Jealousy Flashcards
“’twixt my…
- “’twixt my sheets He’s done my office.”
Iago is affected by jealous conspiracy and claims it to be a main motive in his actions towards Othello.
“Doth like…
- “Doth like a poisonous mineral gnaw my inwards”
Jealousy is presented as a character in itself, its effects are gruesome and painful, it is also concealed within the person themselves. Often referred to as a poison.
“beware my…
- “beware my lord of jealousy. It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on”
Graphic imagery of the person jealousy is inflicted on falling prey to it, mock- makes a joke of, it relates to humiliation and a lack of reason. Iago is probably speaking from personal experience here, potentially a reason for his actions?
“’tis better…
- “’tis better to be much abused, than to know ’t a little”
We can tell that the potential knowledge of Desdemona’s actions are beginning to effect Othello, we can also see how much it hurts him as just this small snippet of information has ‘set him on the rack’. Jealousy is painful.
“jealous souls…
- “jealous souls will not be answered so; they are not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they’re jealous”
We now see jealousy from Emilia’s point of view as a receiver of it, jealousy feeds itself and it’s more about the person themselves than the action that has occurred. Seems almost as if she has given up hope, as it’s in their souls it’s ingrained into the person.
“this is…
- “this is some minx’s token, and I must take out the work? There, give it your hobby-horse”
Bianca provides us with female jealousy, it’s much more exposed and direct, rather than letting it fester and grow as the men do she looks for an immediate answer. We see that if only Othello would just speak to Desdemona about it it could’ve been sorted.
“let her…
- “let her rot and perish, and be damned tonight, for she shall not live”
Jealousy is no longer a passive figure but is instead leading to tragedy, there is a direct link between the two.
“is this…
- “is this the noble Moor whom our full senate call all in all sufficient? […] He is much changed”
Shows how jealousy manipulates the person, even someone so powerful and great as Othello can fall prey to it and be changed from a hero to a villain.
“the ser…
- “the serpents curse”
Biblical reference, the serpent directly contrasts God and therefore is aligned with the devil, therefore jealousy is presented as the purest form of evil, and the noun ‘curse’ indicates a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment.
“a fixed…
- “a fixed figure for the time of scorn to point his slow unmoving finger at!”
Jealousy slowly warps into shame as the play continues, How people’s reputations will be changed if they become ‘cuckolded’ or humiliated by another person.
“he hath…
- “he hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly”
Iago unlike Othello seems to be unjustified jealousy, his jealousy from Cassio sleeping with Emilia feels reasonable but this feels much more childish which removes from his power that we see through the play.
“she must…
- “she must die, else she’ll betray more men”
For Othello his jealousy manifests into a sense of moral justice, it deludes him from reason and leads to the murder of Desdemona.
“she’s like…
- “she’s like a liar gone to burning hell”
Religious sentencing, he pairs himself with God to be in a place where he becomes this bringer of justice, he feels lost and confused, we can see that jealousy has warped the character we saw at the beginning and has turned his powerful love into something much more dangerous.
“roast me…
- “roast me in sulphur. Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid fire”
The moment that the jealousy shatters and Othello reaches clarity, his actions lead not only to Desdemona’s punishment but to his own, and it shows that no one is left untouched by jealousy.
mere…
Mere prattle without practice Is all his soldiership
(iago abt cassio)
