In the play Othello by William Shakespeare, Iago and Emilia compare jealousy to a monster to show how jealousy is a powerful feeling that may overpower a person’s own control.
...ing out his plan, Iago predicts that “Othello shall go mad” (Act IV Scene I, line 100, Barron’s) because Othello’s “unbookish jealousy must conster poor Cassio’s smiles, gestures, and light behaviours quite in the wrong” (Act IV scene I, line 101 – 103, Barron’s). He believes that when Cassio smiles, jealousy will overpower Othello’s own control; as a result, the Moor will misunderstand Cassio’s personality. This shows how powerful jealousy can be because once it takes over a person, the person will think the negative sides, and will eventually misinterpret the problem. As a wife of Iago, Emilia feels the same way too. Being a mistress of Desdemona, Emilia senses that Othello is jealous of Desdemona’s missing handkerchief. She often questions her lady if Othello is jealous. Moreover, she warns Desdemona that jealousy “is a monster [that] begot upon itself, born on itself” (Act III Scene iv, line 160 – 161, Barron’s). She explains that jealousy is a monster that may regenerate itself. This show how powerful the “green-eyed monster” is because once a person feels jealous, more jealousies will add on without needing a reason for the extra ones. This is like bacteria; they reproduce rapidly and overtake human body’s white blood cells, affecting the body’s health. Although at first Desdemona doesn’t believe his husband is such a man who will be jealous, she later seems worry and asks “Heaven [to] keep the monster from Othello’s mind” (Act III Scene iv, line 162, Barron’s). Believing Emilia’s words about how jealousy is a horrible monster, Desdemona immediately pray to god for the protection of her husband against jealousy. For all the descriptions of jealousy, are they true? Allow Othello to prove. Othello begins as a calm and fair noble. However, with the evil plan he has fallen into, he becomes jealous, and jealousy has controlled over how he thinks and how he judges. After developing a change as a jealousy gentlemen, Othello “would have [Cassio] nine years a-killing” (Act IV Scene i, line 178, Barron’s). Jealousy has made him hate Cassio so much that he would kill him for nine years. As a noble, he shouldn’t put his personal matters into his job because he should only kill someone for his job but nothing outside. Moreover, even to his love one Desdemona, he wants to “chop her to bits” (Act IV Scene i, line 199, Barron’s). Jealousy is telling him that nothing is better than killing the ones who cheated on him, even his best loved wife. Othello cannot control himself; he even thinks if he should chop her loyal wife into piece. A normal person wouldn’t think this way because chopping someo...