The Portrayal Of Jealousy In Shakespeare's Othello

the final act of the play, he desperately tries to maintain his own fancied idealized image where he says in his own words:

The previous quote was given by Othello with a concluding return to his inbred dignity and ability to control. This resonates the confidence, reliance and eloquence that Othello demonstrated earlier when he advocated himself against the accusation of Brabantio who claimed that Othello has seduced Desdemona into marriage. In this speech he justifies his murderous act of throttling Desdemona and speaks as if he is guiltless except for loving his murdered wife too much. It is questionable to look upon his claim of being not so easily jealous, and that he refers to himself as being someone who loved not wisely, but too well

Since Othello is apparently a narcissist, Desdemona, being his wife and significant other has to perform her role as a devoted and faithful admirer. There is interdependency in Othello’s behaviors toward himself and his wife as well where he perceives his reflection in Desdemona’s love. Any threat to his belief in his wife’s love is considered to be to him as a threat to his so-called idealized image that he always needs to confirm through her gaze. David Enoch attempts to describe the psychopathology of the mentioned Othello syndrome where he points out that the heart of the problem is one related to inadequacy which mainly arises from a contradiction between what the patient wishes to be and what he believes he actually is. In the light of this point, Othello’s sense of inadequacy may be linked to three factors specifically are, the age gap between him and his wife, his race, and thirdly his obvious insecurity. Thus, one may infer that Othello falls apart mainly because he realizes, even if it occurs unconsciously, the conflict between both, his true self and his idealized image. This would also explain the importance of the “handkerchief of death” which is patterned with strawberry figures. Othello offers Desdemona the handkerchief as a token of his sincere love and explains to her that it is a highly significant family heirloom which his father gifted to his

It is the nature of drama that paves the way for the audience to identify themselves with the tragic hero on stage; they acquire indirect satisfaction through observing the hero’s sufferings, pains, and serious fears. As Sigmund Freud says, the playwright is to provoke the same sickness in us if we pursue the evolvement of the sickness along with the sufferer himself. This is exactly how the audience gain prudence into Othello’s neurotic character. Othello is a tragic hero indeed where he drives the engine of the play through his flaw leading to his own downfall. He learns through his own experience that jealousy and pride are destructive vices indeed. What the audience realizes by the end of the play is that gullibility, normal jealousy and pride are only a façade whereas Othello’s neurotic and narcissistic characters are the main reason behind his death. From a highly revered gentleman to suicidal murderer, Othello tragically attempts suicide in an attempt to unite with his love through death not even realizing the immense crime he has