Othello is a tragedy play by William Shakespeare written in 1603. The play is based on the story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio that was published in 1565 (Bert 2). The play revolves around four major characters namely Othello, Desdemona, Cassio, and Iago. Othello was a Moorish general in the Venetian army while Desdemona was his beloved wife. Cassio, on the other hand, was Othello’s trusted but unfaithful pennant partner while Iago was a close working colleague to Othello, who has constituted to the development of major themes in the play due to his character. The cunning character of Iago plays a crucial role in the entire play as he constitutes to the killing of Desdemona and Othello, as well as to the Emilia and Roderigo in the play. These deaths are all sourced from revenge and jealous of the involved character. This, therefore, shows the crucial role that the theme of jealousy plays within this play. As such, the theme of jealousy becomes the ultimate goal of this paper as various sources are reviewed about the play.
Goldstein (2) claims that revenge and jealous are the major themes in this play. Iago becomes the major character that causes revenge and jealousy instances in most parts of the play as the article reveals. Othello as a general of the army chooses Cassio as his vice that makes Iago dislike Othello for failing to choose him while he envies Cassio for his position. It is through this jealous that Iago plots a plan of destroying both Cassio and Othello. In this case, Iago thinks that Othello slept with his wife while he manages to get Cassio dismissed from his job. However, the article claims that Iago is not interested in the Cassio’s job rather he wants to cause more problems between the two individuals. The article continuously claims that jealous is yet another factor that affects other characters in the play. As such, Othello cannot bear the fact that his wife, Desdemona has slept with Cassio as communicated by Iago. To be satisfied with this lies, Iago continuously gives Othello clear images of how Desdemona and Cassio are having a secret love affair. Othello’s jealous burns leading him to plot on how he will kill his wife for betraying him as revealed in the article. Conclusively, the article claims that Shakespeare uses this theme to show the destructive effects that jealous has on an individual on a real life. Throughout the play, only Cassio and Desdemona are not affected by jealous as Desdemona dies as a good wife while Cassio is rewarded the place of Othello as a general.
Putnam (1) in his article discusses the theme of jealous in the play, Othello in a detailed approach. The article claims that this theme is paramount on the play as it is shown to be possessed of almost every character in the play from its starting to its ending. This follows the instances where jealous has been shown in the play. The first instance if jealous according to the article is when Roderigo envies Othello for taking Desdemona whom he wishes to be his. The same jealous according to the article constitutes to the killing of Desdemona when Othello fails to take in the fact that his wife has been having an affair with Cassio. This is after Othello has been dragged into the rage of jealous by Iago, who has cooked up all these lies as a way of revenging for the lost position in the job. The reason for the entire plan was also as a result of jealous that was consuming Iago for not being elected as a lieutenant.
Likewise, the article claims that most of the characters in the play have been shown to have jealous and to let it control them (2). In this instance, the article discusses Iago, who is involved in most of these instances. The fact that Iago was not chosen by Othello as his lieutenant implanted jealousy in Iago as he hates Othello while envying Cassio for taking this chance as he wanted to be his. The selfish character of Iago leads him to plan jealous plans as he wants everyone to feel the same way as he does for losing the chance of becoming the lieutenant. Iago exploits his skills of saying the right thing at the right time to influence Othello on how his wife is having a secret affair in a cunning way as revealed by the article. These plans lead to the killing of Desdemona, Roderigo, and Othello, who cannot stand his jealousy actions.
Michael (2) in his article claims that the play, Othello is one of the effective plays that has portrayed the theme of jealous in a mighty way. This follows the various evidence through the play that Shakespeare has portrayed this theme in a clear way. This is in connection with the theme of love that jealous has been significantly exploited in the play as revealed by this article. The today’s perspective of Othello’s jealous according to the play is that it can be linked to both the psychological, political, and sociological aspects. The yesterday’s view of the same can be interpreted as a way of Othello’s rapid transformation to a jealous husband from a loving one. As such, the article claims that between now and then, is the perception of the fact that the onset of jealous is accepting a baseless and implausible perception of Iago. This is concerning the effects that the jealousy plans of Iago yields in the play as a way of getting what he wants.
The doom of Othello is associated with the jealous of major characters in the play. According to the article, jealous has been clearly portrayed in the play by two major character: Othello and Iago. Leighton(3) claims that the effects of this jealous are that it corrupts their lives as Iago shows his true colors triggering Othello to destroy his life together with that of his friends. In this case, the article claims that sexual jealousy is one of the most destructive emotions of all as it contributes to the transformation of a loving person to a murderer. Besides, jealousy causes the downfall of Othello was a renowned general of the army, but once he gave room for jealous, he was convicted of murder and discharged from his job. Significantly, the spirit of jealousy leads Othello to kill of one thing that he loves the most, Desdemona leading to his self-destruction as he commits suicide since he cannot survive without her.
