That Green-Eyed Beloved

"He stood up and made her stay there while he held her in his arms. Her dress soaked up the water from his body. His jaw was near her ear. Her chin touched his shoulder. . .Beloved came through the door and they ought to have heard her tread, but they didn’t. . .She took a step and felt like crying. . .and it was so much better than the anger that ruled when Sethe did or thought anything that excluded herself. She could bear the hours. . .when Sethe was gone. Bear even the nights when she was close but out of sight, behind walls and doors lying next to him. But now--even the daylight time that Beloved had counted on, disciplined herself to be content with, was being reduced, divided by Sethe’s willingness to pay attention to other things. Him mostly" (p. 118).

                 Beloved revolves her life around Sethe, depending on her constant presence and attention. Much like a child, Beloved expects Sethe to prioritize her first before anyone else--in all aspects of life-- and this expectation causes Beloved to become extremely jealous when she sees Sethe spending time with Paul D instead of her.

When Beloved sees Paul D “h[olding] [Sethe] in his arms,” it causes Beloved to feel jealous because Beloved wanted to spend time with Sethe alone. We can tell that Beloved is jealous of Paul D’s relationship with Sethe when Beloved watches the lovers engage with each other; the couple is so wrapped up in each other as “he held her in his arms” that they ignore Beloved’s “tread,” resulting in Beloved feeling she’s jealous because Paul D is causing Sethe to “exclude” Beloved. Sethe “excluding” Beloved to spend time with Paul D causes Beloved to mark Paul D as a barrier between her and Sethe because “now--even the daylight time that Beloved had counted on” gets reduced, and “divided by Sethe’s willingness” to pay heed to “him mostly.”

    Beloved’s conscious conveys her jealousy especially when she states that her time that she counted on had to be pushed aside because Sethe had this willingness to spend her time with Paul D. Beloved’s word choice is meant to be bitter since she does not understand why Sethe would choose Paul D over her. The bitter way that Beloved uses to describe why Sethe “divid[es]” their time together can also be perceived as pejorative. By Beloved ¨bear[ing] the hours. . .when Sethe [is] gone” and even bearing the “nights when [Sethe] [is] close but out of sight, behind walls and doors lying next to him,” results in Beloved truly believing that she deserves Sethe’s love and attention more than anyone else. This pejorative voice that Beloved portrays how she is so jealous that Sethe would choose to spend time with someone who doesn’t even seem worth “paying attention” to; we can infer that Beloved views Paul D ominously because Beloved reflects on how Paul D hurts Sethe’s feelings, thus doesn’t love her as much as Beloved does because he did not “rescue” Sethe’s neck (p. 119).