“A little jealousy can enhance the savour, but too much can spoil the pleasure and under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening”. “Othello” by William Shakespeare is a play and the genre of the play is tragedy. The play was set in the late sixteenth century in Venice. Some of themes of the play are the jealousy, manipulation and racial prejudice. It is based on jealousy and the way it destroys lives. The jealousy starts with Iago hating Othello because he gave the lieutenant position to Michael Cassio instead of him, and then he joins forces with Roderigo to take Desdemona away from Othello, then Othello wanting revenge for Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. The concept of jealousy as explored by William Shakespeare in his play, is a clear indication of how one's fears, uncertainties and jealousy can be exploited and manipulated by those who are envious of us and how such individuals can deceive us to turn not only against those whom we love, but lead us into betraying our very nature and turn us into monsters, overwhelmed by an emotion that feeds off itself. Through Iago's and Othello's actions and dialogue in Othello, it is clear that jealousy can cause individuals to marginalize others. Jealousy in Othello was a motivating factor to get anything you want; it pushed you to do crazy things.
Jealousy takes over us and lets our emotions control us. Othello loved Desdemona, so did Roderigo, but Desdemona loved Othello. Although Othello was a black man she loved him dearly. Roderigo was jealous of Othello and hated him, so he conspired with Iago to get rid of Othello and report to Desdemona’s father. In Act 1 Scene 1 Iago lets his jealousy override his emotions when he mentions how much he despises Cassio for getting the lieutenant position. He uses that emotion and transfers it onto Othello for giving him that position. Iago’s jealousy takes over him and makes a manipulator, he draws Othello in by pretending in his presence to be true to the Moor and by so doing, gains Othello's trust. He 'implies' to Othello what he learns in the hope that Othello falls for his deceit. He wins by convincing Othello of his loyalty and the fact that he wishes not to 'cause doubt', yet that was his sole purpose. Othello buys into the pretense and allows Iago to manipulate his thoughts against his wife Desdemona. There’s a saying that goes like “there is a reason for everything”, in this particular Shakespeare’s play we see otherwise.
As much as jealousy can come from something, we also see that jealousy can be generated out of nothing and can make someone want to tie a reason to it just because it has to be that way. In act 3 scene 3 Iago says “The Moor already changes with my poison;//Dangerous conceits are in their minds// Which at first are scarce found to distaste// … I did say so” Iago realizes the unbelievable power of jealousy. Here, he claims that he has poisoned Othello's mind by suggesting Desdemona...
