The Universal Themes: Othello

William Shakespeare’s works gained immortality due to the fact that the central themes in most of his plays encompass fundamental human emotions. Lust, jealousy, ambition, greed, betrayal, and revenge are universal themes that were evident in Shakespeare’s time, that are evident in our time, and that will be evident in the future. It is thought by many that “The great significance of Shakespeare is that despite the many differences between his age and ours, some trivial and some of far-reaching importance, he provides in his plays the life patterns which are continuous in the history of mankind” (Hardin, Craig). In the tragic play Othello, the universal themes of jealousy, deceit, and anger are quite evident.

“Jealousy…always converts human nature into chaos, and liberates the beast in man” (Scott 465). Jealousy is perhaps one of the most prevalent themes in all of literature. Jealousy, in literature and in the real world, causes mental blindness in a myriad of different situations. In the play Othello, this is also the case; the envy of one causes passion and emotions to take over the mind. Jealousy is perhaps the key cause of Iago’s revenge against his superior officer, Othello. Iago

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Boston, MA: Little Brown and Company,

1980.

Works Cited

Bartlett, John. Iago is a very fraudulent, dishonest, and selfish character.

Dryden once remarked that Shakespeare, of all modern and ancient authors, had one of the “largest and most comprehensive souls” (Bartlett 341). Detroit, MI: Gale Research Incorporated,

1992. Othello’s blind jealousy (which is caused by Iago), in turn, causes him to murder his devoted wife and also to end his own life. This play and, in fact, this world are full of victims of the “green-ey’d monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on,” victims of jealousy (Shakespeare III, iii).

Approximate Word count = 819
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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