There is no doubt that green eyes are special. Whether natural or the result of wearing Green contact lenses, green eyes are mysterious, enchanting, very rare, and very beautiful.
Green eyes do, however, also conjure up the idea of jealousy, also termed the "green eyed monster". Where did this phrase and association come from?
As far as we can tell, the term was coined by none other than William Shakespeare (though it's very likely that the term was used well before Shakespeare's first recorded usage of it). His play "The Merchant of Venice" has a reference to "green-eyed jealousy", and in "Othello" he refers to cats as green eyed monsters that torment their prey before the kill. In this play, there is also a reference to this monster, as the jealousy that the character, Iago, encourages in Othello just for fun, by making him thinks his wife Desdemona is unfaithful. Finally, in "Anthony and Cleopatra", Shakespeare described jealousy as "the green sickness".
Chaucer, long before even Shakespeare, referred to characters being "green with envy". And in the 1800s, Mark Twain wrote of characters being green with envy also. (Perhaps the Wicked Witch in 1939's Wizard of Oz was green due to her jealousy towards Dorothy? And the eyes of the animated Evil Queen in Snow White, and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty were green – coincidence? I think not).
But why green eyes?
There are a few possibilities.
Green is a hue associated with illness and unripe foods. If somebody is feeling unwell, we say they are "feeling green". The use of the colour green to indicate sickness dates back to at least as far as the Ancient Greeks; a person who was sickly was described as being "pale" or "green". The Greeks believed that if one was feeling jealous or unwell (often as a result of jealousy), the body produced too much bile, turning one's skin green. The poet Sappho, in the seventh century BCE, described a forlorn lover as being green.
Englishmen during the Renaissance frequently paired colours with personal qualities and emotions. Green and yellow were symbolic of jealousy, and green was strongly associated with envy. Green, along with black, was also the hue attributed with the bodily fluid bile.
Jealousy is one of humanity's most common and most negative emotions. While envy relates to wanting what another has, jealousy relates to the fear that something one has will be taken away by another – usually the affections of a lover or a friend.
The concept of the green eyed monster endures today. A person acting out of character due to envy or jealousy is said to be overwhelmed by the green eyed monster.
Fortunately, not all green eyed connotations are negative. Green eyes are also seen as mysterious, magical, enchanting, and are perhaps the most coveted eye colour by people who value green eyes for these qualities. And with green contact lenses, having this rare hue is easy!
Green eyes do, however, also conjure up the idea of jealousy, also termed the "green eyed monster". Where did this phrase and association come from?
As far as we can tell, the term was coined by none other than William Shakespeare (though it's very likely that the term was used well before Shakespeare's first recorded usage of it). His play "The Merchant of Venice" has a reference to "green-eyed jealousy", and in "Othello" he refers to cats as green eyed monsters that torment their prey before the kill. In this play, there is also a reference to this monster, as the jealousy that the character, Iago, encourages in Othello just for fun, by making him thinks his wife Desdemona is unfaithful. Finally, in "Anthony and Cleopatra", Shakespeare described jealousy as "the green sickness".
Chaucer, long before even Shakespeare, referred to characters being "green with envy". And in the 1800s, Mark Twain wrote of characters being green with envy also. (Perhaps the Wicked Witch in 1939's Wizard of Oz was green due to her jealousy towards Dorothy? And the eyes of the animated Evil Queen in Snow White, and Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty were green – coincidence? I think not).
But why green eyes?
There are a few possibilities.
Green is a hue associated with illness and unripe foods. If somebody is feeling unwell, we say they are "feeling green". The use of the colour green to indicate sickness dates back to at least as far as the Ancient Greeks; a person who was sickly was described as being "pale" or "green". The Greeks believed that if one was feeling jealous or unwell (often as a result of jealousy), the body produced too much bile, turning one's skin green. The poet Sappho, in the seventh century BCE, described a forlorn lover as being green.
Englishmen during the Renaissance frequently paired colours with personal qualities and emotions. Green and yellow were symbolic of jealousy, and green was strongly associated with envy. Green, along with black, was also the hue attributed with the bodily fluid bile.
Jealousy is one of humanity's most common and most negative emotions. While envy relates to wanting what another has, jealousy relates to the fear that something one has will be taken away by another – usually the affections of a lover or a friend.
The concept of the green eyed monster endures today. A person acting out of character due to envy or jealousy is said to be overwhelmed by the green eyed monster.
Fortunately, not all green eyed connotations are negative. Green eyes are also seen as mysterious, magical, enchanting, and are perhaps the most coveted eye colour by people who value green eyes for these qualities. And with green contact lenses, having this rare hue is easy!