More Jealousy - Drama Blog (Othello)

So the last time we met, I included a video of a song called "Jealousy" by Darren Criss that pretty much described a major theme in Othello. (the theme of jealousy, btw.) Here are the lyrics! I'm going to pick out two specific examples from the song; it's a little creepy how accurate they are.

Othello preparing to kill Desdemona

"Jealousy" has a couple of key phrases that can be related to passages of Othello. One of the most prominent is, "And I don't know what to do, it's changing me, it's killing you." This can really be related back to the former of the two main characters, Othello and Iago, the two people to which the jealousy theme applies. In the beginning of the play, Othello is a level-headed, rational man who can stay calm in any situation; however, when Iago begins to fill his head with ideas of his wife Desdemona cheating, he goes crazy because of his jealousy, and then he strangles Desdemona. ("it's changing [Othello], it's killing [Desdemona]).

Another phrase is "In absolutely no position to be needlessly unkind, when I'm the one writing this fiction, make it real in my mind." This relates to when Othello is getting progressively more angry by imagining and heightening the lies Iago tells him about Desdemona and her assumed lover Cassio. Othello is a big jerk to her for no reason (he even slaps her) when she didn't do anything. But, because it's real to him, he is acting on his "justified" anger.







Well, there you go! (And here is "Jealousy" by Darren Criss)