Jealous Nature of Othello - Essay Example

The seed of jealously can destroy a perfectly healthy relationship and the same happened in Othello. Jealously does not remain jealously, it turns into anger and brutality which leads to unprecedented trouble in a tragedy. Jealous nature of Othello The tragic hero or the protagonist in this tragedy, Othello, suffers from the tragic flaw of jealously in the tragedy. Other characters are well aware that he is a very jealous man and they exploit his weakness to the fullest. Iago is the mastermind in the tragedy who tries to dethrone Othello; he exploits the jealous nature of Othello to turn his people against him.

He creates several misunderstandings to put Othello in a fix and he succeeds in doing so on numerous occasions. Othello is very possessive of his wife Desdemona and he often says “My Desdemona” in the tragedy. He believes that he has won her; possessiveness is also a very big sign of jealously. This again goes to show the jealous nature of Othello, a major reason for his downfall was his jealous nature and there are no two ways about it. He is also an extremist and his behavior is also violent in the tragedy at times.

He loses his head when the handkerchief goes missing; his impulsive nature leads to his destructions. He is of swaying nature; he thinks that his wife has been unfaithful to him, which again goes to show how other people who he considers his well-wishers can easily influence him. His jealous nature comes to the forefront after the intervention of Iago, before his intervention there are no evidences of his jealous nature. Iago is a very sagacious man in the tragedy, he is astute and extremely manipulative.

This powerful emotion of jealously in the tragedy affects Iago, Emilia, Bianca, Roderigo and Othello. They do things that one hardly expects them to do, their persona gets changed after this feeling grips them. The characters find a resolution which differs and they deal with their problem in a different way. They adopt different methods when it comes to dealing with this powerful emotion. Iago is a character who develops jealously from the very first time in the tragedy, as discussed earlier, the jealously quickly transforms into anger and then into revenge against those who he thinks have done wrong.

Iago, from the very beginning of the tragedy expresses his jealously towards two main characters namely Cassio and Othello. Cassio becomes the lieutenant in the tragedy and the same makes Iago jealous of him. Iago firmly believed that he was more deserving than Cassio and he should have been made the lieutenant instead of Cassio. Iago was furious with Othello for two reasons; the first one was because Othello promoted Cassio as the lieutenant and the other being his intimate relationship with Emilia.

“It is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets / He has done my office.” (Othello, 369-370) Iago is a very insecure character in the tragedy; he decides to take revenge against Othello and Cassio. He said he will only be satisfied after getting his due revenge. “Till I am evend with him, wife for wife, /Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor / At least into a jealousy so strong / That judgment cannot cure.” (Othello, 299-302) Conclusion Othello is a great tragedy; the traits of several important characters have already been discussed in the paper.

Iago, Emilia, Bia