The Motive of Revenge

The motive of revenge is present in many of Cassio's actions. His revenge is primarily directed towards Othello, as he and Othello are not on good terms because Othello promoted Cassio instaed of himself to the level of Lieutenant. This idea of revenge is also present in his second soliloquy. Here he concocts his master plan to get even with Othello for allegedly sleeping with his wife. His plan involves pouring "pestilence into [Othello's] ears" (Shakespeare 58). To make Othello jealous, he has decided to turn the "virtue" of Desdemona into "pitch" (Shakespeare 58). The anger Cassion feels as a result of Othello reluctance to put him in a position of authority is similar to the feeling many college seniors feel when they don't get offered a job. Unlike Cassio, real moral people rarely concoct devilish plans to get revenge with their prospective employers. Times have changed, instead of fighting, most people today tend to use rejection as a motivator to try harder and do a better job the next go around. With the increases in societal civilty over time, people have shifted their instincts from revenge to trial and error.