While Othello was minding his own business, Iago, a greedy and selfish man, secretly plotted behind his back because he wanted to be lieutenant in Cassio's place. This shows one of the most important themes of Othello. Jealousy is definitely clearly shown as one of the major problems faced throughout Othello's story. Iago's greed led him to convince Othello to do evil. Othello was not the bad man; Iago was. Othello was just a puppet, but still a good man. Whether or not he was a good man can be answered by the way he is asked, how he treated people, and the bonds he was attached to. Is Othello a good man? This question can be answered differently depending on different circumstances. If the question is asked whether or not Othello has done bad things? Yes, but he had a right reason behind his actions. Was he doing bad things in his mind? No, to be a bad man, man would have to do evil on purpose, to make evil count as right. However, Othello's behaviors were influenced by a man who was not a good man and convinced him that he was doing the right thing. All the while, however, Othello had absolutely no idea that he was being lied to. What he did in response to these lies was right for him. However, since the lies were wrong, his actions were also wrong. Othello, however, had a good purpose. His end goal was good. So Othello is a good man. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Some might argue that he is a bad man because of the way he treated people. He slapped Desdemona, he thinks too highly of himself, some might even not like him because of his race, which is another important theme in the story. He is called a Moor throughout the story. Considering the time period in which this play was written, I personally believe that those actions are not wrong either. Othello may have killed his true love, but since it was not his intention to kill someone who loved him, he was not wrong. In his mind he was doing the right thing, because he was sure that Desdemona no longer loved him. He was just a simple puppet in the strings of a bad man. He wasn't the bad man himself. In the story, Othello is a noble character full of adventurous stories, which is why the beautiful Desdemona falls in love with him. He acts on things as he sees fit. Iago, his faithful friend, if you will, manipulates the people around the moor to make it seem like his true love has fallen in love with another man, Cassio. Because of Iago's jealousy of Cassio, he plots to have him fired and take his job as Othello's right-hand man. He finally sets up a scene where Cassio talks about Bianca and Othello overhears him, thinking he is talking about Desdemona. This shows him that his one true love no longer loves him and loves Cassio. In conclusion, Iago convinces Othello that the only thing to do is to kill Desdemona and Cassio for playing with his heart. They do so and in the end, Iago's wife shows Iago's lying betrayal and reveals the truth. Othello then realizes what he had done and kills himself. I personally think that if a man would kill himself for his love, he has a good heart. Othello is a good man who has been manipulated with puppet strings.