Othello Jealousy Paper

Since William Shakespeare pioneered the term “green-eyed monster to represent jealousy, it is only fitting for his famous play, Othello, to portray why the name was coined. Shakespeare’s influential play, Othello, thrilled audiences of his time and modern time with a tale of hatred, love, and betrayal. In Othello, Shakespeare uses conflicts between Iago, Othello, and Desdemona to portray the dangers of jealousy. Beginning with the character Iago, one can see his jealousy fuel a villainous plot to demonstrate the dangers of the emotion. While explaining his hatred for Cassio to Roderigo, Iago complains, “One Michael Cassio . . . that never set a squadron in the field, nor the division of a battle knows . . . had the election” (Shakespeare 5). The conflict evident in Iago’s words is used by Shakespeare to bring forth the destructive nature of jealousy. From the get go, Shakespeare establishes Iago as the villain and Othello as the victim and in doing so, pushes the audience towards feeling sympathetic towards Othello and feeling hatred towards and rooting against Iago. Additionally, the conflict Shakespeare uses characterizes the character of Iago as jealous, which also contributes to molding the audience’s opinions towards him and a development of jealousy’s notoriety. While Shakespeare first introduces the conflict between Iago and Cassio as one over status and power towards the beginning of Othello, he brings the audience’s attention to Iago’s conflict with the Moor by having Iago exclaim, “I hate the Moor, and it is thought abroad that twixt my sheets he has done my office” (Shakespeare 54). Again, in this quote, Shakespeare uses the conflict between Iago and Othello to paint Iago as overly jealous man. The goal of these portrayals was to shine light on jealousy and the dangers that come with it. By portraying Iago as the jealous villain through conflict and Cassio and Othello as innocent victims, Shakespeare sends the idea that jealousy can destroy the