Othello. Almost every action in the play is made out of pure jealousy.
“The jealous poison their own banquet and then eat it.” This line from Washington Irving exemplifies the underlying theme throughout William Shakespeare’s Othello. Almost every action in the play is made out of pure jealousy. Although these covetous feelings stem from different reasons and evolve in different ways between the characters, the outcome is always disastrous. All of the characters seem to fall into a continuous circle of jealousy, with Iago at the center drawing everyone in just to break each one down.
Throughout Othello, Iago acts as the mastermind and all of the other characters prove to be his puppets. Motivated by relentless jealousy over Othello’s high position and of his lieutenant, Cassio, Iago plots to ruin Othello and will do all in his power to bring him down. He obviously has no feelings of guilt or sorrow for any of his actions and is so overwhelmed by his emotions that he is able to manipulate everyone surrounding himself. He does not care about anyone that surrounds him. He is simply engulfed with fury by the green-eyed monster and cannot escape his emotions. He completely takes advantage of the dope Roderigo who also is fighting back his envy for Othello. But Roderigo’s jealousy comes from his affection for Othello’s wife, Desdemona. This lustful attraction, along with Iago’s spiteful persuasion causes Roderigo to do almost anything to ruin Othello. Iago even plans the murder of the innocent and loyal Cassio through Roderigo but when plans go sour he murders his own assistant to better his own chances of staying under the radar. Though he is finally discovered after it is far too late, he never really escapes his jealousy.
