Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.”
- Source
- Othello
- Date
- c. 1603
- Local voice
- Fictional character · Iago
Meaning of “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is…”
Jealousy is described as self-consuming because it feeds on suspicion while tormenting the person who carries it.
Where does it come from?
Othello, Act III, Scene III, reviewed against the scan-backed First Folio facsimile. Iago's green-eyed-monster image is manipulative fictional dialogue used while cultivating Othello's jealousy; it is not Shakespeare's direct psychological diagnosis or clinical evidence.
Why the local voice matters
Iago speaks to Othello in Othello, Act 3, Scene 3; the advice comes from a manipulative character.
