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The Corruption Of Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

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In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, jealousy is the downfall of many characters. Jealousy was used to fuel hatred, disgust, and motivation for betrayals. One of the biggest betrayals in the play was by Iago. With his cunning use of manipulation and rhetoric, Iago was able to fool and trick many of the people close to him. Although Iago was considered a trustworthy friend to Othello, Iago betrays Othello out of jealousy, proving how jealousy can corrupt. Othello was very trusting with Iago, which made it easy for Iago to manipulate him with the useage of rhetoric. In order to gain Othello’s trust, Iago would constantly use ethos and pathos with Othello in order to establish how much Iago supposedly cared for Othello’s wellbeing. Iago had insisted …show more content…

Iago was originally only trying to make Othello feel what he felt when he believed his wife was sleeping with Othello, however; Iago’s jealousy caused his plan to take more drastic turns and develop more villainous goals. He planted the idea of murder into Othello’s head when Othello was the most vulnerable, saying that Othello should “strangle her in her bed, even the bed she hath contaminated” after he successfully manipulated Othello into believing that Desdemona had slept with Cassio (4.1.206-207). Although he did not originally plan for the murder of anyone, Iago’s jealousy caused him to escalate his plan to involve the murder of several people. His corruption became the most apparent when he explained how “whether [Roderigo] kill Cassio or Cassio him, or each do kill the other, every way makes my gain” and how he has gotten to the point where he only sees everyone else as mere pieces of a game that he attempts to win (5.1.12-14). Iago had transformed from a person who simply wants revenge to a villain who believes he should be the only person who does not suffer a tragic end out of

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Iago plants the idea in Othello’s head that his wife is cheating on him with his friend. He believes the lies that Iago crafts to turn him against Desdemona. Instead of asking her directly, Othello keeps in touch with Iago and continuously feeds into jealousy that is “begot upon itself, born on itself” (Shakespeare 3.4.165). He does not have concrete proof of the claim, but he is obsessed with the idea of it being true. He cannot stop thinking about the adultery, and is so consumed by his wrath that he tarnished his reputation and relationship with others.

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He is manipulative and tells Othello to “observe her [Desdemona] well with Cassio” (Shakespeare, 3.3:197). Iago feeds Othello with countless lies and makes him miserable with something that is not factual. He is determined to get revenge and he does not realize Iago stands insincere. Furthermore, Iago is selfish when he tells Othello, “I am yours for ever” (3.3:479). He betrays Othello yet still let’s him depend on him for his own

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When he does not get the position he wants and also heard that Othello has been sleeping with his wife Emilia, Iago’s manipulation increases. Iago plans his scheme based on, “[Othello] has done my office, I know not if’t be true/ But I, for mere suspicion in that kind/ Will do as if for surety” (I. III. 431-433). This use of manipulation is all based on an assumption that Othello has slept with Iago’s wife, and this assumption leads to even more horrible events.

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"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.

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