Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

Othello is a tragedy based on a Moor named Othello. The story takes place in Cyprus and revolves around Othello, who is made to believe by the antagonist Iago, that Othello’s wife is having an affair with his lieutenant. Othello, out of rage, kills his wife only to find out that it was only an evil scheme set up by Iago so he kills himself out of grief. This play explores many themes but a prominent theme would be jealousy. Jealousy is the main theme in the Shakespeare play, Othello.

Shakespeare’s Othello is known for its recurring theme of jealousy. It explores jealousy in not only relationships but also in status. The most evident example of jealousy in this play would be Othello’s relationship with his wife Desdemona. Although they did love each other, Iago’s rumours led Othello to believe that Desdemona cheated on him with Cassio, his lieutenant. His jealousy fueled his revenge, which led to Desdemona’s death. Though there is no real motive for Iago’s plot, we can assume that Iago’s jealousy towards Cassio’s position may have led him to plot his evil scheme to ruin Othello. “One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, A fellow almost damned in a fair wife...”(1.1.21-34) This quote proves that one of Iago’s reason could be out of jealousy for Cassio. …show more content…
Grade 9 was a tough time for me and it led to me hating and being jealous of one girl. Like Iago, I had no real motive for hating her and I came up with a plot to ruin her. For personal reasons, I do not wish to write everything in detail but I know now that what I have done was out of jealousy and revenge. Reading this play helped me come to terms with what I have done and I can assure I will never go down the same path Iago