e themes of jealousy and deception in the domestic play “Othello” by Shakespeare are one of the major ones, because they build up the plot of the story and appear through out the text. The jealousy and deception have touched each character of the play: Othello, Iago, Desdemona, Roderigo, Cassio, Emilia, Bianca and Brabantio, however Othello’s jealousy has been manipulated by perhaps most jealous character Iago, who’s jealousy has caused unwarranted deaths, what makes him a villain. Othello, the general of the armies of Venice, who has been living a passionate life, who acts instantaneously and is a trusting person, whom jealousy has consumed and had ‘swell into a well high incontrollable flood’ as the critic A.C. Bradley in “Shakespearean Tragedy …show more content…
Even though Iago tries to make Othello jealous, Othello does not believe Iago at first: ‘'Tis not to make me jealous to say my wife is fair, feeds well, loves company, is free of speech, sings, plays and dances well; where virtue is, these are more virtuous: nor from mine own weak merits will I draw the smallest fear or doubt of her revolt; for she had eyes, and chose me.’ (Act 3, Scene 3, page 68) The Moor is too convinced that his wife, Desdemona, is devoted to him, even though she is an open person and enjoys being in the company, he is confident that he won't be destroyed by jealousy, because as he asserts that ‘she had eyes, and chose me’, as she could have chosen anyone she wanted, therefore he believes her loyalty, yet at the end of the speech the doubt arises: ‘I'll see before I doubt; when I doubt, prove; and on the proof, there is no more but this: away at once with love or jealousy!’ (Act 3, Scene3, page 68), perhaps if his love for Desdemona was stronger, there were no fears and ambiguity and maybe he would not listen to Iago and his collapse would not take place, conversely he did and the result of it was
Jealousy is a major theme in Othello and this is illustrated through characterisation and the use of imagery. From the beginning of othello, the audience is aware iago is driven by jealousy and uses it as a tool to bring about the downfall of othello. His machiavellian nature was immediately shown when he stated “I follow him to serve my turn upon him.” The characterisation of Othello from the quiet and contemplated military pioneer to the visually impaired, infuriated 'darker demon ' that responders witness at last stresses, the powerful toxic substance that is jealousy. The remote chance of Desdemona 's unfaithfulness and the subject of her devotion are terrible for "valiant" Othello, he would rather "the general camp, Pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body" than to have questions coasting in
In Act 3 of Shakespeare’s play Othello, Shakespeare uses foreshadowing to demonstrate the catastrophic results that will occur when Othello accumulates enough proof to believe Iago’s accusations, and the effect jealousy has on a person, like Othello, who will begin to abandon all morals and exact revenge. Iago makes an aggressive effort to persuade Othello that his wife has been unfaithful. As a result, Othello contemplates whether or not to believe him, but ultimately determines that “to be once in doubt/Is (-- removed HTML --) to be resolved” (III.iii.210-211). At first, Othello rejects this notion of jealousy as he believes he has nothing to be insecure about, “for [Desdemona] had eyes, and chose [him].” (III.iii.220).
"Othello" by Shakespeare is a well-known and outstanding literary composition which pays distinctive attention to the dangers associated with jealousy. The play deals with the root and driving force of all evil and exemplifies how far jealousy can induce a human being as well as destroy lives by mere circumstantial evidence. According to Godfrey (1972), “Jealousy, once awakened, becomes self-perpetuating, self-intensifying, and where no evidence for it exists, the jealous person under the impulse of an extraordinary perversity will continue to manufacture it”. Jealousy manages the characters’ lives in "Othello" from the beginning of the play, when Roderigo feels jealousy towards Othello because he desires to be with Desdemona, and to the ending of the play, when Othello is furious with envy because he supposes Cassio and Desdemona have been engaging in a love affair. Some characters’ jealousy is generated by other characters.
When one considers the play Othello by William Shakespeare, Othello stands out as the main character, the tragic hero, and Iago as the antagonist. The idea that “Othello’s killing of Desdemona is not murder, but a sacrifice. He is to save Desdemona from herself, not in hate but in honour”(Bradley, 1905) is true to the reader as Desdemona can be seen as a sacrificial hero and Othello’s murder act is due to the manipulation placed on him by Iago. This manipulation leads to him killing her as for her to keep her honour. Othello’s friendship with Iago is flawed as well as the actions committed, these actions either instigate out of individual choices or manipulation.
