Shakespeare’s Demonstration Of The Ontogeny Of Jealousy In Othello

As humans, we’re naturally born with universal traits and emotions that embody us as individuals. Some may argue that they've never possessed certain traits because in today's society and even in the past, some traits were/are seen as taboo, but regardless of these claims, jealousy is one quality that cannot be omitted. In some aspects it's similar to other emotions that engross us as individuals, but is different because like a parasite; it consumes its host and monopolizes it, then like a disease its spreads amongst other individuals and consumes them as well. Shakespeare demonstrates the ontogeny of jealousy through his play, Othello, which is relevant to individuals in society today. This play focuses on the course of jealousy through different relationships between lovers, and enemies and the epidemic of it through individuals.

Insecurity is a trait that can develop into jealousy, which is shown through the relationship of Othello and Desdemonda. In the beginning of the play we’re shown an acquisition spreading around about Othello stealing Desdemonda behind her father Barbantio’s back, which leads to her father's disapproval of him. Shakespeare includes this conflict in this relationship from the beginning to show the struggle Othello has to go through not only because he secretly with Desdemonda, but because he’s a moor. The two men who exposed their relationship to Barabntio no only made their marriage seem one sided then they went on to say the reason not to trust this marriage was because moor’s can't be trusted, so Barbantio concluded to himself the Othello must've used his black magic to trick his daughter into falling in love with him. This conflict becomes resolved when Desdemonda confirms that she is in fact married and in love with Othello which ends with Brabantio disowning Desdemona. This conflict in the beginning of the marriage shows us how strong their relationship is and also how difficult it is for them to be together in society, as well as the racism Othello faces even if he’s the General of the Venetia army. As their relationship progresses in the play we see the antagonist Iago try to manipulate a harmless interactions between Desdemonda and Cassio and tells Othello she may be cheating on him. At first this doesn't bother because he felt he needed to visually see evidence to make a judgment, but then Iago made it a point to say Desdemonda would rather repent being with an undesirable black man and go with Cassio. This false accusation causes Othello to brood and wonder why he ever wanted to be married. This is an important shift in the relationship because it shows Othello's insecurity starting take over his thoughts and his disdain for his wife becoming more evident. In the end of the play Othello's insecurities caused him to see Desdemonda an unfaithful which caused him to kill her and then himself once he realizes he’s been played. Overall, Ohello’s insecurity led him to become jealous of Desdemonda and ended with the death of both him and her.

Many issues in society today relate to the issues seen in Othello. One of the major issues is the relationship between Iago and Othello in the play. Shakespeare demonstrates the ontogeny of jealousy through his play, Othello, which is relevant to individuals in society today. This play focuses on the course of jealousy through different relationships between lovers, and enemies and the epidemic of it through individuals.