Othello #4

            Jealousy threatens to be the cause of Othello’s downfall. Various characters have opinions about the nature of jealousy, and although the opinions differ, they agree that it can be detrimental. When discussing Desdemona’s potential infidelity, Iago warns Othello, “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! / It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock / The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss / Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger; / But O, what damned minutes tells her o’er / Who dotes, yet doubts; suspects, yet strongly loves!” (3.3.195-200). Iago recognizes the preying nature of jealousy, identifying the pleasure the “monster” gleans from watching the jealousy take effect. Perhaps Iago interprets jealousy in this way because he feels perverse pleasure from watching Othello being eaten away by it. Also, Iago claims that it is better to be aware of a wife’s infidelity than to love her yet simultaneously doubt her. Iago may not actually believe this, however. He obviously wants Othello to find proof of Desdemona’s supposed affair with Cassio, so he may be encouraging Othello to continue searching for evidence, thereby allowing his jealousy to fester and grow. Becoming angry with Iago, Othello cries, “I had been happy if the general camp, / Pioneers and all, had tasted her sweet body, / So I had nothing known. O, now, forever / Farewell the tranquil mind!” (3.3.397-400). Jealousy has been eating away at Othello, and he claims that he would rather not known anything about Desdemona’s unfaithfulness. To him, the knowledge of her infidelity is worse than the act itself. His jealousy has taken on a life of its own, and now the jealousy itself is worse than the supposed act that engendered it. Othello would therefore disagree with Iago’s claim that it is better to figure out the truth, but now he is completely under the influence of jealousy and cannot turn back. He turns on Desdemona, behaving cruelly to her. Desdemona berates herself for unfairly judging Othello’s behavior, and denies Emilia’s claim that Othello may be jealous. She believes that Othello has no cause to feel this way. Emilia explains the nature of jealousy to Desdemona: “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” (3.4.180-3). Like Iago, Emilia personifies jealousy as a monster. She understands the irrationality of how jealousy feeds upon itself. Desdemona cannot understand this irrationality because she is honest, straightforward, and virtuous. Thus, she does not know how to prevent Othello’s destruction as jealousy preys upon their relationship.