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Polixenes(1.2.182)and their kiss-like behavior that(actually they are just laughing at some jests)convinces Leontes of his being cuckolded.All of their behaviors are signs of their disloyalty and betrayal in jealous Leontes’eyes.Leontes’concept of jealousy will be realized through his revengeful maps.Leontesassumes that Hermione’s successful persuasion is due to their illegitimate love affair aswell as it implies their betrayal,or actually his concept of jealousy is mapped in hisimaginary events of betrayal.

Chapter TwoThematic Equivalence of Jealousy in Othello and TheWinter’s Tale

A.Seeds in the Bible:Cain’s Tragedy and Joseph’s Brothers’Comedy

The plots of the plays are centered around the jealousy theme,or in a more accurateway,the jealousy motive,the driving force of the plot development.Thus,jealousymatters,and in a topological way the jealous space is necessary to be traced back orforward in other works.Since the western culture is based on Christianity,the biblicalseed of jealousy is found.After classical mythology,the Bible makes up half the bodyof writing materials that Shakespeare employed to construct his sonnets,plays andnarrative poems.It is not surprising that Shakespeare was immersed in a Christianculture with his enormous knowledge of the Scriptures,his amazingly retentive memory,and his richly associative imagination(Curren-Aquino 148).So,there is a metaphoricalchain connecting Othello and The Winter’s Tale.It is interesting to find that the jealousytheme is the chain.Since the two plays develop from the same jealousy seed,why arethey quite different in their plot development and audience response?It is possible thatthe biblical chain of jealousy can explain more about it.

In Genesis,both Cain and Abel are Eve and Adam’s sons as well as brothers of thesame blood.Cain slays Abel because the Lord does not accept his offering but favors Abel’s.That tragic fratricide is caused by Cain’s jealousy.In western culture,it can beacknowledged that such psychological concept of jealousy appears.Cain’s cruel andmonstrous murder as well as Abel’s innocent and tragic death are definitely unbearableand ethically notorious.Of course,Cain also pays the price for his behavior in that he iscursed and driven out from homeland as well as leads a vagrant life.It can be said thatjealous space is mapped into Cain’s brother-murder tragedy.To draw Cain’spsychological events from his psychological life space,Cain’s tradition from theGenesis is well known in later literary works like Cain by George Gordon Byron.Cain’scannibalized murder is a simple plot.And what kind of relationship is it to the tragedyin Othello?Andrew Bernstein gives his answer that“an appropriate thematic title forthis play is The Vengeance of Cain”and“men,not gods,wreak their own destruction inShakespeare’s world”,pointing out that Othello displays execrable judgment ofcharacter of credulity(37-38).That leads to his downfall and that of his innocent wife.

B.Adaptation of Seeds:Giraldi Cinthio’s Tragedy and RobertGreene’s Comedy

“Winter”is a reminder of a season usually associated with suffering,decline anddeath that are the stuff of tragedy(Moncrief 146).The title“The Winter’s Tale”has asymbolic meaning,and the sadness is compacted in the word“winter”as Mamilliussays that“a sad tale’s best for winter”(2.1.25).So,the“sad”tale predicts the oncomingdisaster in winter.This play can be d本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。