Othello Reflective Essay

            Shakespeare’s plays are not particularly the easiest to understand, but they do provide timeless and universal themes that still apply to the twenty-first century.  For example, Shakespeare’s Othello provides timeless and universal themes of jealousy and love which connect to modern tales such as Cinderella and The Twilight Saga:  Eclipse.  Each of these works presents a different example of jealousy as a human flaw.  Jealousy is present in most aspects of life and has been for thousands of years.  Othello illustrates a quintessential example of the presence of jealousy in mankind and its destructive nature. 

            Jealousy is a prevalent theme in Othello.  Multiple characters experience this feeling at some point in the play.  Roderigo feels envy when he learns that Desdemona married Othello.  Then, Othello becomes jealous of Cassio because Iago fed him lies about Cassio having an affair with Desdemona, his wife.  Othello’s jealousy inflamed an internal conflict in him about how to handle the situation because he loved his wife dearly.  Othello’s love for his wife and Iago’s lies provoked the jealousy within him, leading him to kill Desdemona.  When Iago’s wife Emilia learned of Iago’s deception, she described jealous men as “not ever jealous for the cause, but jealous for they are jealous. 'Tis a monster begot upon itself, born on itself” (III. iv. 154-156).  Love makes people jealous because everyone is looking for love in their lives and they do not like when other people have what they cannot find.  Jealousy caused by love is also a common theme in the novel Eclipse.  In the book, Jacob grows to love Bella, but she only loves him as a friend.  Instead, Bella is in love with Edward, which makes Jacob jealous of Edward.  Jacob was there for Bella when Edward left, but Bella still loved Edward even though he abandoned her. Jacob confronted Bella with his feelings saying, “You love me, too. Not the same way, I know. But he’s not your whole life, either. Not anymore. Maybe he was once, but he left. And now he’s just going to have to deal with the consequence of that choice — me” (Meyer).  Jacob knew Bella loved Edward more but he could not help being jealous because he just wanted to be loved as well.  

Iago becomes jealous of Cassio when Othello names Cassio lieutenant instead of him.  Iago’s envy of Cassio’s position prompts him to create lies and manipulate others to get what he wants.  Likewise, the stepmother and stepsisters in Cinderella act in a similar manner towards Cinderella.  Cinderella lived with her father and stepmother, who only married for the money.   “It was upon the untimely death of this good man, however, that the stepmother's true nature was revealed. Cold, cruel, and bitterly jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty, she was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awkward daughters” (Cinderella).   The stepmother was so jealous of Cinderella’s beauty that she treated her like a servant and made her life miserable, similar to Iago’s manipulation of Othello.  Cinderella’s stepmother manipulated Cinderella’s father and took over his home and his fortune after his death without a care about what happened to Cinderella.  Her stepsisters also envied her beauty, which is apparent as they rip her dress up when she is ready for the ball.  They did not want to be out done or want her to attend the ball so they destroyed her dress out of jealousy.  Therefore, it is obvious that jealousy will always be present in human nature, making Othello timeless and universal for addressing such a prevalent aspect of human nature.

  

Works Cited

Cinderella. Walt Disney, 1950. DVD.

Meyer, Stephenie. Eclipse. New York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print.

Perrine, Laurence. “Othello.”  Perrine’s Literature:  Structure, Sound, and Sense. Fort Worth. Harcourt College. 2002. 1361-1462. Print.