A common theme throughout love poems and novels is jealousy and deceit. The likes of William Shakespeare, Carol Ann Duffy and Robert Browning personify jealousy as a "monster" which "turns the hairs" on a person's head to "filthy snakes". By using complex extended metaphors and vivid imagery the authors and poets have allowed us as the audience to begin to see jealousy as a physical being rather than just a feeling in a person's head; this creates an encapsulating text which leaves us stunned at the power of a mere feeling.
             Jealousy is used in both 'Othello' and 'Medusa' as a means of turning a normal and sometimes noble human being into a "monster" or "Gorgon". In Shakespeare's 'Othello' a once happy and prosperous relationship between Othello and Desdemona takes a bloody end due to the destructive powers of jealousy. In Act 3 Scene 3 Line 165-167 Shakespeare describes jealousy as "the green-eyed monster, which doth mock. The meat it feeds on." The use of feed on to describe jealousy suggests that it is a force that consumes the body until the body is no longer there. Similar connotations can also be found in Carol Ann Duffy's 'Medusa': jealousy is described as "growing" in Medusa's head and turning her hair into "filthy snakes". Shakespeare and Duffy's use of "feed" and "grow" to define jealousy suggests that if one is 'attacked' per say by this jealousy "monster" then they will be overwhelmed and be unable to get rid of it.
             In all three texts jealousy leads the main character to commit acts of murder which they would not have otherwise done. In Carol Ann Duffy's 'Medusa', every living being is turned to stone if they are to look at her eyes, suggesting that they are killed and that now the jealousy in Medusa is such th...