Jealousy of Othello and the Use of Binary Oppositions in Othello

Jealousy of Othello and the use of binary oppositions in Othello

Shakespeare’s Othello is a play that depicts the story of love and the cruel powers of jealousy and is probably one of his greatest tragedies. The tragic hero of the play, Othello, has been shown as a noble, trustworthy, proud man as well as a decisive leader in the beginning of the play. And as the play progresses the same Othello is transformed into a petty, irrational, suspicious and emotionally unstable man at the end of the play. Shakespeare has brought about this extreme metamorphosis in the character of Othello through the “green-eyed monster”, jealousy.

Jealousy is the most dominant motive for action in the play. We see jealousy influencing Iago, Roderigo, Brabantio, and of course Othello. Since jealousy is the chief causative force of action in the play, we find that almost all the events and actions in the play take place due to the jealousy of one character towards another. I will not be explaining about the other characters and keep the discussion focused on Othello’s character. Othello has been shown to get affected by jealousy also, partly because of his feelings of insecurities and mostly because of Iago’s manipulation.

The jealousy of Othello seems to prove Murphy’s Law which states that if something wrong can happen then it will. Initially Othello himself believes that he is not jealous and has full faith and trust on his wife Desdemona, but after the seed of suspicion has been planted into his brain by Iago, starts contemplating on the possibilities that it might be true that Desdemona is eloping with Cassio. This happens because of one of his weakness, which is insecurity. He develops insecurities because Cassio has things that he does not – younger in age, color, and social graces – and hence Desdemona might prefer Cassio over Othello.

Although Othello does turn into a very jealous man by the end of the play but I do not feel that Othello has been portrayed by Shakespeare...