In society today, we tend to compare ourselves to others. Jealousy is a mutual emotion that takes over our self-esteem and is displayed through several manners, whether it is admiring one’s wealth or another’s accomplishments. Jealousy plays a major factor in relationships, and in Shakespeare’s play, Othello, and the article “Man who shot pregnant ex-wife is jailed for life”, the actions committed by Othello and Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo are both driven by their lack of self-worth. A lack of self-worth will result in nothing but irrational decisions and harsh consequences.
Othello is an ambitious soldier with quite prominent traits, yet just like everyone else, he acquired jealous tendencies. Iago manages to manipulate Othello and convince him that Desdemona had been sleeping with Michael Cassio. This results in Othello’s self-esteem to slowly degrade. Othello convinces himself that he was perhaps not as good of a man as Cassio was. This was solid evidence of a lack of self-worth which resulted in an impulsive decision. It was only until the end, when Othello had realized his mistake. Towards the end of the play, Othello’s self-image is corrupted, as he says “I am not valiant neither, but every puny whipster gets my sword: but why should honour outlive honesty? Let it go all” . Othello no longer views himself as an honourable soldier for his reckless decisions, and convinces himself that he no longer deserved to hold up his sword.
Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo was yet another individual that was envious towards his spouse and admired the life she had. Unlike Ramanodge, Sana Muhammed recognized her value. She made the right decision to file a divorce and escape the toxic relationship she put herself through. On the contrary, Ramanodge spent months plotting a catastrophic plan to murder Sana. He carried out his plan and impulsively murdered his ex-wife, as a result of his negative self-image. He failed to realize that he did not need to depend on Sana to achieve his desires, and this motivated him to seek revenge on his ex-wife. Mark Lucraft pointed out that Ramanodge simply acted out of jealousy, as he says, ‘One can only assume that you were jealous of their life together and the fact that they had formed a loving bond between themselves and with your children.” Ramanodge despised the fact that he could not move on from the divorce, which signifies a lack of self-worth. Ramanodge presumably believed that he was nothing compared to Sana’s new husband, just how Othello convinced himself that he was nothing compared to Cassio.
At the end of the day, self-worth is the most influential factor to the actions we commit. A negative self-image is a red flag, and results in rash actions. If Othello and Ramanodge realized their own value, the events would have unfolded differently. Sarah Azvedo once said, “Jealousy is the result of one’s lack of self-confidence, self-worth, and self-acceptance” and this reflects on the series of events that occurred throughout the play, Othello, and in society today.
