Research Paper on Jealousy and Manipulation in William Shakespeare's Othello

Introduction

The theme of jealousy and manipulation is strongly depicted in William Shakespeare's Othello. The two themes portray the attitude of European society. Before a person's tries any ulterior motives the person must jealous and looks forward to coming up with a way to manipulate another personJealousy was also very evident in the play. How it made Iago do so many malevolence things. It just shows that jealousy truly can make people do evil and deviant things.

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Othello by William Shakespeare is a tragedy that emphasizes the dangers of jealousy and how it can be destructive. It is very interesting to see how characters use jealously as a mechanism to get what they want. In Othello, jealousy is not only found in intimate relationships, but also professional relationships and friendships. In this tragedy, jealousy effects all the characters, especially Iago, Othello, and Desdemona.The antagonist in Othello, Iago, was a villain who plotted out the destruction of several characters out of envy. From the very beginning of the play, Iago shows his irritability while speaking to Roderigo about Cassio receiving a promotion from Othello. When Iago says "A fellow almost damned in a fair wife that never set a squadron in the field" he is pointing out that Cassio is unmarried and inexperienced on the battle field. This comment shows that Iago is envious of Cassio receiving the promotion from Othello and believes he is more fit for the position. This jealousy could have been used to fuel Iago during the villainous fight that abrough tOthello down.

Also, Gary Duffy concludes that Iago feels that Othello has slept with his wife, Emilia, when Iago says to Rodrigo in Act one Scene three, "tis thought abroad that twixt my sheets he has done my office". Duffy explains that unlike Othello, Iago does not demand 'proof',but his jealousy is so strong that the mere suspicion will do (1). Although his conclusion does give another possible reason of Iago's evil doings, he lacks to focus on the fact that Iago could also simply be jealous of Othello and Desdemona's happy marriage. Iago's own marriage seems to be rocky and loveless, shown by his disrespectful comments to his wife. For example, when he says "I' faith, too much, to have a foolish wife" in Act three scene three.

People usually do 1 evil things to get a benefit out of someone, but there was so much jealously built up in Iago that destroying Othello completely is what brought him the most satisfaction. In the end, I believe Iago realized all the wrong he did and felt some guilt, however along the way he was blinded by envy. The next character to be effected by jealousy negatively was Othello. Othello allowed himself to be completely blinded by jealously. Although he was tricked into believing Desdemona cheated, this does not give him good enough reason to strike Desdemona's in public or end her life. Othello is in the wrong because even though he believes he was given "evidence"of her cheating, he does not think twice about murdering her even when she begs him. Desdemona says to Othello in Act V Scene 2 "Send for him hither. Let him confess truth!". Eventhough she even asked to bring Cassio there in front of his face, he denied and continued to believe the lie. Desdemona was not a terrible wife, nor did she ever do anything bad enough for Othello to not trust her, so I pity her and the way she was murdered.

The plan that pushed Othello to kill his wife could only have been plotted by someone who is very close to him, maybe that is why he was so blinded by Iago's setup. Othello must have trusted Iago a lot, at least more then he trusted Desdemona, which is interesting because one would think that a husband would trust his wife more than a male figure in his life. At the same time, it is hard to blame Othello because he was tricked in the worst way possible. Marcus Nordlund explains, "Were Othello to be tried today for the murder of his wife he would be found 'guilty', but with substantial reservations about being severely misled, the real villain is revealed" (2). I agree withNordlund, because it is much easier to see Othello as innocent when presented with the scam he was fooled by. The handkerchief that was stolen by Emilia for Iago's evil plot, was kept betweenOthello and Desdemona was a special token given to Desdemona from Othello. Othello explains 2 in Act 3, scene 4 where he got the handkerchief when he says "Did an Egyptian to my mother give, she was a charmer". His mother gave the handkerchief to Othello's father and the charmer explained that as long as this stayed in his possession he was to love her. This explains a little more in depth the importance of the handkerchief to Othello.

Although Othello did not just believe word of mouth about his wife cheating, when he asked proof Iago made it happen. It must take real evil and some deep jealousy for Iago to plot a plan like that. It is interesting that insuch a big tragedy something as small and insignificant as a handkerchief can set off all the rowdiness. The handkerchief was a huge symbol for chastity, trust, and faithfulness. Therefore, for Othello to find it in Cassio's possession, makes it easier to see how he could've fell for the trick and committed his crime with some sort of reasoning. In my eyes, Othello is guilty regardless. One should never allow jealousy to push them to those lengths of destruction. One last character that was effected by jealousy in Othello is Emilia. Although jealousy wasn't the immediate cause for Emilia's death, jealousy was still a secondhand cause. During theplay, Emilia truthfully is the real reason for Desdemona's death because she helped her husband, Iago, tremendously with his plan of bringing Othello down. Not only did she steal Desdemona's handkerchief, she stayed quiet when Desdemona came to her in panic about it being missing. I believe Emilia was so willing to please her husband that feeling guilty for ruining Desdemona's and Othello's relationship was not a thought in her mind. Iago shows in Act one that he is afraid his wife has slept with the moor. Joan Holmer says, "Later, Iago reconfirms the intensity of his sexual jealousy by admitting that he fears that Emilia may be tempted to sleep with Cassio, as well (2.1.296-298).

