Shakespeare really likes to emphasize the idea that despite outward appearances, men are jealous creatures at heart. Just look back to the plays we have read; Hamlet, Othello, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and now a Winter’s Tale. All of these works have some kind of jealous man (In some cases women) that bases their emotions on trivial thoughts and actions. For example, Othello was portrayed as a well respected, level-headed, soldier, but all it took was a few preposterous rumors to get him to kill his own wife. In a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Demetrius became jealous because Hermia loved Lysander, and not him. In Hamlet, the main character seemingly became jealous that his mother’s attention was being turned toward someone other than him. We just barely got into our most recent reading, and already we have a jealous king ready to assassinate his best friend, for reasons that he made up in his own head!
Othello is a prime example of how a man’s envy can produce catastrophic results. He was portrayed as the “man of the hour”, and held a great deal of authority and admiration. He treated his friends extremely well, especially one of his closest companions, Cassio. It seems preposterous that such man can be prompted to commit murder due to baseless assumptions. As much as Othello loved Cassio, I have to believe that he loved Iago just a little bit more in order for him to have committed the atrocities he did. Iago was the one that told Othello all of the false rumors in the first place. He even planted the handkerchief evidence (Weak evidence at that). If Othello truly believed Cassio to be as good a person as he described, why didn’t he simply just talk to him about what he had heard? His jealousy over Desdemona’s affection, especially when she vouched for his promotion, made cause him to not think rationally. His jealousy turned into the war-like rage he was accustomed to. One could even say that Iago was jealous of Othello’s position, and wanted it for himself. At the same time, no one ever knows what Iago’s motives were, and one could argue that he was just simply an evil guy.
It is interesting how Shakespeare took this male jealousy, and exemplified it in the character of Helena. During his time period (and even today, depending on who you ask) it was not considered “normal” behavior for a woman to chase after a man, and proclaim their love. “Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase; / the dove pursues the griffin; the mild hind / Makes speed to catch the tiger” (2.1, 131). Even in this quote, Helena talked about herself as if she believed that although she has a lower status as a woman, she had the same tenacity/persistence as a man. You add this characteristic on top of the fact that the man she loved was interested in her best friend, and you have a jealousy cocktail. You could see from Helena’s first conversation with Hermia that she was jealous of all the attention she was getting (Mainly by Demetrius). “None, but your beauty; would that fault were mine” (1.1, 201)!  She wished she was in Hermia’s shoes so to speak. When all the chaos broke out with the love potions, it was ridiculous that Helena didn’t take her “best friends” side when Hermia tried to tell her she had nothing to do with the men’s behavior. Helena even flung insults at her! “O, when she’s angry, she is keen and shrewd. / She was a vixen when she went to school” (3.3, 323). I believe her anger was in part due to the jealousy she harbored over the affection of Demetrius.