Othello And Jealousy
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. ... His feelings of jealousy uncovers his actual self. ... 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). This loss of rational causes Iago to “make a life of jealousy” (III, iii, 204) and plots to destroy Othello.