Taking as his central argument that relations between males in western society are deeply colored—if not actually determined by—envy, Mervyn Nicholson ranges across disciplines and eras in a fascinating, utterly unique analysis of this "taboo" subject. This book presents a series of motifs that are associated with male envy, locating each in a particular historical context and illustrating it with examples drawn from literature, film, and popular culture. Unlike earlier treatments of envy by psychoanalysts or feminist theorists, this book moves beyond mere illustration of the problem to actually construct a theory about how the "code of Male Envy" shapes social consciousness in modern culture. A truly pathbreaking work, Male Envy merits a close reading by gender theorists, literary critics, and social psychologists.