Manipulation And Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

In the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare explores the idea of love as a source of happiness and disaster, demonstrating how his lack of confidence and societal pressure can lead to even the strongest love to fail and a cloud of judgment.

In the play “Othello”, by William Shakespeare, one of Othello’s most important relationships was with his wife Desdemona, the couple's love was strong but eventually doomed by manipulation and jealousy. In the beginning of the play, despite Desdemona’s racist father, Brabantrio, disapproving Othello, the couple disclosed their love for each other. Soon after Brabantio finds out about their approaching marriage and accuses Othello of using witchcraft on his daughter, Othello responds with:

This only is the witchcraft I have used” (Shakespeare I, iii, 7). This illustrates how much trust Othello had in Desdemona and how their love was filled with memories and shared affection. Their intense and passionate love was soon to be destroyed when one of Othello's untrustworthy “friends”, Iago, grew hate for Othello when he was not chosen for the job of the lieutenant. Iago’s bitterness and anger led to him manipulating Othello into thinking that his innocent wife was cheating on him with another man, Micheal Cassio, who was the one that was chosen for the lieutenant position. Jealousy took over Othello’s mind and turned him into a violent man who wishes death upon his loved ones. Othello states: “Yet I’ll not shed her blood, Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow, And smooth as monumental alabaster. Yet she

Although Iago and Othello’s love was platonic, it still made a huge impact on both their lives. Throughout the whole play, Othello was convinced that Iago is an honest and loyal person to all but he had been wrong the whole time. Othello said to Iago’s wife: “My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago” (Shakespeare V, ii, 9). This clearly shows how Ohtello believed that Iago was a good person and that he was just looking out for him. Although Othello and all of the other characters are unable to see Iago's true self until the very end of the play, the audience and readers know what a manipulator and liar Iago was the whole time. After the whole situation was revealed Othello immediately regretted his decision to kill his wife and friend Cassio. Othello says: “O fool! fool! Fool!” (Shakespeare V, ii, 18). It is clear that Othello learned the truth about his wife and what a devil Iago is and will not be able to live with knowing that he killed his beloved wife for no reason. To conclude, Othello’s trust in Iago led to jealousy taking over his