Othello Jealousy And Envy Analysis

Envy is known as one of the seven deadly sins for its ability to corrupt those who experience it. Similarly, jealousy can have a similar effect on people, especially when they decide to act on it. Although both envy and jealousy seem extremely similar, there is a fine line separating the two. Darlene Lancer mentions in her article, “How Insecurity Leads to Envy, Jealousy, and Shame,” that envy is a “feeling of discontent… with regard to someone’s advantages, possessions, or traits such as beauty, success, or talent.” Envy usually stems from feelings of inferiority. In contrast, whereas envy is “the desire to possess what someone else has,” jealousy is defined as the “fear of losing what we have” (Lancer).
Both emotions have reared their ugly heads throughout many literary works and were proven to be quite destructive, however as Lancer mentions, they cannot exist without feelings of
insecurity. In William Shakespeare’s Othello, Iago’s insecurities turn into envy towards Cassio and Othello. He lets his envy to control him, allowing him to take down Othello and those around him. In Tobias Wolff’s “The Rich Brother,” the brothers’ insecurities about themselves turn into jealousy and/or envy towards the other. Lastly, in Robert Browning’s “Porphyria’s Lover,” the lover’s insecurity about his relationship with Porphyria can be interpreted as jealousy, which causes him to do the unspeakable. In Othello, Iago feels inadequate in comparison to Othello and Cassio, which leads him to envy them.
At the beginning of the play, Iago makes it clear that he wanted Cassio’s position as Othello’s lieutenant: “I know my price; I am worth no worse a place” (Othello I.i.10). He feels that the position belongs to him, and he becomes extremely envious when the position is given to Cassio instead. Lancer mentions that envy is a defense mechanism to insecurity and that those who experience envy “might [even] go so far as to sabotage, misappropriate, or defame the envied person.” This is exactly what Iago does; he conjures up a plan to sabotage Othello and defame Cassio in his fit of rage by using something he has mastered: jealousy/envy. In her essay, “Jealousy in Othello,” Jennifer Putnam states that Iago “wants everyone to feel as he does so he engineers the jealousy of other characters” (43). In short, Iago wanted to bring everyone, specifically Othello, down to the same level as him. He wanted those who made him feel insecure to share the same feelings in hopes of destroying
them. Before he even begins with his plans, Iago fabricates the idea that Othello has “‘twixt [his] sheet [and]/ H’as done [his] office” (Othello I.iii.355-56). He makes up this lie, so that he would have another incentive for revenge, in addition to fueling his anger. Iago understands the power of jealousy so well that he uses it to his advantage. He recreates this scenario of the wife having an affair with another man to exact his revenge on Othello, by telling him that the latter’s wife, Desdemona, has been having an affair with his lieutenant Cassio. Although Othello doesn’t believe him at first, Iago gets his own wife Emilia involved by telling her to plant Desdemona’s handkerchief in Cassio’s room. Iago’s plotting soon pays off because as soon as Othello finds his wife’s handkerchief in Cassio’s possession, Othello becomes insecure about his relationship with his wife and is consumed in his own fit of jealousy. Pleased to see his plans in motion, he proves that jealousy “is the green-eyed monster which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on” (Othello III.iii.165-66), by watching Othello destroy himself with his own jealousy. Jealousy and envy are also present in “The Rich Brothers.” It is clear in their sibling rivalry that both brothers envy each other, due to their own insecurities about themselves. Having felt neglected by his mother, who devoted her attention towards his brother after Donald’s surgery, Pete treats Donald harshly and hits brother’s stitches “every chance [he has]” (Wolff 1412). Mansura Yasmin Moledina suggests in her essay, “Sibling Rivalry and Brother Love are Themes in ‘The Rich Brother,’” that Pete’s bitterness may be due to the fact that “[he] was getting used to all the attention [from his mother]” and with the birth of Donald, “it ceased,” since Donald needed more attention due to his younger age. With that said, Pete’s insecurities about himself arose from childhood, and he became envious of Donald, who received a most of his mother’s love. Pete’s envy towards Donald also carries out into adulthood, although he envies Donald in a different sense now. While Pete is the wealthier brother, he has more obligations than Donald, and as a result, he envies Donald’s freedom and spoiled nature: “What a joke if there was really a blessing to be had, and the blessing didn’t come to the one who deserved it, the one who did all the work, but to the other” (Wolff 1418). In short, he envies his brother because Donald has things handed out to him all the time, whereas he has to work for his earnings. While Donald’s life seems to be a walk in the park in Pete’s eyes, his insecurities about himself cause him to envy his older brother. Since Pete is the brother with a stable job and a family, Donald feels like he pales in comparison. Moledina mentions in her essay that “[Donald] suffers from embarrassment around his brother and a slight inferiority complex.” As a result, Donald becomes envious of Pete’s successes. He refuses to tell Pete how he got fired from his job at the farm because he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of his brother. However, when Pete manages to get the story out of him, Donald responds with, “It’s all a big laugh to you, isn’t it?” (Wolff 1410). He feels like his life is a joke to Pete, because everything seems to go wrong for him, unlike Pete who has a seemingly perfect life.
