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Learn how Shakespeare used the phrase 'green-eyed monster' to describe jealousy in Othello and The Merchant of Venice. Find out the origin, history and examples of this idiomatic expression and its variations.
Learn the meaning and origin of the phrase 'green-eyed monster', which means jealousy, from Shakespeare's plays. Find out how to use it in different contexts and see related expressions.
Iago’s anthropomorphizing of jealousy as a “green-eyed monster” is famous, and his use of the color green stems from a Renaissance belief that green was a “bilious hue,” linked to an imbalance of the humors that caused fear and jealousy. Trifles light as air. Are to the jealous confirmations strong. As proofs of holy writ. (III.iii.)
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How did Shakespeare use the term 'Green-Eyed Monster' in Othello?
What does Green Eyed Monster Mean?
What does a Green Eyed Monster Mean in the Merchant of Venice?
Why is Iago a green eyed monster?
The image of a “green-eyed monster” suggests that jealousy is a sickening force that will overpower and eat away at Othello. This statement can be seen as dramatic irony: the audience knows...
IAGO O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger; But, O,...
The green-eyed monster. Iago: O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-ey'd monster, which doth mock. The meat it feeds on. That cuckold lives in bliss, Who, certain of his...
Jealousy does make people turn into monsters. But that's not quite the whole point of it. In reality, Shakespeare is warning us not to trust anything Iago says. Ever. A few years earlier in The Merchant of Venice, Portia says "green-eyed jealousy" (3.2.110).
