Green-eyed Monster: Guarding the gates of love



Jealousy and Flirtation (by Haynes King)

Somewhat like Cerberus, the three-headed (at least) hound from Hades, the Green-eyed Monster (Jealousy) is said by some to be guarding the gates of love.

Jealousy has been a mysterious “monster” for a long long time.  Why if it weren’t for Shakespeare, we might not even know about the green-eyed part.  A dialogue between Iago and his master Othello in Othello, Act 3 goes like this:  “Iago – O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;  It is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on...  what damned minutes tells he o’er who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!  Othello: O misery!” 

Portia from The Merchant of Venice also refers to “green-eyed jealousy.”  It was thought back in Elizabethan times that emotions had their corresponding colors and bodily fluids (“humors”).  Enotes.com tells us that the color green was paired with both jealousy and envy - possibly because it was also associated with bile.

Modern-day theories about jealousy continue to abound.  In her article, The Evolution of Jealousy, Christine R. Harris states:  “In various studies, jealousy is often ranked among the top three motives for nonaccidental homicides where motive is known…”  Needless to say, it has “captured the attention of psychologists, who have used a variety of theoretical approaches in their pursuit of scientific understanding.”  She reports in 2004:  “For some years now, a small but persistent group of investigators has attempted to uncover the nature and origin of this painful and dangerous counterpart of romantic love.”

Just the other day, Live Science reported on a study which focuses upon the ravages of jealousy to “innocent third parties.”  Study researcher Jon Maner, a Florida State University psychologist, explains:  “Love, arguably the most positive of human emotions, also comes with a dark side.”  His team studied 130 people in long-term relationships and found that “to protect their own commitment to their partner, people would lash out at potential threats.” 

Potential, mind you…  All it would often take was the possibility of an attractive, available third party to be lurking in the wings – and the Green-eyed Monster was already growling…         

Resources

http://www.livescience.com/18194-love-dark-side-jealousy.html

http://www.theoi.com/Ther/KuonKerberos.html

http://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/o-beware-my-lord-jealousy

http://www.bec.ucla.edu/papers/Harris_4-26-04.pdf

Copyright February 13, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved