Othello is a play written by William Shakespeare in the early 1600s. The general summary of this play is about an African American General named Othello who appoints a young man named Cassio as his Lieutenant, when another guy known as Iago wanted the job. Iago plays the role of the antagonist in this play and Othello, the tragic hero. As the play goes on Iago’s evil plan unravels as we see the scheme was to try and ruin them both by making Othello believe that his new wife, Desdemona, is having an affair with the newly promoted Lieutenant: Cassio. This affair and plot gives the play the theme of jealousy and deception. Throughout this play the main thing that I learned is when everything you love has been stolen from you, at times all you have left is revenge. This play is not one about forgiveness. In this play, Shakespeare proves that jealousy often leads to unreasonable behaviors on the psychological issues of a …show more content…
“I know not that; but such a handkerchief-I am sure it was your wife’s- did I to- day see Cassio wipe his beard with” (iii,iii.437-439). After this was said Othello became sure that revenge and Cassio’s blood is what he wanted. Still playing the mastery role of deception, Iago tries to make it seem like he has no part in the situation so he tries to calm down Othello by saying “ Yet be content” (III,iii,450) or “Patience, I say. Your mind perhaps may change” (III.iii.452). Although he was telling Othello relax and don’t be rash, Iago still fueled the fire because he basically said yes kill Cassio but let Desdemona live. “My friend is dead; ‘tis done at your request, but let her live”(III,iii,473-474) and Othello gives into Iago’s pigheaded motives when he says “Come, go with me apart. I will withdraw to furnish me with some swift means of death for the fair devil. Now art thou my lieutenant.”
In the play, Othello, jealousy and envy are prominent themes from the beginning to the end. As the play starts to unwind, you can see jealousy is the major cause of all the drama in the play. Jealousy or envy is a feeling of discontented or resentful longing by someone else’s possessions , qualities or luck. Iago becomes engulfed by jealousy and it causes him to corrupt Othello. They are two men that cause similar crimes but we sympathize for Othello and hate Iago because they have different attitudes towards their crime.
Jealousy is a powerful emotion that can blind oneself from identifying the truth. Shakespeare heavily emphasizes this theme throughout the drama Othello, especially through the actions of characters. In the play the heinous antagonist, Iago, uses each character’s jealousy to deceive that person and manipulate the truth. His false promises and deceitfulness bring to the demise of many of the main characters in the play, including the protagonist, Othello. Othello could not have been deceived if it were not for his powerful jealousy. Therefore, Shakespeare is telling us that jealousy is an ugly trait that can hide the truth, which in turn causes many problems between characters in the play.
The tragedy of Othello, written by William Shakespeare, presents the main character Othello, as a respectable, honorable, and dignified man, but because of his insecurities and good nature, he is easily taken advantage of and manipulated by his peers and alleged friends. The dynamic of Othello’s character significantly changes throughout the play. The contrast is most pronounced from the beginning of the play to its conclusion, switching from being calm and peaceful to acts of uncontrolled venomous rage. Othello’s motivation in the play appears to be his love and concern for his wife Desdemona, which ironically, ends up being his downfall in the end.
Shakespeare’s Othello is a play consistently based on jealously and the way it can destroy lives. One is quick to think this jealously is based on Othello’s lack of belief in Desdemona’s faithfulness to him or his suspensions over Desdemona’s affair with Cassio, Othello’s honorable lieutenant. Upon closer inspection of the jealously that exists throughout the play it becomes clear that his jealously is not the sole start and reason for all of the destruction that occurs. Iago, a good friend of Othello, is not who he appears to be. Iago’s own jealously of those around him pushes him over the edge. He begins to deceive all those who believe he is a true, honorable, and faithful man. Throughout Othello, Iago incites his own jealously in
In your view how does Shakespeare’s portrayal of the complex nature of jealousy contribute to the enduring value of Othello?
