Essay about Jealousy in Shakespeares Othello - 1450 Words

Jealousy in Shakespeares Othello Othello features jealousy as the dominant motive for action and therefore just as reflected in real life we bare witness to jealousy influencing the characters of Iago, Brabantio, Roderigo, and Othello. In this essay I shall be attempting to examine this theme in depth drawing comparison between jealousy and the consequential action. The dominance of jealousy as the chief causative force of action in the drama is very obvious to most critics. In William Shakespeare: The Tragedies, Paul A. Jorgensen exposes the main motivation in the story: In roundest terms, Othello is a story of raging sexual jealousy prompted apparently by the least credible of motives. Othello has eloped with†¦show more content†¦(59) Act 1 Scene 1 opens with an expression of jealousy: Roderigo is upbraiding Iago because of the elopement of the object of his affections ?Desdemona -- with the Moor: ?Thou told?st me thou didst hold him in thy hate.? Iago responds with an expression of jealousy, saying that he does indeed hate the general because he ?Nonsuits my mediators; for, ?Certes,? says he, ?I have already chose my officer. With both Roderigo and the ancient spurred on by jealousy, they storm the home of the senator, Brabantio, and father of Desdemona in a vain effort to have him recover the missing girl. Brabantio is very jealous of the man who has stolen his daughter because she has been his only companion and help in the home: ?And what?s to come of my despised time Is naught but bitterness.? At the head of his mob, the senator accuses the general of having ?enchanted her? with his sorcery, and accompanies him to the duke and council. After Othello admits ?That I have ta?en away this old man?s daughter,? Desdemona confesses that ?here?s my husband,? and these testimonies seem to satisfy the Duke and council. Consider that we have experienced three serious acts of jealousy in the first three scenes of the play, as it has misguided Roderigo, Iago and Brabantio. The last dies as a result of his jealous grief; Gratiano later says to Othello: ?Thy match was mortal to him, and pure grief / Shore his old thread in twain.?Show MoreRelatedEssay on Jealousy in Shakespeares Othello649 Words   |  3 PagesJealousy in Othello The tragedy of Othello is the story of jealousy. It is Othellos public insecurity that makes him jealous of Cassio and allows him to believe that Cassio has slept with Desdemona. Also, it is Iagos jealousy of Othello that drives him to destroy both Othello and Desdemona. What is fascinating about Shakespeares Othello is the way in which jealousy between the major characters is sexualized. 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