“Rebecca” tells the story of a young woman obsessed with her husband’s first wife. She cannot escape the shadow Rebecca has left behind. Her envy gradually grows, fueled by insecurity and jealousy of a woman she never even met.
This envy eats at her confidence and happiness, threatening both her marriage and her sense of self. Daphne du Maurier captures envy’s destructive potential vividly, revealing how someone else’s lingering presence can erode our self-worth and drive obsession.
Tom Ripley envies Dickie Greenleaf’s carefree, affluent lifestyle and charm. As he becomes closely involved in Dickie’s life, Ripley’s envy escalates from admiration to dangerous obsession.
His jealousy pushes him to extreme measures, drawing out his darker nature in a disturbing yet fascinating way. Highsmith expertly draws readers into Ripley’s mind, exploring envy not just as a passing emotion, but as a force that can reshape identity and morality altogether.
The suspense is intense, driven by Ripley’s increasingly risky actions.
“A Separate Peace” is set at a boarding school during World War II. It examines the friendship between Gene and Finny. Gene envies Finny’s popularity, athleticism, and ease with life. This envy, though hidden beneath friendship, leads indirectly to tragedy.
Knowles carefully portrays the envy simmering beneath the surface, demonstrating how silent jealousy can be as devastating as open hostility. The story highlights the complexity of adolescent envy and its profound emotional consequences, both subtle and dramatic.
Oscar Wilde’s classic, “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” illustrates envy through its exploration of youth, beauty, and vanity. Lord Henry’s influence awakens envy in Dorian as he realizes youth is ephemeral.
Dorian secretly envies his own portrait, which retains his youthful perfection as he lives a corrupt life himself. Here envy leads to moral decay, as Dorian becomes desperate to hold onto eternal youth.
Wilde uses envy to contrast external beauty and internal ugliness, showing how obsession with others—or even oneself—can taint lives.
Set in California over generations, “East of Eden” portrays intense family envy and rivalry. At its heart lies a sibling rivalry echoing the Biblical Cain and Abel story, depicted through Cal and Aaron Trask. Cal envies Aaron, favored and praised readily by their father, Adam.
This envy leads to tangled family relationships, betrayal, and sorrow. Steinbeck uses envy profoundly, uncovering deep-rooted human traits and desires. The result is a powerful exploration of the complexities within familial envy and the pressure for parental approval.
Elena Ferrante’s novel reveals a lifelong friendship overshadowed by envy and competition. Elena and Lila grow up together in a poor Naples neighborhood, each driven to outpace the other academically, socially, and romantically.
Elena’s envy of Lila’s brilliance and effortless appeal pushes her achievements forward, yet creates deep fractures between them.
Ferrante sensitively portrays envy’s role in friendship, demonstrating it is not always destructive, but sometimes a complicated blend of inspiration and rivalry sharply shaping women’s lives over decades.
Donna Tartt’s debut novel explores envy among a select group of Classics students in a New England college. Richard Papen envies his charismatic friends, whose wealth, sophistication, and apparent charm he longs to emulate.
But beneath their cultivated exterior, envy and rivalry fester among them, upsetting their idyllic friendship. A shocking event—fueled by these hidden resentments—brings catastrophe.
Tartt insightfully portrays envy as a concealed poison capable of unraveling even the closest bonds, providing an absorbing glimpse into hidden emotional landscapes.
In “Vanity Fair,” Thackeray creates Becky Sharp, whose relentless envy propels her forward. Becky envies wealth, privilege, and social prominence, qualities she fiercely strives to attain.
With wit and manipulation, Becky maneuvers through society, driven relentlessly by envy for what she lacks. Thackeray masterfully draws out the ironies of this envy, showing how Becky’s jealousy both drives and hinders her ascent.
The novel illustrates envy rather starkly, portraying how unchecked ambition and jealousy ultimately consume happiness and authenticity.
Dickens’s classic portrays envy vividly through Pip’s yearning for a better life. Pip becomes envious and ashamed of his humble beginnings when he encounters wealth, education, and refinement.
He envies higher social status and wealth, leading him toward disillusionment and dissatisfaction. Dickens demonstrates envy as alluring yet corrosive, subtly shaping Pip’s character throughout his journey.
Ultimately, the novel shows readers that envy can obscure genuine values, hard-won relationships, and what’s truly important for contentment.
Jay Gatsby’s envy for Tom Buchanan’s wealth and status—and his past involvement with Daisy—fuel the passionate dream driving “The Great Gatsby”. Gatsby carefully constructs an illusion of dazzling affluence, all rooted in longing and envy.
It becomes clear that envy is a powerful ingredient in his tragic downfall. Fitzgerald skillfully highlights envy’s destructive power beneath the glittering Roaring Twenties, revealing darker human tendencies and bitter truths hidden behind opulence and obsession.
In “Tampa,” Celeste Price envies youth obsessively. Her dangerous jealousy of teenagers and their innocence pushes her through shocking, disturbing behavior. Celeste’s envy manifests in predatory exploitation, displaying envy’s darkest extremes.
Nutting disturbs readers deliberately, using envy not as mere longing, but something violent, obsessive, and frightening.
The novel brilliantly exposes envy’s capacity to corrupt morality, distort logic, and lead to disturbing crimes, offering an unsettling look into intense envy taken to dangerous extremes.
Set in New York City’s glittering, competitive social world, “Social Creature” closely examines envy. Louise admires and envies glamorous and wealthy Lavinia. As the two women become friends, envy intensifies and eventually leads Louise down a perilously slippery slope.
Burton captures envy’s darker side, revealing its ability to escalate into something frighteningly uncontrollable. Through Louise’s increasingly twisted actions, the novel beautifully exposes envy’s potential to turn admiration and longing into obsession and moral compromise.
Gregory’s historical fiction vividly portrays envy between sisters Mary and Anne Boleyn, competing fiercely within royal circles. Mary becomes Henry VIII’s choice first, shortly followed by Anne’s swift rise. Envy ignites rivalry, resentment, and ambition.
Gregory captures envy’s intensity within their sibling relationship, turning family closeness bitter and dangerous.
The novel compels readers to see the perilous outcomes of sibling envy—particularly when power, love, and ambition intersect within royal court intrigues and political dramas.
This thriller highlights envy’s role in personal betrayal and deception, revolving around a doting father and his talented friend. Dahlia Barr envies her best friend’s seemingly better life—more happiness, success, and fulfillment.
But envy quickly mutates from quiet resentment into destructive lies and actions. Kestin vividly portrays envy’s catastrophic results, examining how concentrating on what others possess can lead to desperation and ruin.
This novel provides readers an intense perspective into envy’s capacity to consume lives entirely.
Andrews’ clever thriller explores envy within publishing and writing. Florence Darrow, aspiring writer, envies successful novelists and longs for fame and recognition. Her envy becomes an obsession when given the opportunity to work with the mysterious author Maud Dixon.
As envy pushes her further, secrets, deception, and hidden identities blur lines between aspiration and dangerous obsession.
Andrews skillfully weaves envy throughout this tale, exemplifying how jealousy within creative circles can spark thrilling turns of events as reality unravels around envy-driven ambitions.