Throughout “Porphyria’s Lover,” the lover (the speaker) exhibits feelings of uncertainty regarding his relationship with Porphyria, which turns into jealousy. The lover feels uneasy during the beginning of the poem, where he is listening to the “sullen wind” with a “heart fit to break” (Browning). Additionally, when Porphyria speaks to him, “no voice replied” (Browning). This indicates that the speaker is feeling detached towards his surroundings and his lover, though the poem does not mention why. Perhaps Porphyria has been cheating on him, and he found this out the hard way. Perhaps his heart was “fit to break” Porphyria in return for breaking his. Janet Lewison suggests in her essay, “A Masquerade of Spontaneous Murder,” that the speaker “borrows the language of hurt and heartbreak in order to situate his own feelings as those of the suffering victim” and that it could be “his absent lover’s fault that [he] is suffering.” In this case, maybe the poem’s title, “Porphyria’s Lover” has a double meaning. His jealousy towards Porphyria’s other lover may have spurred the uncertainty the speaker experiences at the beginning.
Acting upon this jealousy, the speaker becomes obsessed with Porphyria and is intent on preserving her love for him: “To set its struggling passion free/ From pride, and vainer ties dissever,/ And give herself to me forever” (Browning). Lewison states that “[Porphyria] is a sexual commodity to be destroyed on a jealous whim by monomaniacal males who cannot bare the ‘uncertainty’ of love.” In an attempt to preserve Porphyria’s love for him, he kills her. In doing so, no one else can have her, and she will be incapable of loving anyone else. Although he has doubts about killing her at first, his mind has been made up after her adoration for him is reflected in Porphyria’s eyes: “Porphyria worshiped me: surprise… That moment she was mine, mine, fair/ Perfectly pure and good” (Browning). He kills right then and there because he wanted her love for him to be the last thing on her mind before she died, so she can belong to him and him only.
Collectively, Othello, “The Rich Brothers,” and “Porphyria’s Lover” all deal with envy/jealousy and reinforce the idea that both can’t exist without insecurity. Iago’s insecurities are loosely tied to the fact that the title of general has been given to a Black man, Othello. Additionally, he creates another sense of insecurity to act upon, by making up the idea that his wife has been cheating on him with Othello. In “The Rich Brothers,” Pete insecurities stem from childhood, since Donald received the most attention from their mother. On the other hand, Donald’s insecurity about himself seems to have developed at a later age; when comparing himself to his successful older brother, he feels inadequate and inferior. In “Porphyria’s Lover,” the speaker has doubts in his relationship with Porphyria. Though the poem doesn’t really go into detail about it, one interpretation could be that Porphyria has been cheating on him with another man, which caused him to feel insecure.
While envy and jealousy have proven to be quite destructive amongst these works, all three works have a different approach on whether or not jealousy has gotten the better of the characters. In Othello, Iago allows his envy to control him. He gets so caught up in his plot for revenge that he loses everything from his wife to his reputation. Similarly, Othello’s jealousy also leads to his downfall, as he kills his wife Desdemona after being caught up in Iago’s web of lies. He realizes the destructive capabilities of jealousy a bit too late, and before he takes his own life, Othello even asks not to be remembered as someone who was easily jealous: “Then must you speak… Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought,/ Perplexed in the extreme” (Othello V.ii.339-41). Similarly, the speaker in “Porphyria’s Lover” also allows his jealousy to control him, since he strangles Porphyria with her own hair after making sure that she loved him:
The smiling rosy little head,
So glad it has its utmost will, That all it scorned at once is fled, And I, its love, am gained instead! (Browning)
In contrast, while the brothers in “The Rich Brother” do experience envy towards each other, sibling love overpowers envy towards the end of the story, where Pete “pretended that he was not already slowing down, that he was not going to turn back [for Donald]” (Wolff 1419). Even though he treats Donald with spite, this clearly shows that Pete stills care deeply for his brother and won’t allow his envy to cause him to do something he would ultimately regret. Envy and jealousy are common feelings amongst humans, and going back through these works, it seems like they are the reasons behind the actions and/or motives of the characters. All of the characters that experienced envy or jealousy have an insecurity or something they feel ashamed of. As a result, this lead them to do questionable things. Iago went after Othello, because he was bitter that the latter had given someone else a title that he believed was his, making him feel pathetic. Pete was often rude to Donald, because he felt neglected as a child, so he took his pent-up emotions out towards his younger brother. Lastly, Porphyria’s lover ended up killing her because he couldn’t stand the idea of Porphyria loving someone else. Each of these cases exhibit emotions that readers are familiar with. While the most severe actions taken by these characters are still unjustified, readers can relate to the insecurities experienced by the characters and maybe understand why they acted or behaved in such a way.