Jealousy In A Midsummer Night's Dream

“O, beware my lord, of Jealousy; It is the green-ey’d monster, which doth mock, The meat feeds on.” (William Shakespeare, Othello) Jealousy is the green-ey’d monster in A Midsummer Night's Dream, where in the play, it contained a mess of chaos and mishaps between three main sets of characters, the monster being a lesson of the story, a lesson to avoid it. The mechanicals, who were writing a play, the fairies, who were causing mishaps in the human world, and the Athenians, who were running amok in the woods full of odd love. In the woods is where much chaos ensues including a love potion being used on many causing the wrong lovers to fall in love with the wrong people. Throughout the play, there is Jealousy always behind everything, being the

Such as when Helena makes plans to betray her best friend because of the jealousy that runs through her. Helena plots to herself, saying, “Through Athens I am thought as fair as she./ But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so…I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight./ Pursue her. And for this Intelligence./ If I have thanks, it is a dear expense./ But herein mean I to enrich my pain,/ To have his sight slither back again.” (1.1.232-257) In her plotting, she shows jealousy in her feelings towards Hermia and Demetrius. This envy caused a devious plan to happen that affected the whole play. In her telling Demetrius it caused a pursuit in the woods, and with that, all the chaos in the rest of the story ensued proving that jealousy causes the main conflicts of the story.. Later, when Lysander gets the love potion in his eyes, he falls in love with Helena instead of Hermia. When Hermia finds him, so rude and unkind, she becomes jealous of his sudden love for Helena. She says to Helena “O me!/ You juggler, you cankerblossom,/ You thief of love!/ What, have you come by night/ And stol’n my love’s heart from him?” This proves that the jealousy with Helana and what was happening with Lysander caused drama and insults to be thrown around. Thus,