Jealousy Equals Death An important piece of the Othello that William Shakespeare is writing about is the underlying jealousy that each character possesses. This jealously pushes the characters to make choices that lead to the deaths of Desdemona, Othello, Iago, Emilia and Roderigo. Shakespeare uses the story of Othello to tell how one person's jealousy can cause jealousy to spread through an entire group, regardless of their social status. Othello and the other characters are very important members of their society and seeing the death of those five members caused by the jealousy of just one person is scary. From the beginning of the story Iago plays on Roderigo's anger at losing Desdemona to Othello for his own personal gain. Iago is extremely aggressive. This will solve two problems at once because successfully convincing Othello that Desdemona is breaking up the marriage will crush him especially since she is with Cassio. Iago then says that since Othello “is of a free and open nature” (1.3.442) he will easily be able to play with Othello's values. Iago is a very intelligent and devious individual who knows how to manipulate people for his own benefit. Iago even begins to play with Othello's open nature by telling him “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster that mocks the flesh on which it feeds” (3.3.195-197). Iago recognizes that jealousy is a terrible human emotion that will eat a man from the inside and lead to his downfall. Iago also believes that his revenge is not motivated by jealousy when in reality it is jealousy that he warns Othello to avoid. Even when Othello is consumed by jealousy, he denies it, saying, “Why, why is this? Do you think I would lead a life of jealousy, to still follow the changes of the moon with new suspicions? No. Once in doubt is once to be resolved. Exchange me for a goat, when I will turn the affairs of my soul to such absurd and unfounded conjectures, which correspond to your deduction. It's not to force me