The Effects of Jealousy Othello

Throughout Shakespeare’s Othello, the major theme of jealousy is apparent. According to Microsoft Bookshelf, jealousy, by definition, means “resentful or bitter in rivalry.” The tragedy Othello focuses on the doom of Othello and the other major characters as a result of jealousy. The theme of jealousy is prominent throughout the play as it motivates the characters’ actions. In Shakespeare’s Othello, jealousy is portrayed through the major characters of Iago and Othello. It utterly corrupts their lives because it causes Iago to show his true self, which in turn triggers Othello to undergo an absolute conversion that destroys the lives of their friends.

Iago, “most honest” (I, iii, 7) in the eyes of his companions, is, in fact, truly the opposite. His feelings of jealousy uncovers his actual self. D.R. Godfrey concludes this after hearing Iago state that he “ha’ look’d upon the world for four times seven years” (I, iii, 311-2). In his essay, Godfrey explains that Iago “has arrived at one of the great seven year…critical stages” (421) of his life, causing him to become “jealous, embittered, … [and] vengeful.” (421). Iago’s dupe, Roderigo, is the only person, in fact, to know this previously; Iago tells Roderigo that he i

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He immediately “passes sentence[s] of death” (Godfrey 418) to Cassio and Desdemona, deciding that Desdemona should die “some swift means of death” (III, iii, 479).

Although Othello is most affected by Iago’s jealousy, the repercussions on others are very evident. Obviously, jealousy does cause people to change in horrific ways. Iago is forced to expose his actual nature and Othello undergoes a total transformation from a normal human to a spiteful monster. He does not want to kill Iago because it is “happiness to die” (V, ii, 289). The punishments are, according to Godfrey, “justified” (423) in that the “destroyer is by himself destroyed” (423). Iago alludes to Othello that his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful with Cassio. Iago’s jealousy causes his true character, one of “vicious[ness]” (Godfrey 421), to become noticeable. He possesses this jealousy because he is distressed that Othello chose Michael Cassio, a “valiant” (II, i, 98), “Florentine…arithmetician” (I, i, 19-20), over himself for the position of lieutenancy.

Jealousy “divorces [Iago]…from rationality”, Godfrey states (418). Othello then seriously wounds Iago with his “sword of Spain” (V, ii, 252). He can no longer have doubts about his wife’s guilt; therefore, he must finally act against it by “assuming the mask of impersonal justice” (Godfrey 420). Although Iago has a reputation of being “full of love and honesty” (III, iii, 138), he is responsible for destroying many lives and is considered “perhaps one of the most villainous characters in all literature” (Godfrey 422). This, in turn, creates a new Othello to emerge, one “utterly possessed, calling out for blood and vengeance” (Godfrey 418).

Approximate Word count = 948
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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