Dictionaries from Merriam-Webster to the Oxford English commonly give the description of Envy to be one with malicious, negative intent. Similar to Ayn Rand and George Orwell in their decrying of the impulse but only in definition. Formally the combined definition of the emotional state would be an individual who is aware of an advantage enjoyed and possessed by an external entity which they desire but do not possess, and have issue in seeing how to go about attaining what is desired.
“…as soon as a powerful foreigner invades a country all the weaker powers give him their support, moved by envy of the power which has so far dominated them”—Niccoló Machiavelli, The Prince
Use of the word Envy in this is notable. Envy for the power dominating; as Machiavelli explains in the text, of those beings in the society being invaded who live in fear of it. Motivated by envy for said power in the home nation, upon presentation with the option to flip the script for a taste of the flavor. “Every woman loves a Fascist,” so to say. With that however, such is still an ill willed position— Sonderkommandos died as well even if among the last.
“What happens is that men willingly change their ruler, expecting to fare better. This expectation induces them to take up arms against him; but they only deceive themselves, and they learn from experience that they have made matters worse. This follows another common and natural necessity: a prince is always compelled to injure those who have made him the new ruler; subjecting them to the troops and imposing endless other hardships which his new conquest entails. As a result you are opposed by all those you have injured in occupying the principality, and you cannot keep the friendship of those who have put you there; you cannot satisfy them in the way they had taken for granted, yet you cannot use strong medicine on them, as you are in their debt.”
Niccoló noted prior. The grass is always greener and who appears to be savior is fraud. Like the Sith rule of two: in the envious lust to attain power beyond most understanding, it is its own pitfall. Master gets slain by apprentice. Rinse and repeat. Going with the Oxford Dictionary delegation of the word, describing, “a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone’s possessions, qualities, or luck.”
Characterizing the pitfalls of pure, excessive Envy without the intent of turning it into ambition dates back to Greek legend. Poetically personifying Envy as an Entity in his Metamorphoses, Plubius Ovidius Naso detailed her use; sought out by Minerva to instill her ill upon Aglauros of Athens over her sister, Herse, having caught the eye of Mercury; who wished to produce an offspring with her.
“…and there inside she saw Envy, consuming the flesh of vipers,The food for her natural venom…[…]That face is constantly pallid; her body is totally shrivelled; her eyes are both at squint while her teeth are decayedand discolored;her nipples are green with gall and the poison drips fromher tongue.She never smiles except when excited by watching pain,nor can she sleep, there are so many torments to keep herawake;wasting away; she is gnawed herself, as she gnaws ather victims,by torture that’s self-inflicted…”
Filled by this spirit with its mental malaise, Aglauros attempted to prevent Hermes entrance with the previously agreed upon bargain for the betrothal of her sister, she is seized by her own sluggish inertia:
“And like the malignant spread of a sadly incurablecancer,creeping on to affect other perfectly healthy organs, little by little the deadly chill crept into Aglauros’ breast, and finally blocked the vital paths of herbreathing[…]She simply sat there, a lifeless statue; the stone was not even white, but stained by her own black envy.”
Envy, ideally, invites ambition, then proceeds to do away with that envy. Envy presupposes ambition, but only so far as to attain it; alone and in excess it’s a poison, as with anything. Alone and unending Envy is merely vicarious, rather than ambitious. Leech, not primrose peach.
Commonly Envy is used in conjunction and synonymously with Jealousy. Envy goes with Jealousy synonymously but not vice versa. Difference being that jealousy regards desire already within ones grasps— greed with envy and a bit of a flimsy ego; while envy is a a longing for the attainment of desired ambition in regards to such a possession. Like John Flory in Burmese Days for a late life he never lead; or Patrick Bateman’s psychotic state in longing to fit in.
The failure in such Envy is an attempt at assimilation; when the motivation it could have towards ambition would probably be better put to adaptation. Though, as the example of both Flory and Bateman show, such is Neurotic in its own right regardless of it an envy for assimilation or adaptation.
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