Othello is a play about jealousy Essay

Othello is a play about jealousy, Iago’s innate jealousy and the imposed jealousy of Othello, discuss. Othello is a Shakesperian tragedy in which the valuable qualities of the favourable characters are manipulated against them in such a way that their own qualities catalyse their own downfall. At the start of the play all is well between the honest Othello and sweet Desdemona until Iago slowly poisons Othello’s mind until it cumulates in a bloody and murderous finale. Shakespeare’s plays are well renowned for their examination of human emotions through drama, ‘Romeo and Juliet’ examined the nature love, ‘Hamlet’ examined the characteristic of having a weak mind, and both of these plays revealed the dangerous aspects to extreme feelings. Othello is a play that also explores the destruction that human emotion can lead to, and this essay shall consider the proposition that Othello is a play about the emotion of jealousy and its consequences. Iago is the first cause of all the trouble in Othello. His apparent motive for wanting to oust Cassio in favour of himself is his belief that Cassio is less fit and capable of the position of lieutenant than he. â€Å"Nor the division of a battle he knows More than a spinster, unless bookish rhetoric, Wherein the togged consuls can propose, As masterly as he. Mere prattle without practise In all his soldiership.† Iago, Act I, scene I. The harsh sounding ‘pr’ sound in the alliteration in Iago’s speech suggests his anger at Cassio’s appointment. This idea is later supported when Iago goes on to declare he cannot feel love for the Moor, as he feels Othello picks officers out of favouritism. Iago feels hard done to by Othello, and the combination of these revelations indicate that Iago is jealous of Cassio’s new position and contemptuous towards Othello for giving it because he wanted the position for himself. He may also feel jealous because he is considered less favourable as a person to Othello, because he scorns Othello picking his lieutenant out of favouritism. It is these feelings that rouse the desire for revenge on Cassio and The Moor inside Iago, and cause him to plan the fall of his superiors. Jealous people are never happy with other’s fortunes and therefore can only be happy when others are misfortunate. Therefore, it is possible Iago’s desire for destruction is spurred by his jealousy. Due to the fact Iago is the root cause of the tragic result of the play, the point that ‘Othello’ is about Iago’s innate jealousy seems to be well made because it is jealousy which first inspires Iago to bring misfortune to those he views to be better off than himself. Iago is not only jealous of Cassio, but also jealous of Othello. Similarly to the jealousy he feels for Cassio, Iago is jealous of Othello’s respect and fortunate position. However, there is also evidence that Iago is jealous of Othello’s relations with women. He believes that his wife has been unfaithful to him with Othello and this would rouse jealousy and contempt. ‘And it is thought abroad that twixt my sheets He’s done my office’ Iago also finds Desdemona very attractive, and perhaps reveals he wants her for himself, although Iago’s precise motives are never revealed in the play. ‘Now I do love her (Desdemona) too; Not out of absolute lust, through peradventure I stand accountant to as great as sin, But partly led to diet my revenge For I do suspect the lusty Moor Hath leaped In my seat’ Act II scene I line ~280†² This speech can be interpreted as either meaning he loves Desdemona because he can use her as a tool in his revenge against the Moor’s behaviour with his wife, or perhaps interpretted as Iago admitting he wants Desdemona for himself- and his justification of this feeling being that Othello had Emilia. Either interpretation concludes that Iago hates the moor because of jealousy not only on the grounds of status and position in the army, but also in terms of women too. The idea of Iago’s innate jealousy of wanting Desdemona for himself would explain his behavoir of disregard for Desdemona’s feelings in conspiring misfortune for Othello. Iago sees her as a whore, ‘And I’ll warrant her, full of game’ Iago Act II scene III line 19. And this treatment of devalueing is similar to that of someone you want for youself and cannot have1. He is jealous of Othello’s relationship with her, and thus his hatred extends to her because he feels that Desdemona should love him and thus he not only wants Othello’s position, but to destroy the love he has with Desdemona because he is jealous of it. Iago would not have gone beyond his plans to simply eliminate Cassio if he had not felt passion for Desdemona, his actions to ruin her stem beyond military position. Another idea as to why Iago plans to eliminate Cassio and Othello is that of Coleridge’s suggestion of ‘motiveless-malignity’. The idea that Iago was not exactly jealous but just gained pleasure from seeing others miserable is, in my opinion, is a stronger