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The Green-Eyed Monster In Othello's Jealousy

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The Green-Eyed Monster Jealousy is a vicious monster that ruins relationships and friendships. Some people cannot control their jealousy and wind up regretting their actions later on. In Othello by William Shakespeare, the protagonist, Othello, is fueled into jealousy by the fear of infidelity. This causes him to make very poor decisions. Through Othello’s impulsive actions as wells as Iago’s malevolent ideas, Shakespeare reveals the horrid effects of jealousy. Othello’s erroneous choices display how jealousy clouds thought processes. Othello hears a rumor from Iago that Cassio is sleeping with Othello’s wife, Desdemona. Othello demands proof of this accusation, but then chooses to act irrationally. Without definitive proof, Othello demands that “ within these three days, let [Othello] hear [Iago] say / that Cassio’s not alive” …show more content…

Iago’s jealousy stems from Othello promoting Cassio over Iago for the lieutenancy position. Following this event, Iago strives to “make the Moor thank me, love me, and reward [Iago] / for making him egregiously an ass” (II.i.330-331). In “The Truth About Lying”, Kornet explores the belief that different personality types lie at different frequencies. Iago has a personality type that makes him prone to lying more frequently. One of the primary reasons Iago is jealous is due to his insecurity and needs to be superior to others. When Cassio is promoted, Iago’s insecurities fuel his jealous rage, which led him to being referred to as a “damned… demi-devil” (V.ii.353). In “Jealousy: Loves Destroyer”, Marano also observes that “a person who is very insecure is not just sexually jealous but jealous of… anything that takes attention of them”. Iago feels like the attention is constantly on Othello and Cassio. Iago plans to destroy them by any means because he did not attain the promotion, and the attention is not on

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He feels and thinks that he has been cheated, betrayed, made a fool of by others—but he has no proof. His arguments for revenge are built on suspicion, feeling, emotion, and impulse.” (Warnken) In this quote it proves that Iago wants power as a reward rather than to make himself stronger he wants the characters to feel what they made him feel. When Othello gave the ranking as Lieutenant to Cassio, Iago felt that he had been betrayed by Othello.

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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.

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What is jealousy, what makes someone become jealous, and what does jealousy do to people? In William Shakespeare 's Othello they had many different problems between characters. Those problems being distrust, lies, honor, and jealousy. Jealousy was one if not the biggest part of Othello and what made all the conflicts continue and kept pushing the play further and further. Almost every character in the play had some form of jealousy that they portrayed to another character.

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Shakespeare 's Othello centers around the power of jealousy and how it can end up causing the death of a couple and some of those around them. Othello seems to grow incredibly jealous of his wife, Desdemona, and his lieutenant, Cassio’s fake affair that Iago, the villain, has convinced Othello of. As an act of jealousy, Othello decides to kill Desdemona to prevent her from hurting more men and then after realizing everything was part of Iago’s plan he kills himself due to the guilt he feels after having killed his wife. Shakespeare’s use of figurative language and symbolism in act 5 scene 2 reveals how even though Othello truly loves Desdemona, his jealousy for what he believes she has done has completely clouded his judgment and taken over

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Being fearful and insecure causes one to become jealous of the evils that follow jealousy. For example , when Iago acknowledges that the lieutenant promotion was passed onto cassio instead of him, he became infuriated and envious, even referring to Cassio as a bookworm . The reason to Iago’s resentment is mostly due to the fact that he will not be the lieutenant , which automatically threatens his reputation. Iago

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As it has been presented throughout the whole play, the hatred Iago has towards Othello has always been to get rid of him due to him being awarded Lieutenant. However, it seems that once Iago got promoted to Lieutenant shortly after Othello’s death, he stills seems to feel hatred. It maybe because Iago does not like himself and always was jealous of Cassio and Othello’s actions and how they were. Therefore, telling lies and creating schemes to make himself believable which he successfully does with Othello. They have known each other for a long time and the reason he trusts Iago because he is noble, smart with his words to allow others to have trust in

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Throughout the play, he would often talk about Iago in the same manner as in Act 2, scene 2, “a man he is of honesty and trust”( II,ii. 323-324). Given that Othello trusted who he thought was his best friend, it was easier for Iago to bring Othello down. The root of Iago’s evil intentions is jealousy, which he describes to be like a “green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on” (III,iii. 196-197). He speaks of it in a way that captures how it affects man because that is what he was going through after Cassio got the lieutenancy.

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Iago also manipulates Othello with jealousy. When Othello is gone at war, Iago tells him that Cassio and Desdemona were getting too close. At first Othello does not believe him, but by Iago saying “nothing,my lord; or if- I know not what” Othello starts to question if it is true (III. III. 39). Iago constantly uses his “innocence” to make Othello jealous and start to assume that it is true. These actions eventually lead to a tragic event.

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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.

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Iago is involved in much of this, creating lies and executing fallacious situations. Does the play suggest that all jealousy tends to mock the individual who is jealous or is there a structure of jealousy that is rational? In this paper I would like to demonstrate that jealousy is inherently unreasonable, as it is based on the psychological issues of the jealous person, not on the demeanor of the one who inspires these jealous emotions. In this tragic play, Iago 's character is presented as one of the unusual and striking characters.

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Over Desdemona and Othello’s time spent in Cyprus their love becomes utterly devastated. Not only is the trust of their relationship gone but also accusations of unfaithfulness are established. These untrustworthy thoughts involving his love, lead Othello into, not only a violent state, but also create an erratic attitude. He is no longer a reasonable man, but dwells only on the jealous thoughts rooted in his heart . Jealousy, in this case ,is like a monster, it stays in the dark until your guard is down and your insecurities allow it to control your life.

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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.

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