Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello” is a truly timeless piece that can be applied to many works or historical events today. Not only can it apply to literature, but it can apply to entertainment as well. One of the biggest themes in Othello is that jealousy is a powerful, often destructive force. This timeless theme applies to two pieces of work. As a whole, A Separate Peace by John Knowles deals with a teenager’s jealousy that eventually leads to his best friend’s death. “Black Cat” by Mayday Parade is a song about jealousy causing destruction. The three works have the timeless theme of jealousy that ends with a destructive, tragic event.
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| Violent, yet the consequence of jealousy |
The novel A Separate Peace is a more modern, classic work involving jealousy and a tragic ending. Gene, the narrator, prefaces the theme, “I couldn’t help envying him a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying your best friend a little” (Knowles 25). The last line, however, is ironic in the fact that Gene’s jealousy might have caused Finny’s death (the best friend). Jealousy in A Separate Peace is much like it is in “Othello”. It builds inside a character and creates a devastating end. Othello kills Desdemona out of the suspicion and jealousy that dwells inside him over the course of the play (V.ii.95). The death of the two people who were closest to the protagonists, Othello and Gene, ended up dead because of the destructive force of jealousy. John Knowles’ novel is a parallel to Shakespeare’s classic tragedy when it comes to the theme of jealousy.
A novel or play is not the only piece of work that uses jealousy as a destructive force. Mayday Parade, a popular band today, created a song five years ago that had a central theme of jealousy. The jealousy is in the lyrics, “It’s not your part but all your fault, and this jealous actress has a habit of making things sound way too tragic” (Mayday Parade). Iago exaggerates and lies about Desdemona’s disloyalty, which makes her sound exceedingly more dishonest than she really is. Jealous Othello makes his life sound way more tragic than it is in reality. Much like in the song, the jealousy causes the characters to overreact to suspicion. By making things seem more tragic than they really are, it leads to the death of innocent characters. Although no one dies in the song, the harsh tone and diction of the lyrics suggest destruction because of the jealousy—much like in the two works of fiction.
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| The source of all destruction |
Not only do the three works all have tragedy, they are caused by the green-eyed monster of jealousy. In most works of fiction, nonfiction, and in real-life events, jealousy does not have a happy ending. Jealousy is destructive, and ends in the death of the two protagonists of the fiction works. Although the plots of “Othello”, A Separate Peace, and “Black Cat” are different, the end is the same—tragic destruction. Jealousy is timeless and around today, and often still ends in this same destruction.
Works Cited
Knowles, John. A Separate Peace; a Novel. New York: Macmillan, 1960. Print.
Mayday Parade. "Black Cat." Rec. 10 July 2001. A Lesson in Romantics. Fearless
Records, 2007. MP3.
Worth. Harcourt College
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