idea than that of Iago acting because of jealousy alone. There is evidence to suggest that Iago was not jealous of Othello supposedly having sex with his wife, but just saw it as more reason to hate him. Iago did not hate Othello because of this- but as well as this- and this suggests that Iago had no real reason to hate Othello, but his evil character enjoyed the pleasure of seeing a great man fall. â€Å"I hate the Moor And it is thought abroad that ‘twixt my sheets He has done my office† Act I scene III line ~385 The use of AND in this speech suggests that Iago hates the Moor through separate reasons than the issue of his wife. Iago’s treatment of Roderigo and Desdemona in the play also suggest that Iago is just an innately evil person rather than someone corrupted by innate jealousy. Roderigo and Desdemona have complete faith in honest Iago, and he abuses their trust and incorporates them into his plans regardless of how he may hurt them as individuals. † O good Iago, What shall I do to win my lord again? Good friend, go to him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Desdemona to Iago Act IV scene II line ~147 He has no reason to be jealous of Roderigo and Desdemona and yet he hurts them anyway, so this suggests ‘Othello’ is not just about Iago’s innate jealousy, but his evil ways. He knows the trouble he is causing, and indeed uses dark imagery to express the enjoyment in the pain he creates. â€Å"I haven’t. It is engendered. Hell and night Must bring this monstorous birth to the world’s light† The darkness in the language and the imagery of hell he uses indicates a dark cruel side in Iago and the playful romantic imagery of his evil plans proves he retracts enjoyment out of it without guilt. â€Å"If consequence do but approve my dream My boat sails freely both with wind and steam†. I believe getting so much enjoyment out of their misery is a point against ‘Othello’ being about Iago’s innate jealousy because jealous people tend to act irrationally. Iago methodically plans his actions. However, the fact Iago is so bitter could also have hardened him over the years. He seems to be jealous of anyone who is valued favourably, and resentful to anyone who values someone else more highly than himself. In this way I am of the opinion that the play is very much about Iago’s innate jealousy transforming him into a bitter man who derives his only pleasure in life from seeing people who could be happy turn miserable. Iago’s tragedy is perhaps that he can never be happy himself and so spends his life making other’s miserable with motiveless-malignity. However, in the book ‘Seven’, a serial killer says â€Å"I took it away because I envy your normal life detective, so it seems that envy is my sin† having killed his victims he admits he wishes he could be normal. Jealousy and envy are closely interlinked, so if a serial killer who kills helpless victims even prefers to die because of his jealousy of normal happy people, then the fact Iago shows no remorse perhaps wagers that Iago did not primarily act out of his jealousy but lust for causing pain. Othello is very much in love with Desdemona at the start of the play, he feels his soul bound to hers and has complete faith and trust in her. His soft language is almost like poetry and reveals his gentle nature. ‘Oh my soul’s joy!†¦ If I were now to die, ‘Twere now to be most happy; for I fear My soul hath her content so absolute That not another comfort like to this Succeeds in unknown fate† Othello is an old black man and Desdemona is a beautiful young Venetian girl, in Shakesperian times this would have been considered a very unconventional marriage and people would have looked down on it, at the time, black people were only associated in England with Slaves. The play, however, shows that true love in any circumstance can over power social integrity. In the beginning of the play, their relationship is very solid despite the troubles that they had to go through to be accepted, however Iago poisons Othello’s mind into becoming a jealous monster. Desdemona originally speaks of Othello as if he is beyond jealousy ‘†¦My noble Moor Is true of mind, and made of no such baseness As jealous creature are.† Desdemona Act III, scene IV. Therefore, when Othello is finally corrupted by Iago’s slowly dripping trickle of evil lies and ideas, it is a shock to Desdemona to see her husband so callous. The play is about how Othello changes from one man into a completely different one, and the cause of this is jealousy. Thus I can say that the play is about Othello’s imposed jealousy. As Othello spends more and more time with Iago, he becomes almost in Iago’s possession. At the beginning of the play, Othello has a musicality in his words, and speaks with such beauty and power. ‘Amen to that, sweet powers! I cannot speak enough of this content It stops me here; it is too much of joy.