Act 2, Scene 1, Deprat Vincent

How does Shakespeare explore the theme of jealousy in these extracts?

In Act 2 scene 1, the playwright depicts Iago’s jealousy in several different ways, including his jealousy towards Othello for his perfect relationship with Desdemona and towards Cassio for his way with women and for the promotion that Iago desired to get.
One way in which this jealousy is shown in the extracts is through his jealousy in Othello and Desdemona’s love affair, portrayed to the audience in Iago’s aside when Desdemona and Othello kiss after the latter had arrived to the scene and declared his love to Desdemona, Iago states that he will “set down the pegs that make this music”, which shows his jealousy as he is plotting to manipulate the “music” that Othello and Desdemona had created. The atmosphere in this extract is one of love and joy as it was right after the storm which wiped out the Persian navy. This further emphasizes to the audience Iago’s troublesome and manipulative nature in the play as he is still plotting against them when everybody is celebrating. The fact that he is saying this during Othello and Desdemona’s love declaration to each other further emphasizes how he might feel jealous towards their love.
Another way in which Iago’s jealousy is shown is through his jealousy towards Cassio, portrayed to the audience in his soliloquy. In this extract, it is clearly shown to the audience that he is perhaps envies Cassio for his way with women, as it is said that he fears Cassio “with his night-cap too”, which suggests that Iago might believe that Cassio is one to be involved in affairs with other women, possibly also Iago’s wife, as suggested earlier in the play when Iago accused Emilia of having cheated on him. Further evidence to show this is when Iago says he wants to get “even’d with him (Othello), wife for wife” which makes his intentions a bit clearer as the audience knows his suspicions of his wife having an affair. The fact that he wants to get “even” shows the extent of the bitterness and jealousy felt towards Othello, perhaps because of his decision to give the promotion to Cassio instead of Iago, which also explains his hatred of Cassio and how he wants to have “Michael Cassio on the hip”.

How would an audience react to Iago’s plotting against Othello, Desdemona and Cassio?

In the extract, all the characters aside from Iago are presented in a happy and loving atmosphere because it was right after the storm. The fact that through all this joy, Iago still plots to destroy Othello and Desdemona’s love affair generates a certain amount of distrust and perhaps disgust from the audience for his manipulative and dishonest nature even amidst the celebration. The fact that the audience knows Iago’s intentions when the characters do not also generates a certain uneasiness and tension within the audience due to the dramatic irony created. Iago’s obsession on revenge also forces the audience to sympathize and worry about the outcome for the characters of Desdemona, Othello and Cassio.