In William Shakespeare’s Othello, there are several themes that can be noticed, for example hatred, suspicion, devastation and so on but the main theme that roams around the story is jealousy. Jealous is defined as the feeling of envy. Many characters in this story display this theme and many events in this story also driven by jealousy.
The first character that displays this theme is Roderigo, the Florentine noble. He is jealous of Othello who manage to get Desdemona, the Venetian lady whom he loves. He hires Iago to win Desdemona back. This leads to many events of lie, plotting and killing by Iago who complots with Roderigo. At one point, Iago sets up a fight between Roderigo and Cassio by lying to Roderigo that Cassio is in love with Desdemona. Roderigo was then driven by jealousy and he felt unsecure that Cassio might get Desdemona without realizing that Iago is using him to revenge on Cassio and Othello.
The second character is Iago. The main reason that driven him into jealousy is when Michael Cassio got promoted as the lieutenant by Othello that he claims he suppose to get. That caused him to use Roderigo to revenge. He even sets up the fight with Cassio and Roderigo due to his revenge to Cassio that gets the promotion. He tries to get Cassio set from his position. He also spread rumor that Othello was trying to seduce his wife Emilia. He even poisoned Othello’s mind that Desdemona is having affair with Cassio by asking Emilia to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief which lead to the ambush of Cassio by Iago by the order of Othello and killing of Desdemona by Othello himself.
The third character that shows jealousy is Bianca. She is a small character in this story but she played a important role by being mistress to Cassio. She was jealous when Cassio gave her Desdemona’s handkerchief and asked her to make a copy of it and return the original one to the owner. She claimed that it belongs to a woman and she also accused him of having an affair with another mistress and that the reason Cassio did not visit her for days. After copying the handkerchief, she throws it to Cassio as she was jealous of the ‘other woman’. Othello who looked at it from distance thought that Cassion disrespect his token of love that he gave to Desdemona and he blames Desdemona for it. Bianca’s act of throwing the handkerchief caused a hurtful scar in Othello’s heart and mind that mainly leads to the killing of Desdemona.
In conclusion, the theme of jealousy is the main theme in the story Othello. This behavior is absorbed by almost all the main characters in the story that leads to many important events. This theme is easily used by the characters to poison each other’s mind and make the story keep going interestingly. This theme is noted until the last event of the story.
Puspavathi.
Puspavathi.
I don't actually think Bianca throwing of the handkerchief led to Desdemona's death. It was a final conclusion for Othello when he found the handkerchief in Cassio's hand and when he thought he heard Cassio discussing his love for Desdemona to Iago. But if you think of it, Othello should have known that if Cassio glows in love when he thought he was talking of his love for Desdemona then why will he turn around and give Desdemona's gift to another woman. Again this shows how jealous blinds a person conscious state of mind. His clear thoughts were blocked by jealous and hate that he couldn't see clear through a very tinny fog.
ReplyDeleteYes Abigail your argument on how jealousy clouded Othello's judgement to even not be able to see the odd facts of Cassio's actions with the handkerchief shows how poisonous jealousy is. And I do not understand the handkerchief points in this essay as well.
ReplyDeleteVimal.