Throughout the play jealousy is shown within almost every character, ago mostly causes everyone in the play to be jealous of someone by doing what he does best, manipulating everyone and getting them to do his dirty work. Jealousy plays a big role within the play, and influences almost every decision made by each character at some point in the play. Sadly, the decisions made due to the characters being jealous are mostly bad, the play mainly shows how jealousy affects Iago, Othello, and Roderigo. Iago at some point gets each character to believe everything he has to say and talks them into doing anything he wishes them to do all for the sole purpose of revenge and jealousy
Jealousy is a powerful drug. When someone is jealous, one can only imagine how far someone would go because of it. In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, there were several characters that went through different ways of processing their jealousy. Iago’s jealousy provokes his idea to get back at the people he felt was not deserving enough of the things they had or their happiness. His plans succeeds but by the end, no one wins. Iago’s jealousy forms at the beginning of the play which causes Othello’s jealousy towards the end and because of it, it results in people hurt mentally and physically.
Jealousy is described as someone who is feeling or showing envy of someone because of their achievements and advantages. Jealousy plays a major role in Shakespeare’s play Othello. There are many instances throughout the play that show jealousy between the characters. Throughout the play, jealousy is used for destructive purposes only. I believe that Iago longed to get revenge on Othello for previous issues. This only results in a long line of accusations and disputes between the characters in Othello.
In Shakespeare’s play the hero, Othello, is transformed from a man with a noble nature, Othello is transformed in to a “green-eyed monster”. The man "that was Othello" appears more like Iago than anyone could believe as his jealousy, much like Iago's jealousy, consumes his life and the life of all around him. How could a man, so noble in battle, so respected in society and so loved by his wife, be reduced by such an emotion as to render himself nothing more than "a malignant and turban'd Turk?" Jealousy is a major theme in Othello and it is what drives Othello to commit his heinous deed of killing Desdemona. Othello claims to be a man who "loved not wisely, but too well; of one not easily jealous".
The play “Othello” by William Shakespeare was written in 1604 during the Elizabeth era. Othello is one of the most extraordinary characters in all of Shakespeare’s dramas. He enjoyed unheralded success in the combat zone, which gave him the reputation as one of Venice’s most competent generals. Even though he has great success in the battlefield, he has a dramatic flaw that causes a downfall in his life. The dramatic flaw that causes his downfall is jealousy. This was brought on by a simple persuasion of Iago, the evil character in the play. Even though Iago used extreme manipulation to get Othello to be jealous, Iago did not really have to try very hard to get Othello in a jealous state of mind. Othello was blinded by his jealousy which
Though the name of the play written by William Shakespeare is called "Othello," the character Othello is not the main character, but rather Iago is. Iago is the character who drives the play, he is the one who makes things happen. Without his greed and hated, there would be no play at all. The whole play is centered around Iago's revenge and in doing so, he is willing to make other people's lives miserable. Through "Othello," Iago uses the other characters to avenge the wrong doings which Othello has inflicted upon him, and will go to any means to do so.
first of all the characters in the play to be attacked by the "green -
Famous for his tragedies, William Shakespeare wrote this revolutionary work of art Othello, written between 1602 and 1604, Othello was performed for the first time in front of King James the first at the whitewall palace. But it wouldn’t be until 200 years later that in 1826 Ira Aldridge would play as the first black actor at London’s royalty theater, as the lead role of Othello.The audience at whitewall and the royalty theater, were able to see firsthand the love, racism, and jealousy, that develop as the major themes of this tragedy. Jealousy, which is usually defined as feeling resentment against someone because of that person’s rivalry, success, or advantages, is concurred as the key theme of Othello. Some may object to the idea
Jealousy can cause many things to occur. For example, manipulation, betrayal, and death. Manipulation, to get them to do things that they know is not good for them for instance, drugs or alcohol. Betrayal, is getting jealous of their accomplishments. Also death, for being so jealous of a friend who has accomplished so much that killing is the best solution to get rid of them. In the movie “O” a modern version of Othello by William Shakespeare and Julius Caesar also written by William Shakespeare, Odin and Caesar were manipulated for being the best at what they do. Jealousy could really get anyone killed.
The play Othello by William Shakespeare was published during the 16th century, it is one of Shakespeare’s popular and controversial plays. Shakespeare depicts Othello’s race as placing him apart in some respects from the predominantly white European society in which he lives. Jealousy is another of the main themes in Othello. Iago is the first character to start the sparks of jealousy in Othello, and in the end, causes the downfall of Othello and Desdemona. In the end, racism and jealousy are the causes of the tragedy in Othello.