One starting place for a comparison between Othello and The Great Gatsby is the mutual theme of corruption. In Othello, Iago is the villain who corrupts perceptions of reality so that realities are hidden under a cloak of appearances. As Iago says of himself, "I am not what I am," he therefore embodies the corruption of reality and the resultant corruption of action, as Othello's actions prove.
In Gatsby, wealth and privilege corrupt behavior, which in turn corrupts reality in a reverse order of the corruption in Othello, in which reality is first corrupted then behavior follows. In Gatsby the wealthy believe they can--and do--act with impunity in ways that are devoid of any moral base of value or restraint.
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