Theme of Jealousy in Shakespeare's Othello (Play Analysis)

The play, Othello, by Shakesphere highlights the human flaw of emotions overruling our logical thinking which we still see today in mankind. In the play, jealousy is a prominent theme from the beginning to the end.  Jealousy is the cause of all the problems and drama in the play. Iago and Othello are both corrupted by the feeling of jealousy which causes them to commit horrible deeds. The theme of jealousy is shown through how Iago acts and manipulates Othello and Rodrigo.

The first act of jealousy is when Iago is passed up for promotion and goes to snitch on Desdemona and Othello to Barbatio. This is the start of many things to come from Iago which ruins the lives of tons of people. Iago in the story told Othello that he shouldn’t get jealous and called jealousy a “green-eyed monster” all while planting seeds of jealousy in him. This is how Iago starts to manipulate Othello through his jealousy so that he could kill his own “green-eyed monster”. Iago uses Othello’s jealousy to trick him into killing his wife, and at the same time make himself seem like a friend to Othello. Jealousy is a seriously dangerous emotion to have and Iago shows why this is through his action throughout the story. Iago shows that he is controlled by jealousy through his actions which causes people to die. 

The second act of jealousy in the play, Othello, is when Othello starts to become very jealous when he sees Cassio with the handkerchief he gave to Desdemona. Even though Cassio was given the handkerchief by Iago, Iago never admitted to it. When Othello saw the handkerchief with Cassio he went into a jealous state even to the point where he started to get epileptic seizures. Jealousy in Othello caused him to get a very serious medical condition on top of him not acting the same towards his friends. Iago knew how to make Othello jealous and took advantage of it by staying with him and making it seem like he was his friend. Othello in his blind and jealous state took Iago’s advice and plotted to kill Desdemona and Cassio. When Othello went after Desdemona he first only started to act different and sick. As the story progresses he gets more and more aggressive and then he plots to kill Desdemona. Othello’s jealousy causes him to lose the love of his life only because he went into a jealous rage instead of asking questions and talking to Desdemona. At the end of the book, Othello gets his jealous revenge on Desdemona and suffocates her in her bed. This causes Othello’s jealousy to disappear, but he also sees that he lost the love of his life all because he got jealous and never asked questions. Othello then learns that this was all plotted because Iago, who was tortured by his own “green-eyed demon” , wanted to ruin the lives of everyone. 

Rodrigo was also controlled by a “green-eyed monster” and attacked Othello because of it. In the play, Rodrigo is manipulated by Iago to give himself money and do the dirty work Iago did not want to do. Iago, using his cunning and smarts, controls Rodrigo through his jealousy towards Othello. This jealousy towards Othello is sparked because Rodrigo wants Desdemona, but she is with Othello. Iago knows this and tells Rodrigo that if he gives Iago gems he will send them to Desdemona, but in reality, Iago pockets the gems and sells them for money. Iago also makes Rodrigo do his dirty work like when he attacked Cassio not once, but twice. In the text Act 5 Scene 1 “I know his gait, ’tis he.—Villain, thou diest!” and “That thrust had been mine enemy indeed, But that my coat is better than thou know’st I will make proof of thine”.  Here we see Rodrigo do Iago’s dirty work and attack Cassio even though it did not work. While Rodrigo was being controlled by Iago he sells all of his land and tries to give Desdemona gems, but Iago keeps pocketing them. Rodrigo then suspects that Iago is doing this and straight-up asks him if he was doing it. This is the scene where Rodrigo, the only character in the show who somewhat loses their jealousy, does not want to work for Iago anymore and begins to distrust him. Iago then convinces Rodrigo to attack Cassio for the second time which is the scene where he dies. Rodrigo was a rich man who died because he was jealous that he never had Desdemona. Iago took advantage of him for that and made him give away all his money and finally his life.

Iago’s jealousy in this play started lots of drama and eventually led to people dying. Othello only acted the way he did because of Iago tricking him into a jealous rage. Othello can be blamed for some of it though since he never tried to ask Desdemona. Rodrigo was manipulated by Iago through his jealousy. All of Iago’s jealousy was caused by a promotion he did not get. This shows that jealousy can not only be dangerous, but it can appear from little things. All the drama and deaths in this tragedy were caused by the “green-eyed monster” known as jealousy.

The play, Othello, by Shakesphere highlights the human flaw of emotions overruling our logical thinking which we still see today in mankind. In the play, jealousy is a prominent theme from the beginning to the end.  Othello’s jealousy is caused by Iago and Rodrigo was controlled through his jealousy. The theme of jealousy is shown through how Iago acts and manipulates Othello and Rodrigo.