Jealousy In Othello

It has been 400 years since Shakespeare has written his last play but his messages are still relevant to today’s context as he touches upon timeless issues such as racism, sexism, honor, bravery, vengeance, identity, hate, manipulation and jealousy which are issues we face now. I am going to be expanding upon the topic of jealousy.

Jealousy is described as the emotional attitude of wishing not to lose something that is important to the subject’s self-definition to someone else. Jealousy is often associated with sexual relationships, but it can also manifest itself in relationships between siblings, friends, supposed social rivals and many other affiliations. The causes of jealousy vary from situation to situation, but are all associated with
In othello, this happens when Iago (a close and trusted friend of othello) tells othello that his wife has been unfaithful to him and has been cheating on him with a fellow soldier named Cassio who is a flamboyant florentine who was a lady's man. Iago manipulates othello and says in Act 3, Scene 3;"O, beware, my lord, of jealousy!It is the green-eyed monster which doth mockThe meat it feeds on. He basically said; Beware of jealousy, my lord! It’s a passionately hateful person that makes fun of the victims it devours.If we agree that Iago has no real motives for hurting Othello, we could also argue that Iago's character is kind of a "Vice" figure. Vice figures are typically personifications of, well, vice (immoral behavior) – they tend to be tempters and often agents of the devil. Othello's case is so relevant to today's context that is has become a day to day and very common syndrome where the dark side of jealousy causes men to explode violently to reduce the odds that their partners will stray. 89 women were killed by their current or former partner between 2008-10. This equates to nearly one woman every week. Shakespeare's theme of jealousy further transcends to the audience as it is a fatal emotion naturally found within our human