In Shakespeare's play, Othello, the cynical story underlines the depth of jealousy and resentment through the use of many characters. The play is set in Venice and Cyprus during the sixteenth century and commences with the paranoiac character of Iago, betraying Othello thus making him victim of harsh lies and rumours. His fair Desdemona portrays her love unconditionally, although due to Othello’s credulous nature and Iago’s conniving ways, she is held accountable for false pretences. Desdemona is blamed for having an affair with Cassio, which causes hers and Othello’s tragic deaths. Through the eponymous character and many secondary characters, including the manipulative Iago, Shakespeare portrays the “green-eyed monster” of jealousy and its harmful consequences.
At the start of the play, the first impression of jealousy the audience experiences, is the resentment Iago has for Cassio.
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The use of sexual jealousy has been substantially represented by Othello, as one of the most unscrupulous and destructive emotions. Iago has insinuated many lies about sexual relations between the fair Desdemona, Othello’s wife, and Cassio. The use of jealousy throughout the play proceeds to the tragic death of Othello. Othello is so driven with the idea of being subject to cuckoldry, that he ignores all plausible signs that Iago has been spreading pernicious lies. “I will chop her into messes! Cuckold me?” (4, i, 155) Throughout the entire play, the protagonist continues to harm himself and others around him due to his tragic flaw of credulity. Near the end of the play, Othello has even murdered his fair Desdemona,