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Romantic jealousy: Causes, symptoms, cures. By Ayala Malach Pines. New York : Routledge. 1998. Pp. xii +303. ,E12.99. ISBN : 0 415 92010 8.
Jealousy is an almost universal emotion experienced by individuals across different cultures and settings at different times for different reasons. A little jealousy is said to be good to spice up the relationship but too much of it may be termed as a paranoid clinical state. Envy may be said to occur when a person lacks what another has and either desires it or wishes that the other did not have it. Jealousy on the other hand is the fear that person experiences when faced with the likelihood of losing a loved object.
It is fitting that the first chapter of this book starts with a quotation from Othello describing jealousy as a green-eyed monster. Romantic jealousy evokes a variety of images, explanations and definitions. We know that it is a complex emotion and is generally triggered by a perceived threat to the relationship. The predisposition to jealousy according to Pines is...