In "Othello,"� What Is "The Green-eyed Monster"�?

Iago, the General Othello's standard bearer, warns him "Beware, my lord, of jealousy/ It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock/ The meat it feeds on." Even in Shakespeare's time, green was traditionally associated with jealousy, as it is today: "green with envy." Jealousy is very much the theme of Othello; the plot is driven by Iago's own envy of Cassio, Othello's lieutenant ("He has a daily beauty in his life/ That makes me ugly") and of Othello's happiness with his bride, Desdemona ""I'll set down the pegs that make this music," he mutters to himself when he sees them together.) To feed his own jealousy he instils it in Othello, convincing him that Desdemona and Cassio are having an affair. At first Othello resists, but Iago plays so cleverly on his insecurities about his age, race and ignorance of Venetian culture ("In Venice they let heaven se the pranks/ They dare not show their husbands") that he is gradually driven into a violent rage and kills his wife.