Iago's Jealousy In The Tragedy Of Othello

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Throughout Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Othello, jealousy acts as a major driving force. Dictionary.com defines jealousy as “feeling resentment against some because of that person’s rivalry, success, or advantages.” The Tragedy of Othello focuses on the downfall of Othello as well as the other main characters in the play due to jealousy. Jealousy heavily influences the characters’ actions throughout the play and is a recurring theme. Jealousy is portrayed mainly through the two main characters; Iago and Othello. It corrupts their lives because it causes Iago to show his true self, which in turn triggers Othello to go through a transformation that destroys their lives and the lives of those closest to them.
Iago, “most honest” (II, iii, 7) is …show more content…
Othello used to describe his wife as “wondrous” (I, iii, 160) and even compared her to “Heaven” (I, iii, 258), but after the idea that she’s having affair is firmly rooted in his mind his outlook completely changes and he starts to talk more like Iago. He uses animal imagery and is generally derogatory when he references his wife and women in general. For example, he calls Desdemona “haggard” (III, iii, 276), while also referring to her with offensive names like “lewd minx” (III, iii, 491) and “whore” (IV, ii, 89). Othello is the one most affected by Iago’s jealousy but it impacts others as well. Othello’s jealousy destroys his love and he must act since his mere suspicion of his wife cheating has deteriorated his mental state. He must kill Desdemona and he outright refuses to listen to Desdemona when she tries to say she is innocent. Emilia’s death is also repercussion of Iago’s jealousy. When she states the truth that she had “That handkerchief thou speak’st of I found by fortune and did give it to my husband” (V, ii, 232), Iago calls her a “villainous whore” (V, ii, 237) and stabs her. Othello then severely wounds Iago rather than killing him because it’s “happiness to die” (V, ii, 299). He wants Iago to live a life of suffering rather than letting him off easily by killing him. As Iago’s deception comes to light Othello sees the damage he has caused by having trust in Iago, resulting in the deaths of Roderigo, Desdemona, and Emilia. Othello then kills himself, “No way but this, Killing myself…” (V, ii,
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