Iago's revenge against Othello and Cassio, then, is at least partly motivated by his fear of being emasculated through his wife's conceivable infidelity". I think Holmers comment is interesting when looking at what Emilia says to Desdemona about jealous men in act3 three scene four. Emilia says "But jealous souls will not be answered so they are not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they're jealous. It is a monster begot upon itself, born on itself". At this point in the play, Emilia is speaking about Othello. She explains how it doesn't matter if he has evidence or not, a jealous person will be jealous no matter what. It is interesting that she is using these words to describe Othello, when it is her husband who she is describing perfectly. Although in the end of the tragedy Emilia came to her senses and decided to do the right thing, it caused her to be murdered. Emilia letting out the truth at the end was frustrating because she wasgiven so many chances to tell the truth and maybe save lives. For Iago to have the strength to killhis own wife even though the truth is already out and the situation cannot be fixed, shows the true amount of evil that this character was. He allowed his jealously to destroy everyone around him.

Othello's Vulnerability and the Exploitation of Insecurities

In the novel Othello there are many recurring situations in which the protagonist, Othello, succumbs to manipulation by the antagonist, Iago, despite his character being depicted as collected and fearless under pressure. Othello is portrayed as powerful, cunning, and respected by many of his Venetian peers; however, despite his many commendable qualities, his character still possesses great insecurity because of his age, and often feels external pressure of being judged because of his ethnicity as an African. As a reader, we are led to believe that Othello possesses this superior nature because he is a general and shows exceptional leadership qualities, yet he still allows the antagonist, Iago, to exploit these weaknesses to his liking, causing Othello to let his emotions work against him and compromises his composed nature. Many argue that the reason for the gullibility and unintelligence Othello shows because of this could be a function of his race, and that he is unintelligent because he is a "moor". However, the credibility of this theme may not be entirely true. In the story, Othello possesses a great deal of internal shortcomings, that show up as noticeable vulnerability, besides the fact that he is a moor. In correspondence with this, there is no proof that Othello's character is depicted as unintelligent simply because he is African. Instead, the reason for Othello to commit such unintelligent acts in the story is a result of developing insecurities of how he is viewed because of his race. For example, and after years of being the victim of derogatory remarks and racial slurs, he has become paranoid to the idea that he is an outsider. This creates insecurity within himself that Desdemona may be having an affair with another man not only because he is a moor, but also because of how Desdemona is perceived for falling in love with a person who is considered to be on the outside, and that she may also receive criticism for her acts. This insecurity is a pivotal weakness that Iago fully exploits in order to take his vengeance on Othello. Finally, the interpretation that the story is racist simply by having the character of Othello play the unwitting African is a fallacy and is not meant to symbolize the African race.

Challenging the Interpretation of Racism in Othello

Racism could be interpreted in a variety of ways, and there are many characters within the story that could be perceived as far less intelligent than Othello. For example, the characters such as Roderigo or Cassio are far less intelligent than Othello, and are nearly pawns for Iago. Both characters are also Caucasian, so the argument that Othello is unintelligent because of his race becomes moot knowing this. Furthermore there are many reasons as for why Othello behaves the way he does in this story, but that does not mean that the story of Othello was written in order to portray Africans as beast-like creatures possessing inferior intelligence to their white counterpart.

Primarily in this story, Othello is described as even-tempered and collected character. He is portrayed as a man who is never deterred by the most catastrophic of disasters while at battle, and possesses a tactful mindset as a general. Because of this, Othello is widely respected throughout Venice for his leadership ability and his status. In fact, while waiting to be trialed by Brabantio, Othello does not despair over his predicament of being accused of stealing Desdemona. Instead he calmly addresses the situation without fear, stating "My Parts, my title and my perfect soul Shall manifest me rightly. Is it they?" (1.2. 31-2). Here Othello displays his confidence in his character and he is able to use his charisma to address the situation in such a manner that dismisses the imputed stigma that the love Desdemona and he has for each other is unjust because of his skin color. However, despite being viewed as such a prominent figure by many, Othello still possesses a great weakness due to his insecurity of being an outsider as an African. This insecurity is a nagging seed of self-doubt that is exposed by Iago in order to manifest itself in a way that will create chaos for Othello. Iago uses Othello's insecurity to create skepticism within him; causing Othello to wrongly create a false belief that Desdemona may be having an affair with Cassio. Knowing this, it can be inferred that the play of Othello is not intentl...