Othello
Jealousy Comes with a Price
Society makes us think of the seven deadly sins in different ways and it has
many opinions on which is the deadliest. In Othello, the sin of envy is the deadliest of
sins. The villain Iago’s envy infects both Roderigo’s small mind and Othello’s great
heart, ultimately destroying the very embodiment of innocence, Desdemona.
Many of the characters in Othello have specific roles to aid the main character.
One who certainly plays the part of a pawn in Iago’s chess game is Roderigo. While the
first act opens to Roderigo arguing with Iago, the audience can see how easy it was for
Iago to change the subject of conversation from Roderigo blaming Iago of cheating him
out of his money, to Iago’s anger at “the Moor” for choosing Cassio as his second in
command, to the idea that Roderigo should tell Barbantio about his daughter
Desdemona and her relationship with Orthello (1.1.1-75).
Iago continues to use Roderigo as a pawn when Iago gets Cassio drunk and tells
Roderigo to go after him (2.1.257-269; 2.3.130-131). Cassio strikes Roderigo and Iago
instructs him to go “cry a mutiny” (2.3.150) to create the chaos that Iago needs to ruin
Othello’s first night with his new spouse Desdemona. After this scene, Roderigo
disappears for most of the play, reappearing at the end of Act 4, Scene 2 to deal with
Iago himself. Once again, Iago takes advantage of this opportunity and turns the
subject of the conversation while accepting and agreeing with the statements Roderigo
makes against him. After he makes these accusations, Iago tells Roderigo about the
message from Venice saying that Cassio will replace Othello as head of the army. This
is when Iago plants the idea of killing Cassio to keep Othello, and therefore keeping
Desdemona, in Cyprus. (4.2.171-241). While Roderigo tries to stand up for himself, his
small mind will not let him follow through with it until the end.
The plot
Society makes us think of the seven deadly sins in different ways and it has
many opinions on which is the deadliest. In Othello, the sin of envy is the deadliest of
sins. The villain Iago’s envy infects both Roderigo’s small mind and Othello’s great
heart, ultimately destroying the very embodiment of innocence, Desdemona.
Many of the characters in Othello have specific roles to aid the main character.
One who certainly plays the part of a pawn in Iago’s chess game is Roderigo. While the
first act opens to Roderigo arguing with Iago, the audience can see how easy it was for
Iago to change the subject of conversation from Roderigo blaming Iago of cheating him
out of his money, to Iago’s anger at “the Moor” for choosing Cassio as his second in
command, to the idea that Roderigo should tell Barbantio about his daughter
Desdemona and her relationship with Orthello (1.1.1-75).
Iago continues to use Roderigo as a pawn when Iago gets Cassio drunk and tells
Roderigo to go after him (2.1.257-269; 2.3.130-131). Cassio strikes Roderigo and Iago
instructs him to go “cry a mutiny” (2.3.150) to create the chaos that Iago needs to ruin
Othello’s first night with his new spouse Desdemona. After this scene, Roderigo
disappears for most of the play, reappearing at the end of Act 4, Scene 2 to deal with
Iago himself. Once again, Iago takes advantage of this opportunity and turns the
subject of the conversation while accepting and agreeing with the statements Roderigo
makes against him. After he makes these accusations, Iago tells Roderigo about the
message from Venice saying that Cassio will replace Othello as head of the army. This
is when Iago plants the idea of killing Cassio to keep Othello, and therefore keeping
Desdemona, in Cyprus. (4.2.171-241). While Roderigo tries to stand up for himself, his
small mind will not let him follow through with it until the end.
The plot