Of Envy
by
Francis Bacon
(Summary)
The essay is of the great psychological value.
It is practical essay which provides much information about the motives behind
the feeling of jealousy and the ways in which one may save oneself from other
people's envy. Bacon has analyzed in detail the most common feelings of
mankind. Bacon throws light on the human feelings like envy and jealousy. He
expresses the view that a man in love or who is jealous of another can deeply
influence. In this essay, the word 'envy' is used in the sense of 'jealous'. If
'envy' is used to mean 'the spirit of emulation' it is not a bad feeling; but
jealousy is certainly a bad feeling which has destructive effects upon both
those who feel it and those who are its objects. The envious man may wish to equal
the achievement of the man whom he envies, but the jealous man wants to do damage
to the man of whom he is jealous.
At
the beginning of the essay, Bacon states one of his beliefs, namely that the feeling
of love and envy show themselves in the eyes of the person who experiences these
feelings, and that when these feelings do appear in the eyes of the person who experiences
them, they will deeply affect of these feeling, especially if the objects of these
feelings are present before the person in whose eyes the feelings of love and envy
have appeared. But this belief is somewhat abstruse and may not be understood by
most persons. Bacon also proceeds to tell us what kind of persons feel jealous
of others, what kind of persons become the objects of jealousy, and what is the
difference between public jealousy and private jealousy. Envy is depicted as an
unworthy passion. No envy is felt by people when a man possessing high merit or
virtue gains promotion and advancement in life.
Envy
or jealousy is one of the common weaknesses of human life and everyone experiences
it. Some people begin to feel obsessed by this feeling. Perhaps the most significant
aspect of this feeling is stated at the end of the essay by Bacon. He tells us
that, of all the feelings, envy is the most pressing and continual which makes
a man pine or languish. For him, envy is a morbid feeling.
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