For the theater-going people of the Elizabethan age, there were many hardships. Many of them experienced poor living conditions and treatment. All of them faced the dangers of a comparatively underdeveloped medical knowledge which often left the young and elderly to die of common diseases. The magic of Shakespeare is not only that historians can learn of otherwise undocumented details of the 1500's, but also that all readers can discover the many similarities between Shakespeare's day and now. These similarities reside heavily not only in speech, but also the human condition. When compared with the people we know today, Shakespeare's characters exhibit only skin-deep differences. Some identical language expressions may owe their modern existance to Shakespeare's presence in literary education, but identical emotional reactions surely cannot stem solely from the lecture hall. The English inhabitants of the 16th century, as seen through William Shakespeare's eyes, experienced the same love, hate, and jealousy that we do today. Just as our modern films and music often include implied moral lessons, so too does Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Othello the Moor of Venice. All its primary characters and themes of unstable love and exploitation culminate into one simple message about the key importance of loving oneself.

Iago, the villian of the tale, is responsible for initiating most of the turbulence found in the plot. Essentially, Iago chooses two insecure individuals on which to work his exploitation: Roderigo and Othello. Othello, arguably the main character of the play, is Iago's primary pawn. Roderigo becomes a secondary card in Iago's deck, as well as his source of money. Blinded by his love for Desdemona, Roderigo makes a nearly ideal target for Iago's manipulation. It is not only this love, however, which makes him such a prime target. Were it not for Roderigo's insecurity, Iago might never have managed to use him to such an extreme extent. Iago is initially tipped off to Roderigo's weakness when he witnesses his despair following the public announcement of Desdemona's marriage to Othello. Roderigo tells Iago, "I will incontinently drown myself" (1.3.305). "It is silliness to live when to live is tornment" (1.3.308). Abraham Maslow, an experienced psychologist, announced in the early 70's his theory of a "hierarchy of needs" (Myers, 426). This hierarchy states that humans are generally predestined to chronologically follow a set of five different requirements. From first to last, they are: physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, and finally self-actualization needs. Myers states that humans will reach for higher needs "only if" (426) the lower ones have been met. Upon hearing Roderigo threaten suicide after a failed romance attempt, Iago saw an individual who had just recently begun to sense the need for love, and was nowhere near a stable level of self esteem. In this sense, Iago could be considered a metaphor for all treachery in the world--the evil forces working against the human spirit every day in the 1500's as well as the 21st century. After falling prey to this evil force, Roderigo is finally blindly led into a swordfight and is fatally stabbed by Iago himself. Already in this fairly secondary plot event, we begin to see a strong message to the audience warning against not having faith in oneself. To further strengthen his grip on his environment, Iago forms an even stronger hold on Othello.

Othello's circumstances provide for an even more compromised level of self- esteem. Due to his skin color, Othello continues to face racism and opposition even from within his group of friends despite his military status and untarnished reputation as a companion. Some who have researched Othello's ego have even gone as far as to conclude that the stress he faces is enough to warrant consideration that he might be sexually impotent. Timothy William Dolezal writes, "According to the description of impotency, the anxiety and stress produced by the pressure of Othello's military commission, combined with the classification as 'undesirable,' could be the cause Othello's impotence". Dolezal cites several authoritative sources on impotency and points out that the factors which may contribute to it are heavily present in Othello's life. This is a very important factor to contemplate when judging Othello's state of mind. More often than not, he is referred to as the "Moor"-- a habit not unlike the infamous history of African-Americans being called "niggers." This constant reference to his origin as a foreigner has forced Othello to cope with a faltering confidence all his life. To worsen the situation, Othello must learn to handle himself in what might be his first romantic relationship. Othello's social friction combined with the natural uncertainties of love cause him to question himself and all that he has accomplished. Once again, Iago has found a prime target. By merely planting seeds of doubt in Othello, Iago is able to send the warrior into a mad chase after a prejudged truth. In act three scene three, Iago speaks to Othello: "Look to your wife; observe her well with Cassio; Wear your eye thus, not jealous nor secure" (3.3.197-98). When Othello resists this suggestion, Iago cleverly responds, "Long live she so! and long live you to think so!" (3.3.226). After Iago leaves, his suggestive words immediately take effect on Othello's imagination, and he says to himself, "[Iago] Sees and knows more, much more, than he unfolds" (3.3.243). Were it not for his lack of self-confidence, Othello might well have approached his issue with the rational logic he learned on the battlefield. He is so blinded by his insecurity, in fact, that he refuses to believe in Desdemona's innocence even after Emilia has sworn her to be "the sweetest innocent That e'er did lift up eye" (5.2.200-01). Othello, clinging desperately to a self-confidence which is no longer there, indignantly replies, "O, she was foul!" (5.2.202). The tragic conclusion to Othello's marriage to Desdemona is Shakespeare's strongest warning about Othello's inferiority complex. Ironically, it was Iago who cautioned Othello, "O beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on" (3.3.165-67). One sees there that Iago was so confident in his trickery that he essentially told Othello exactly how he plans to destroy him. With an equal lack of concern for the weaknesses of his manipulations, Iago also uses his wife Emilia as a tool in his scheme.

Regardless of social connection, Iago's wrath falls upon all whom he finds manipulable. Shakespeare does not describe exactly how Iago takes control over his wife Emilia, and this may be a hint that he had already obtained it long ago before the time in which the play is set. This detail could also be construed as indicating that Iago is in fact a representation of a continuously present negative force. Shakespeare does not directly mention the moment when Iago asked his wife to retreive Desdemona's handkerchief, but he does hint toward the level of blind dedication to Iago when she finds it: "This was [Desdemona's] first remembrance from the Moor. My wayward husband hath a hundred times Wooed me to steal it; but she so loves the token...I nothing but to please his fantasy" (3.3.291-93). Immediately after this mention, Emilia finds an opportunity to pass the handkerchief off to Iago. "I have a thing for you", she entices Iago (301). "You have a thing for me?" he responds, "It is a common thing...To have a foolish wife" (302-04). Unphased by this demeaning response, Emilia simply goes on to give Iago the stolen handkerchief. Normally one would expect Emilia to show a more intense reaction to such a comment, but her silence strengthens the theory that Shakespeare is presenting her as a model of what becomes of people who succumb to forces in life such as the ones brought forth by Iago.

Shakespeare's emphasis on this theme of self-confidence may have been a contributing factor toward the popularity of the play. Many of the threatre-going folk of the 1500's may have viewed the theme as encouragement to start fighting back against any sort of hardships such as financial difficulties or emotional manipulation just like that exercised against Othello and Desdemona. Even today, similar messages about self empowerment are widely seen in popular novels, films, and television programs. Contemporary examples include Harry Potter, "28 Days", "Sesame Street", and many others. One can almost imagine an unwealthy villager emerging from lengthy stay in a packed theatre making a firm resolve to finally regain the strength to sever ties to an untrustworthy and treacherous acquaintance.