 " Jealous " is a self @-@ referential song as Beyoncé tries to make her love interest envious . Lyrically , the song speaks about " promises , suspicion and potential revenge " . Its lyrics illustrate a woman getting " fierce " when taken for granted as stated by Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune . She questions the loyalty of her male love interest and he is believed to be cheating on her with another woman . Claire <unk> of Complex interpreted the song as being about a person fighting with his own feelings of jealousy . She felt that instead of flirting with other people during a night out to make a lover jealous , the protagonist goes for a " downtrodden " direction and reconnects with old people from her past . 
