset and he changes how other view him. He leads Othello into suspecting that Cassio is having an affair with his wife, Desdemona. Iago comes up with a variety of plans in order to destroy the characters. The main character of the play trusts Iago and he believes that he is a truthful man, he believes that Iago is telling him the truth about everything. In the following quote, Iago says “The Moor is of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are.” (I. III). Before this scene, Othello trusts Iago with his wife and tells him to escort her to Cyprus. Iago knows that Othello considers him as a sincere friend and he plans on using that in his deceitful plans.

Appearance versus reality is one of the central themes in the play Othello. In the play,

Iago appears to be an honest man but in reality he is master of deceit. He comes up with

several plans to destroy Othello by making him believe that his wife, Desdemona, is

having

an affair with Cassio. Iago makes Othello see the appearance of things, rather than the reality

of what is really occurring. Eventually, Iago’s plans work and Othello is consumed by

jealously. He eventually ends up killing his wife because he believes that he has so that she

won’t cheat on other men, “It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul--let me not name it to you/,

you chaste starts!—It is the cause./ Yet I’ll not shed her blood; Nor scar that whiter skin of/

hers than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster./ Yet she must die, else she’ll betray/

more men./ Put out the light, and then put out the light:/ If I quench thee, thou flaming

minister, I can again thy former light restore.”/ (Act IV. ii) After Othello kills Desdemona, he

ends up killing himself also. This was all part of Iago’s plan, and at the end it did work. Iago

led Othello into believing things that were not true, and Othello was too blind to see the

reality of things. He believes in the appearance instead of the reality of things.