Examples Of Jealousy In Othello

There are many reasons why a relationship can fail. Lack of communication, mistrust, and conflicting interests are just a few reasons why people drift apart. When one or both of the people involved in a relationship has insecurities, it is often jealousy that leads to the end. Jealousy is a very destructive emotion. You can find stories in the news every day that describe the end of a relationship due to jealousy, usually somebody killing someone else.
In Shakespeare’s Othello there are numerous examples of insecurity and jealousy in many of the main characters. Iago is able to take advantage of these feelings and use them in his plan to end the relationship between Othello and Desdemona and get revenge on Othello for passing him over for a promotion. Iago explains to Roderigo “But he, sir, had the election; And I, of whom his eyes had seen the proof At Rhodes, at Cyprus and on other grounds Christian and heathen, must be beleed and calmed By debitor and creditor. This

“I hate the moor, that ‘twixt my sheets has done my office. I know if’t be true but I, for a mere suspicion in that kind, will do as if for surety” (1.3.429-433). Iago says he’s not sure if the rumor is true, but the possibility of it being true is enough to make him jealous and want to continue with this plan anyway. These two events lead to Iago setting the stage for his revenge. Later in the play, when Cassio gets fired as lieutenant, it is Iago who suggests that he try talking to Desdemona to see if she can talk Othello into giving him the job back. His plan, then, is to put a bug in Othello’s ear that Desdemona and Cassio spend a lot of time together talking and does he think maybe something might be going on between them. His goal is to make Othello jealous and to trust him, in hopes that he will get the promotion he thinks he