Sharing a beloved superordinate turns co-subjects into intensified mutual enemies via jealousy

Evidence

Another, more obvious kind of repulsion among the subjects of a common ruler is created by means of jealousy. It constitutes the negative counterpart of the phenomenon mentioned before, namely, that common hatred is all the more powerful a bond if the object of the common hatred is at the same time the common ruler. We now add that a love shared by a number of elements makes them, by means of jealousy, all the more decisively into mutual enemies if the common loved one is also the common ruler. A student of Turkish conditions reports that the children of different mothers in a harem are always hostile to one another. The reason for this is the jealousy with which their mothers observe the father’s manifestations of love for his children who are not their own. Jealousy takes on a particular nuance as soon as it refers to the power which is superordinate to both parties. Under this condition, the woman winning the love of the disputed person triumphs over the rival in a special sense, and has a special success of her power. The subtlety of the fascination consists in the fact that she becomes master over the rival inasmuch as she becomes master over the rival’s master. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 337

Categorization

• QUESTION: The fascination of ‘master over the rival’s master’ — a power-triangle mechanism that could illuminate competitive dynamics in stratified urban settings.
• XREF: connects to: Shared enmity of a common ruler strongly binds groups together — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 333; Love destroys itself when trust is broken by greed for more — , A Year of World Stories, 15726; Restricting hostility to one precise target can intensify it dramatically — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 305 (+3 more)

Related

• Shared enmity of a common ruler strongly binds groups together (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Love destroys itself when trust is broken by greed for more #qualifies (0.55) — , A Year of World Stories, 15726