The Dangers Of Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

"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. Iago is involved in much of this, creating lies and executing fallacious situations. Does the play suggest that all jealousy tends to mock the individual who is jealous or is there a structure of jealousy that is rational? In this paper I would like to demonstrate that jealousy is inherently unreasonable, as it is based on the psychological issues of the jealous person, not on the demeanor of the one who inspires these jealous emotions. In this tragic play, Iago 's character is presented as one of the unusual and striking characters.