Iago being the initiator of these jealousy plans, he lays a strategic plan to Othello of how the two will seek revenge from the most innocent people in the play, Cassio and Desdemona as they have betrayed Othello. The attempts to carry on this revenge leads to the killing of Desdemona and discharging of Othello from his duty. Iago understands Othello well in such a way that he knew his weak points which were insecurity and overreaction. As such, his plan goes through as he based them on these weaknesses. As a result, jealousy takes the better part of Othello’s mind, and he is unable to let it go. The love that he felt for his wife is incomparable to this jealous as he does not allow any explanation or assurance to change his mind. The obsession of this jealous is the one that causes him to kill his wife.
Rebecca’s article major concern is the effects of jealous on an individual. This is concerning the character traits of Othello before Jealous took the best part of him compared to his other self once he has allowed jealous to take control of his life (1). According to the article, Othello is described as one of the noble characters of the Shakespeare following his feelings and actions in the play before being influenced by Iago. He is shown to be a trustworthy person where he gave his absolute trust in something he could not hesitate at all. The article continuously claims that Othello was a self-reliant person who used to make self-instantaneous actions. Likewise, when it comes to loving, he does so with every bit of him. These are the characters that jealous in the play exploits to show the other side of Othello once he has allowed jealous to take its basis in his life. Listening and giving in to Iago’s cunning plan destroys all these aspects of Othello as shown in the play. He decides that he will kill his wife due to the betrayal which he does not hesitate. Due to the close relation with Iago, he tends to believe him regarding his claims of how his wife and Cassio are having a secret affair. This follows their plans of killing these two lovers and Othello could not hold on due to his character as well as his trust on Iago.
Barnes, Coleman, and Shakespeare (45) in their article portray the various instances of jealous of most of the characters in the play. This analysis ranges from the major characters in the play to the minor ones. In this case, the instances that Iago and Othello show their jealousy and makes some moves are well detailed, as well as those moments Emilia and Roderigo, shows jealousy moves. As such, Iago and Othello are shown to be the major characters who are used in the play to portray the theme of jealousy. The impact of jealous is shown through these characters where anger and pride are breeds of jealous. It is shown that these two impacts take their best part of Othello who kills his wife without a second thought as anger led him.
The effects of jealousy become inversely proportional to the way his love and faith for Desdemona fades. The way jealous constitutes to the hurting of other people who were barely of the plan is also brought forward in the article. The overall plan for Iago was to make Othello suffer for failing to appoint him as a lieutenant in the army. In the process of seeking this revenge, other people are hurt such as Desdemona, Emilia, Roderigo, and Cassio. Consequentially, Emilia shows that he understands the jealous of men where she does not complain in any of these instances when she witnesses Othello and Desdemona conflicting over the trust issues.
Conclusively, the play majors on the theme of jealous as it is the basis for most of the actions in the play. The two major characters in the play, Othello and Iago are the key motivators of this theme as they are possessed by jealous while showing its effects on their lives towards the end of the play. The author of the play uses this theme to derive other themes by using these two characters. The negative impact of jealous is clearly shown in the play where suffering and deaths are yielded by jealous of these characters in the play. Shakespeare in this play uses the various forms of jealous that Othello portrays in the play. These forms are shown to constitute to the destructive actions of the involved characters despite the various forms. Significantly, the most ironic part of the play upon this theme is that jealous offenses are expressed by the people who are innocent. This is about the way Othello accused his innocent wife, Bianca accusing Cassio as well as Iago’s jealousy over Emilia.
Works Cited
Bert, Atlanta. Theatre: Love lands dream role: Shakespeare Tavern presenting ‘Othello.’ Lead actor in Play appreciates the Moor of Venice’s life Journey. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 2013. Print.
Goldstein, AH. The Daily Camera: Jealousy is all the rage in Colorado Shakespeare Festivals ‘Othello’. Prairie Mountain Publishing/ Boulder, Colo. 2015. Print.
Leighton, Kerner.Jealousy themes in Othello and Falstaff. Opera News, 00303607, Vol. 60, Issue 10
Michael, Hays.Othello's Jealousy: From Textual Crux to Critical Conundrum. Discoveries, 10973494, 2012, Vol. 29, Issue 1
Putnam,Jennifer. Jealousy in Othello (n.d.) Print
Rebecca, Olson. “Too Gentle”: Jealousty and Class in Othello. University of Pennysylvania Press. 2015. Print.
Shakespeare, W., Raffel, B., & Bloom, H. (2005). Othello. New Haven: Yale University Press.
