THIRTY-SECOND SITUATION, MISTAKEN JEALOUSY

(The Jealous One; The Object of Whose Possession He Is Jealous; the Supposed Accomplice ; the Cause or the Author of the Mistake)

The last element is either not personified (A), or personified in a traitor (B), who is sometimes the true rival of the Jealous One (C).

A (1)—The Mistake Originates in the Suspicious Mind of the Jealous One:—"The Worst is not Always Certain" by Calaeron; Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors"; "The Bondman" by Massinger; the "Marianne" of Dolse and of Tristan l'Hermite; "Tancrede" and "Marianne" by Voltaire; "la Princesse de Bagdad" by Dumas; "Un Divorce" (Moreau, 1884); "Monna Vanna" (Maeterlinck, 1902). How is it that Moliere has not written a comedy of jealousy, upon this Situation symmetrical to that of "L'Avare" ?

(2)—Mistaken Jealousy Aroused by a Fatal Chance: —Voltaire's "Zaire" and the opera of that name by de la Nux; part of "Lucrece Borgia." In comedy: "La Divorcee" (Fall and Leon, 1911).

(3)—Mistaken Jealousy of a Love Which is Purely Platonic:—"Love's Sacrifice" by Ford (in which the wife is unjustly suspected) "L'Esclave due Sevoin" (Valnay, 1881, in which it is more particularly the respectful admirer who is wrongly suspected). Of a Flirt:—"Suzette" (Brieux, 1908); "Four Times Seven are Twenty-Eight" (Coolus, 1909).

(4)—Baseless Jeasousy Aroused by Malicious Rumors:—"Le Pere Prodigue" by Dumas; "le Maitre de Forges" (Ohnet, 1883).

B (1)—Jealousy Suggested by a Traitor Who is Moved by Hatred:—Shakespeare's "Othello" and "Much Ado about Nothing"; "Semiramide Riconosciuta" by Metastasio presents the fully developed denouement of it.

(2)—The Same Case, in Which the Traitor is Moved by Self-interest:—Shakespeare's "Cymbeline"; "La Fille du Roi d'Espagne" (Miracle of Notre-Dame, XIV Century).

(3)—The Same Case, in Which the Traitor is Moved by Jealousy and Self-Interest:—"Love and Intrigue" by Schiller.

C (1)—Reciprocal Jealousy Suggested to Husband and Wife by a Rival:—"The Portrait" by Massinger.

(2)—Jealousy Suggested to the Husband by a Dismissed Suitor:—Voltaire's "Artemire"; "Le Chevalier Jean" (Joncieres, 1885).

(3)—Jealousy Suggested to the Husband by a Woman Who is in Love With Him:—"Malheur aux Pauvres" (Bouvier, 1881).

(4)—Jealously Suggested to the Wife by a Scorned Rival:—"The Phtiotides" of Sophocles.

(5)—Jealousy Suggested to a Happy Lover by the Deceived Husband:—"Jalousie" (Vacquerie, 1888).

The number of dramatic elements brought into play already enables us to foresee many combinations for this Situation, whose improbabilities the public is always disposed to accept, however great they may be. Without abusing this indulgence, we may remark, even at first glance, that almost all the dramas above cited treat of jealousy on the part of a man, whereas experience teaches us that woman is quite as ready as man to let herself be misled by the envious, by a rival, or by a suitor bent upon securing for himself, through the anger aroused, a pleasure otherwise out of his reach. Transference to the feminine of the cases already considered will thus furnish a series of new situations. Besides pride, self-interest, love, spite and rivalry, many other motives present themselves for the traitor or traitress; the motives mentioned may also be painted in colors yet unused. The denouement (usually a murder, in some cases a suicide, in others a divorce) may be varied, subtilized or strengthened by secondary and instrumental characters. The same may >b» said for the various knots of the intrigue, for those false proofs, those diabolic suggestions from which the jealousy springs.

Under the form of "jealous spite" this situation has been used by Moliere and other writers of comedy for the purpose of filling in—through the agitations it causes the principal lovers—the vacancies of the picture with minor characters.

comments

Example: Othello.

Mistakes of judgment are one of the patterns that occur in stories that echo our daily lives. When we make assumptions and miss important facts, we can easily make decisions that turn out to be tragically wrong.

We can easily become jealous, which makes this a trigger that others can set off in us when they seek to manipulate us for other ends.

Seeing these mistakes played out in stories both horrifies us as we see injustice done and perhaps makes us feel guilt for the wrongs we have done. It also reminds us to take care before jumping to decisions.

Note that defensive jealousy and desiring envy are often confused, with the 'jealousy' being used to mean the 'envy'. This has fallen into common parlance but needs careful differentiation