Jealousy as a Driving Force for Murder

This essay draws on analytic concepts and artistic examples in order to explore murder as the ultimate fate of jealousy. The paper first explores two seemingly neurotic forms of possessive fury that result in a crime of passion. Both cases probe the criminal potential of a supposedly normal subject and question the frontiers of narcissism and self-love, while discussing gender stereotypes. The author then examines criminal jealousy from the vantage point of the specular stakes at play: the enamoration of the double pervaded with aggressiveness that stems from the pre-oedipal fraternal complex and leads to outbursts of psychotic allure. Furthermore, this contribution appraises the hedonistic possibilities created by crimes of passion that are "beyond the pleasure principle." Finally, the figure of the jealous criminal is understood as a radicalization of a universal logic, according to which primary narcissistic wounds are felt to be an unbearable injustice that requires reparation through an infringement of the law.