The Manipulation Of Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

The timeless and complex nature of human frailties that lie at the core of literature allows the subject and their themes to retain relevance throughout time. The story of William Shakespeare's, Othello, written in 1603 before being published in 1622, is a timeless representation of race, love, jealousy and betrayal. The story revolves around Othello, a black soldier, but is in a sense more central to Iago, an enraged, manipulative man fuelled with vengeance after being passed over for lieutenancy; that initiated the destruction of his fellow characters and brought in a twisted, scheming set of events that transcended this play from a tame love-story to one of deep thematic concerns. Through the sowing of doubts trust is eroded and suspicion

Iago being both scheming and twisted plays the role of the villain within Shakespeare’s, Othello. He is falsely portrayed as an honest man, who in truth is overcome with rage and feelings of vengeance, that renders him guiltless towards the actions taken out on the other characters. What he fails to realise, as the audience comes to make assumptions that Iago is not entirely sane, is his urge to hate Othello comes from deep seeded psychological problems and feelings of lack of self-worth. His rejection of lieutenancy, bringing about an impression of him being inadequate and overlooked and assumptions of his wife's adultery (to men also in higher positions) fuels these feelings. Through a soliloquy of Iago’s, “… but also to feed my revenge. I have a feeling the Moor slept with my wife. That thought keeps gnawing at me, eating me up inside. I won’t be satisfied until I get even with him, wife for wife,” his insecurities are brought to light by his constant need to rationalise himself through the destruction of others, his hatred coming first, followed by a fabricated motif, such as the illusion his wife, Emilia, is being unfaithful with both Cassio and Othello. This works his invented hurts into a justification for his intense rage and heinous actions. Iago displays his eagerness to exploit and damage through out the play and utilises every opportunity to pray on the vulnerabilities of

The mentality of a superiority of men over women is central to the novel. The women seem in a lesser position but are truly much more powerful than assumed, and lead to the down fall of the male characters, however they remain oblivious to this. As Iago definitively states, through a demeaning tone, in conversation between him and Emilia in direct reference to women, "You rise to play/And go to bed to work,” this strongly portrays the unappreciative nature in regard to women. In order to feel superiority, Iago continually expresses his hatred towards women, treating them as sexual objects to satisfy men’s desires. This is similarly conveyed through Cassio’s derogatory references and mocking towards his prostitute who is under the facade of her potentially fulfilling a girlfriend position. When asked by Iago if he intends to wed, he responds in a mocking tone, “I marry her! What? A customer! Prithee, bear some charity to my wit: do not think it so unwholesome. Ha, ha, ha!” In so many words Cassio calls her a whore and questions why Iago thinks he is stupid enough to marry a prostitute. Throughout time women have been seen as less, receiving different treatments, decreased wages for an equally qualified position and unfair discrimination. With women taking up at least half or more of the