Jealousy
To be jealous is a feeling or showing of envy of someone or their achievements and advantages "Othello" was written by William Shakespeare in 1603. In this play a character was envious of other characters and used this to cause problems throughout the play. Throughout the story both romantic and non romantic jealousy are displayed by characters. Romantic jealousy is shown when characters believe their wives are being unfaithful which is shown by Iago and Othello, Emilia, and Roderigo. Non-romantic jealousy is shown by Iago and Brabantio.William Shakespeare 's, "Othello" is a tragedy derived from both romantic and non romantic jealousy, the jealousy causes many of the characters to come to conclusions without proof and this ultimately causes their demise.
Prior to the publication of the performance, William Shakespeare was writing the tragedy, Aristotle had set some standards for plays. He states that to have a good tragedy they need to follow three unities. Which includes: time; everything needs to take place in 24 hours, place; it
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Desdemona 's father, Brabantio, is jealous during the beginning of the tragedy. He is upset that his daughter had not trusted him enough to tell him that she was going to marry Othello. When he is awoken in the middle of the night he blames Othello for drugging her and forcing her to marry him. After their conversation with the Duke about the marriage Brabantio says to Othello, "Look to her, Moor, if thou hast eyes to see: She has deceived her father, and may thee" (1.3.291). Iago reminds Othello about Brabantio’s comment and it causes some feeling towards the end of the tragedy and helps Iago convince Othello into thinking that Desdemona has been unfaithful because of how her father says if she betrays me why wouldn’t she betray him. Brabantio 's comment on deceit reinforced Othello’s jealousy and concluded that his only option was to kill his unfaithful Desdemona because he convinced him that she has not been faithful
However, all this hatred is unfounded, and if Othello just dug a little deeper into Iago’s claims, he would realize that Desdemona is innocent. Othello’s problems affected Desdemona in more ways than one. She now has to deal with a husband who is angry at her for no reason. As mentioned in the last paragraph, the mental struggle one goes through when beating themselves up over something is great. Desdemona beats herself up because she doesn’t know what she did to Othello, but Othello is still angry.
In Act 1 Scene 1, Iago tells Brabantio "... you’ll have your daughter covered with a Barbary horse, you'll have your nephews neigh to you…" it’s obvious that Iago’s use of animalistic language insinuates that Othello is a beast, highlighting that his marriage is unnatural. Iago’s description of Othello attempts to exploit his care for social status to make Othello doubt if he deserves Desdemona. In Act 1 Scene 3, Brabantio’s discovery of Desdemona’s marriage to Othello prompts him to question their union and to state that it is “against all rules of nature and must be driven to find out practices of cunning hell”. Brabantio uses hyperbole to emphasise the incorrectness of the marriage. This forces Othello to doubt his marriage and exposes his jealous and naive flaws.
"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.
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.
“Othello” written by William Shakespeare revolves around this protagonist who is depicted as strong and powerful. To everyone he is known as Othello or the Moor. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrays numerous counts of jealousy and manipulation around many of the characters. It is mainly illustrated through Iago, the antagonist of the play, who manipulates other to their downfall. Iago who is known for always being true and honest towards others has easily earned the trust of everyone around him, thus giving himself an advantage on his schemes.
Nadia In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, the title character is a valiant hero who is in love with his beautiful bride, Desdemona. The play’s villain, Iago, destroys this love by feeding Othello vicious lies about Desdemona, causing Othello to slowly go mad. By the end of the play, Othello, in a fit of jealous rage, murders his wife. This significant change in Othello’s character is not sudden; rather, it is a gradual transformation that takes place after a series of events that occur throughout the play.
Othello was not a naturally jealous man. Jealousy was simply not in Othello’s nature until Othello started exhibiting blind trust in Iago. Othello’s initial sentiment when Iago started to point out that there was a possibility that Desdemona may have been having an affair with Cassio was that “she had eyes and chose [him]”(Shakespeare III.iii.220). Initially Othello did not act jealous as it simply was not part of his nature. It can be said that “Othello is one not easily jealous, but being wrought, perplexed in the extreme” (Shakespeare V.ii.405-406).
Jealousy is first represented in Iago by his desire to become Othello’s lieutenant, however the position was offered to another character named Michael Cassio. Iago sincerely believes that he should hold the position of lieutenant and that the
As the tragedy begins, Othello and Desdemona had run off and gotten married without telling Desdemona’s father. When Iago finds out he did not get the job he wanted, he tells Roderigo to “Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen”(I. I. 76-80). Brabantio, who did not know about his own daughter’s marriage, is finding out from two strangers. This allows Iago to take advantage of Barbantio’s surprise and to come in between the newly weds with his disapproval.
Othello shows the two types throughout the story and the play, envy and fear, and how they can claw and chew away the the fragile human psyche, like a monster, trying to claw out of a deep dark hole that has had a trap on it for days without end. Othello is one of the great examples of how jealousy can teach us not to be overcome by dark things, to always stay strong and believe in our own thoughts, and that the poison known as jealousy, can make or break even the best of people a slow killing venom that makes the weak sick and twisted. This play teaches us that jealousy has no good outcomes, only horrid and how it shows no mercy to anyone. Jealousy is a card no one should or ever want to play with a deck full of
In the play of Othello jealousy caused anger and distrust, which in the end led to much bloodshed. The first time we see jealousy towards Othello is in the council chamber, everyone is gathered together when Othello and Desdemona share how they truly feel about each other and Brabantio was displeased. Brabantio told Othello with much anger, “look to her, moor, if thou hast eyes to see: she has deceived her father, and may thee.” (Othello I.III 293-294)
Othello’s This rage at Desdemona’s infidelity signals destmetion of his identity as a successful and loving man. It shows that he now completely loses control of himself, he no longer is that gentle man. He has become so poisoned by the manipulation of Iago, he no longer hears out for his “fair
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.
In Othello, it is jealousy that ultimately leads to the downfall of three characters, Roderigo, Othello and Iago. " O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green eyed monster" (III.iii.163). Although, Othello is not the only play where William Shakespeare has made jealousy a central motivator. He did it in Macbeth also. Jealousy has many faces between these two plays and in both they lead to the downfall of characters.
Jealousy in Othello leads to his insecurity after his mind being onslaught by Iago. Nordlund reasons, “The typical interpretation of Othello’s jealousy…, is that it arises from low self-esteem” (Theorising Modern Jealousy 154). His internal complication was actually created by external force—Iago. Othello shows proud and confidence to his achievements, he is aware that he is being loved and admired; furthermore, he is sure that he deserves Desdemona. Iago intelligently recognizes the moment of Othello’s anxiousness starts and exploits it.