Othello 4

"That the slave had forty thousand lives! One is too poor, too weak for my revenge"(Shakespeare 3.3 339-340).

As the monster that is jealousy is slowing corrupting Othello's judgement, his statements and decisions lessen in rationality. In this scene, he is vowing to punish Cassio so well, that even forty thousand lifetimes would not be enough to save him. Little does Othello realize, he is acting upon nothing more than a figment of his imagination. His own insecurities, mixed with emotion, and Iago's ever precise way of manipulating the trusting people around him, doom Othello to this jealous fate from the start. Cassio may be physically "too poor, too weak"(3.3 339), but Othello too is poor and weak, but in an emotional way. He is allowing his feelings to cloud his judgement, only stumbling further into Iago's trap.