At this point in the play Iago had told Othello just enough to make him start to doubt his relationship with Desdemona. Iago realized that the small details would begin to drive Othello mad and he would believe anything, even if it was not real evidence of a relationship between Desdemona and Cassio. Othello will eventually let the Jealously take over and kill his wife over the lies told by
The following passage is significant to the play ‘Othello’ in retrospect to the plot progression, as it reiterates themes and introduces important facets to the plot development. Through Iago’s cunning manipulation and Shakespeare’s crafting of language, this passage is constructed as a pivotal point of the play, marking the transition of Othello’s personality and revealing his deepest insecurities that eventually lead to his downfall and tragic ending. Iago wields a lot of power over all the characters throughout the play, but in this passage in particular he is presented at his most powerful. The passage is riddled with subtle suggestions and insinuations by Iago to raise Othello’s suspicions of his wife’s fidelity, opening with the admonition to “beware, my lord, of jealousy!
Melony Galicia Ms. Zongker AP English lll February 20, 2017 Driven by Jealousy In Othello, Shakespeare illustrates the dangers of jealousy through the belligerent actions of the characters. Jealousy can be incited by circumstantial proof, that can ruin lives. Shakespeare uses dramatic techniques to aid him in conveying his message.
Unfortunately, he trusted the wrong person due to his growing lack of self-esteem. Iago, a hypocrite who hid his evil thoughts by appearing as a man of extreme honesty, saw that he could erode Othello’s self-esteem because of who he was, a moor living in European society. He realized he could manipulate Othello for his own evil ends. He slyly used pathos to gain his trust, saying, “My Lord, you know I love you” (III.iii.118) to convince him of his honesty and reliability. Then he suggested the unpredictable nature of Desdemona by saying, “Ay, there’s the point: 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 - Foh!”
Othello also trusts Iago so implicitly that he stakes not only his reputation on it, but also his wife. He holds such great faith in "thy (Iago's) honesty and love" that he relinquishes the care of his dear wife, Desdemona, to him, "I assign my wife to thee" (1.3.294-297). Othello’s open trust in Iago
Shakespeare 's Othello centers around the power of jealousy and how it can end up causing the death of a couple and some of those around them. Othello seems to grow incredibly jealous of his wife, Desdemona, and his lieutenant, Cassio’s fake affair that Iago, the villain, has convinced Othello of. As an act of jealousy, Othello decides to kill Desdemona to prevent her from hurting more men and then after realizing everything was part of Iago’s plan he kills himself due to the guilt he feels after having killed his wife. Shakespeare’s use of figurative language and symbolism in act 5 scene 2 reveals how even though Othello truly loves Desdemona, his jealousy for what he believes she has done has completely clouded his judgment and taken over
MLA International Bibliography EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/jem.2015.0006. Accessed 14 Mar. 2017. Synopsis Jealousy is evident in Shakespeare’s Othello through several sources, but most commonly seen as possessiveness over the female characters (with a focus on Desdemona) in the play.
The Play Othello by William Shakespeare shows how easily jealousy can destroy relationships, and turn tokens of love into symbols of infidelity. The setup of the play is somewhat confusing: who is the main character? The play mostly focuses on Iago and his plans to ruin Othello's life and it is hard to tell if Iago was meant to be the protagonist or antagonist. The play starts with Iago letting Brabantio know that Othello “the moor” has married the man's daughter in secret. Thus the game begins: Iago pretends in front of Othello, that he is his friend while he secretly plots against him.
Throughout the play Othello’s blind trust in Iago led him to a perplexed state in which he was vulnerable to flaws that he did not usually struggle with. In a perplexed state Othello “becomes jealous and eventually a murderer” (Kliger 222). Without Othello’s blind trust in Iago Othello would never have become perplexed and would not have led to flaws that resulted in the murder of Desdemona. Othello recognized his growing problem as he said “There is no more but this: Away at once with love or jealousy” and yet Othello was still unable to shake his jealousy as Iago kept feeding him lies (Shakespeare III.iii.222-223). Othello became so jealous that he began to think he would be “happy if the general camp, pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body, so [he] had nothing known” (Shakespeare III.iii.397-400).
Iago also manipulates Othello with jealousy. When Othello is gone at war, Iago tells him that Cassio and Desdemona were getting too close. At first Othello does not believe him, but by Iago saying “nothing,my lord; or if- I know not what” Othello starts to question if it is true (III. III. 39). Iago constantly uses his “innocence” to make Othello jealous and start to assume that it is true. These actions eventually lead to a tragic event.
Shakespeare’s play, Othello, deeply explores the effects of jealousy on a person. Shakespeare also portrays the different types of jealousy and alludes to the causes of them. Othello is a tragic play written by William Shakespeare around 1603, about a man, Iago, who plots to take revenge on a Moorish soldier, Othello, for he has “done my (Iago’s) office”. The deaths of several people, including Othello’s wife Desdemona, Iago’s wife Emilia, Othello and Iago’s companion Roderigo, were all directly linked to Iago’s actions. Othello illustrates that jealousy often leads to revenge, jealousy can prevent a successful relationship, and jealousy leading to one’s downfall.