I : LXXXI - LXXXIV When You're Engulfed in the Fire of Jealousy

Mozart's Magic Flute premiered on the 30th of September 1791, two months before the sorrowful early passing of the legendary musical prodigy. "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" (Hell's Vengeance Boils in My Heart), was the Königin der Nacht, or Queen of the Night's second aria. The ultimate archetype of "the lady engulfed in the flame of jealousy". Get a taste of the song here:

part of the sheet music from the opera

Queen of the Night played by Diana Damrau

Jealousy is that green-coloured devil who stirs up trouble and enjoys his destruction. The other Queen who had been famous for her jealousy was Hera, or Juno (depending on if you prefer the Greek way or the Roman). Her flame of jealousy ignited oh so many historical events, mostly saturated with blood and deaths: the exile of Europa, the fall of Troy, the terrible fate Aeneid had through, so on so forth.

Jupiter and Juno (Hera) by Annibale Carracci.

Lethe, one of the five rivers of the Underworld, is said to be the river of oblivion. You're supposed to drink it as you cross over to the other side, after which you forget everything about your earthly life. Our young traveler here is certainly going through some coming-of-age-aching. The scenes he's been exposed to, the events that have been exploding around him have all contributed his rapid emotional growth. He's no longer that lad whose main focus in life had been the tenderness of love. And he has also realized the danger of love. Indeed love many a time is related to jealousy, which is quite the root of most crimes, if you think about it! Now, I suppose the Cupid the cherubic angel will never seem the same to you, although he was a victim of jealousy himself, when Hera disapproved and got outraged by his love affair with Psyche.

Byron's The Girl of Cadiz might best demonstrate his impression of the women in this Spanish city of passion. It is said that the poet had the briefest encounter with a beautiful daughter of an Admiral, yet thanks to the rigid schedule he didn't hold a chance in developing any sort of relationship with her.

Harold's experience in Cadiz reminded me of the Kubler-Ross model, or, the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. The model couldn't perfectly fit describing someone as emotionally enriched as our poet himself, but we can definitely see a soup of sensitive experience between the lines, especially the last two stages. 

He's almost ready to forget, to give up love, although still "bargaining" with the attraction he still felt. Eventually he channeled the emotions towards creativity, hence the verses and the lays.

In the face of the formidable Jealousy, Love is weak, and Death is merely a childish solution as "denial" is only the first stage of acceptance. Of course, it is still believed that Beauty prevails, just like Cupid and Psyche had each other in the end, Aeneid rebuilt his country, and Rome flourished.