† His references are to God and Christianity, and he talks of sweetness, joy and contentment. Later, however, the imagery he uses in his speeches changes completely. Shakespeare uses imagery in language to portray the personalities of characters, and thus, a change in Othello’s speeches indicates a change in personality. ‘Damn her Lewd Minx. O damn her, damn her! 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† Act III, scene IV. The imagery he uses here is that of darkness and hell. These are similar to Iago’s imagery repetition of hell. Shakespeare makes a connection between Iago’s hellish imagery and Iago’s possessing of Othello. Witchcraft in Shakespeare’s time had more social stigma attached to it than in 2002 Britain, therefore, Shakespeare was making strong linkages between Iago and evil, stronger than how we would interpret it today. The almost hellish possession of Othello by Iago leads to the end result, and thus the imposed jealousy of Othello by Iago is a main part of what the play is about. Psychologist Emma Goldman states on jealousy: â€Å"Jealousy, the contortions of which we see in the matrimonial tragedies and comedies, is invariably a one-sided, bigoted accuser, convinced of his own righteousness and the meanness, cruelty and guilt of the victim. Jealousy does not attempt to understand. It’s one desire is to punish†¦as severely as possible†¦honour is restored as soon as blood is shed, either that of the man or the woman.† From the archives of the New York public library. This description is essentially what Othello goes through and basically summarises the play. Othello’s imposed jealousy is different to Iago’s innate jealousy because while Iago appears to be jealous of people who merely have the capacity within them to be happy, Othello appears jealous of Cassio and suspicious of Desedemona because he genuinely thinks they do him wrong. This can lead to the interpretation that Othello was never indeed jealous. Coleridge believed that Othello was indeed not jealous. â€Å"Let me repeat, that Othello does not kill Desdemona in jealousy, but in a conviction forced upon him by the almost superhuman art of Iago, such a conviction as any man would have entertained who had believed Iago’s honesty as Othello had† Notes on Othello, Coleridge Coleridge is saying here that Othello was not jealous of Cassio, or unnecessarily suspicious of Desdemona, but in fact just severely hurt. Iago is repeatedly referred to as ‘honest’ throughout the play, and even his own wife Emilia did not suspect him of such evil acts. Therefore, because Othello is such a believing and trusting person, he had no element within himself that questioned the honest Iago, with whom he was on first name friendly terms with. Othello was not jealous when he killed Desdemona, but in fact felt it was the only way in which he could regain his respect. In Shakespearian times, the man whose wife was unfaithful would be labelled a cuckold. It was a huge public disgrace to the man as well as an emotional strain, and Othello, being proud, did not take this well, thus he killed the woman he loved not out of jealousy, but out of ‘solemn agony.’ Without Desdemona, and with the knowledge that someone he loved so deeply had betrayed him, Othello felt in despair. â€Å"Look where he comes. Not poppy, nor mandragora, Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world, Shall ever medicine thee to sweet sleep Which thou owedst yesterday† Iago of Othello Act III scene III, line 329. In this way we can see that Othello is not just a play about jealousy, but it is also a play about trust and deception. Othello should have believed Desdemona but the seemingly honest Iago used everyone’s good traits against them, and caused the bloody mess single handedly. To conclude, Othello is perhaps a play about the innate jealousy of Iago, however, I am left unsure about the precise motives Iago has. I tend to agree with Coleridge, that Iago is motivated simple by the direst cruelty, although there is substantial evidence, such as his behaviour towards people who seem happier than himself, that Iago suffers from innate jealousy aswell. The play to me, seems to be more about mistrust, and the tragedy that Othello believes Iago over his wife. The fact Othello is so quick to doubt both his love and his best friend also suggests that Othello has a weakness in character judgement and solidarity of emotion. However, Iago was a very intelligent manipulator, and had luck on his side, to create a catharsis of emotion which drives Othello to kill his beloved, and how Iago manages to do this, is essentially what the play is about. It leaves the open question for me, that did even Shakespeare not know exactly what drove Iago, did the writer have doubts, or was he just unable to convey such a complex character within the confines of a play. 1 It is a psychological theory that if someone/something you love is unreachable, your mind will automatically begin to devalue them to ease the pain of not having that person/thing. It is easier to accept a whore does not love you than to accept a genuine pure girl does not love you.