A revenge tragedy is one in which the tragedy is brought about by the pursuit and accomplishment of revenge. In other words, its blood asking for blood. The revenge tragedy was very popular during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, and it owned its popularity largely to the influence of Seneca, the ancient Roman dramatist. Revenge tragedy is different from other tragedies in the sense that the whole part of the tragedy will be based on revenge. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, though Macduff kills Macbeth to avenge the killing of his family, the play can’t be called a revenge tragedy as Macbeth himself is responsible for his own tragic end. The Duchess of Malfi by the English dramatist John Webster is a macabre, revenge tragic play. According to …show more content…
Ferdinand’s lycanthropy is a result of his sense of guilt and shame. That which he tries to afflict her sister with, finally befalls on him. Ferdinand intends to torture his sister by sending madmen to her quarters, but finally he is tortured by madness. The Duchess dies with dignity, welcoming death and proclaiming her identity, “I am Duchess of Malfi still” (72), whereas Ferdinand, her torturer dies a madman’s death. Brennan comments, “The trappings or conventions of madness and the masque are combined in the dance of madmen, which forms part of the complicated mental torture to which the Duchess is subjected by Ferdinand” …show more content…
There is no ghost but the echo from the Duchess’ tomb fulfils one of the functions of the ghost of revenge tragedy. The voice warns a doomed man of his danger and, at the same time, reveals the unknown fact of its own death. The play is sometimes ridiculed by modern critics for the excessive violence and horror. The severed hands of dead Antonio, the wax figures of the Duchess’ children, dance of the mad men, the appearance of the tomb maker, and the executioner with all the apparatus of death bring in the elements of horror in the play. In a typical revenge play, the protagonist directs his revenge towards an unjust action, but the vengeance is followed by a series of retributions, which ultimately lead to the death of many characters. The Duchess, Anotonio, Cardinal, Ferdinand, Julia, Bosola etc are all murdered for revenge. Though it begins as a love story it ends as a dreadful tragedy. The violence and the horror scenes give it the touch it needs to be a revenge tragedy. Though all the main characters are dead order is restored at the end. The Antonio’s eldest son is raised to the throne giving a sign of hope to the spectators after all the
Revenge has always been an exciting theme to incorporate into any literary work. This revenge adds conflict, action, and contrast to any story. There have been hundreds of thousands of stories and tales which cause readers to experience similar feeling to that of the main characters. With revenge, the reader may side with the main character whether or not the main character is morally right or wrong. By human nature, people around the globe have always been trying their hardest to come out on top in arguments or fights (Price 2009). As humans, they want to win. This is how a story about revenge is so well loved and experienced by many as it relates well with human nature and how a person would react to these situations. It is a natural feeling every single person feels at some point in their lives. Two well-known tales call this vengeful mode of literary artwork their own as they both portray characters who strive for revenge. These stories are Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and Sophocles’ Antigone. Shakespeare, a very famous playwright created his play with the intention of showing the audience how revenge returns to haunt the vengeful. He also showed how seeking revenge is not the ideal way of dealing with a situation. Sophocles created his play to show how justice can be better and more worthy than just seeking revenge. But he also how to be careful for seeking justice can turn into seeking revenge and a full circle back to the demise of the vengeful as well. There
Dictionary.com states that revenge is “to exact punishment or expiation for a wrong on behalf of, especially in a resentful or vindictive spirit.” The novel, Frankenstein, and the play, Hamlet, are two works of literature that revolve around the notion of revenge. The main conflicts of the stories are Prince Hamlet attempting to avenge the murder of his father and Frankenstein’s monster hunting down Victor Frankenstein for abandoning him in an empty and lonely existence. The novels use other themes to tie together the underlying theme of revenge, such as death, madness, and learning and “un-learning.”
Shakespeare's famous revenge tragedy Hamlet is a story of unrelenting twists and thrills of madness and revenge. I have chosen to compare this play to Michael Almereyda's film made in 2000 that is a modern interpretation of the original text and was an attempt to do to Hamlet what Baz Luhrman did to Romeo and Juliet.
Shakespeare’s Macbeth is of the ‘tragedy’ genre. In terms of Shakespeare’s work, a tragedy is defined as when main characters are put in to situations where the end result leads to infortune and failure. The central characters, such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, were found to be unfortunate later on in the play, as they had reached a time of madness, guilt and later on death, as certain aspects such as ambition and the news of a prophecy brought them
The revenge tragedy of Shakespeare’s age, as exemplified in such productions as The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd and The Tragedy of Hoffman by Henry Chettle was gruesome to a
Revenge is “the act of taking vengeance for injuries or wrongs” (Oxford) It’s also “a natural human tendency when an act of wrong is committed against a person” (Word reference) the emotional nature of revenge makes everything unpredictable, changeable and mortal. Madame Defarge is a prime example of the hatred and anger toward the aristocracy, she suffers at the hands of the aristocracy, particularly the Evermonde because of the invading of her sister and mother by the brothers Evrémonde, and her father died of grief. Her brother was killed trying to avenge his sister's honor. She becomes in a great depression, she loses her family and her happiest life, so she recognizes that she has to play a big part in the revolutionary attempts
An equally familiar and somewhat more plausible argument may also be adduced to explain the significance of the Ghost: Shakespeare, like his fellow dramatists, did not personally regard blood-revenge as justified but followed the so-called revenge convention of the Elizabethan theatre. Dramatic heroes were, in other words, traditionally supposed to have the right to revenge the deaths of their kinsmen, provided that they did not resort to such un-English methods as poisoning or allow their desire for
William Shakespeare’s famously philosophical play Hamlet epitomizes the revenge tragedy; the play’s characters are forced to act vengefully only to result in a bloody, dismal
A dramatist who explores the theme of revenge throughout his play is Arthur Miller in ‘The Crucible. There are different characters in this play that carry this theme of revenge, Abigail being one in particular, as she seeks revenge against Goody Proctor. This is due to Goody Proctor firing Abigail from her job after she had found out Abigail had had an affair with her husband. This seventeen-year-old girl also has an endless capacity for dissembling. John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and the Putnam’s are also characters in the play that are out to seek revenge for their own reasons. It could through the theme of revenge, be said that Miller tries to enhance your application of the play.
“Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Murder! Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange and unnatural.” (Hamlet, 1.5 25-28) In Act 1, Scene 5 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Ghost, which can be either interpreted as Hamlet’s late father or a figment of Hamlet’s imagination, commands the young Hamlet to take revenge for the death of the former King of Denmark. In this iconic scene, young Hamlet takes heed of the Ghost’s words and it sets forward in motion the plot for revenge. Throughout Shakespeare’s plays, major protagonists take revenge in response to a transgression, whether it be real or perceived. In Hamlet, the titular protagonist takes revenge against his uncle Claudius as retaliation for the murder of his father. Similarly, in Romeo and Juliet, another titular protagonist, Romeo takes revenge against his rival Tybalt for the murder of his good friend Mercutio. In Julius Caesar, Brutus with the assistance of some members of the Senate take revenge against the eponymous Julius Caesar for his betrayal of the Roman Republic. Whereas in all of Shakespeare’s plays referenced above involve violent acts of revenge, the actor/s motivations and, no pun intended, execution vary. Regardless of their varying motivations and methods for revenge, in all three separate cases none of the actors are wholly satisfied with the outcome once their act of revenge is complete. Furthermore, Shakespeare indicates that revenge is ineffective in exacting equal
To Revenge or Not To Revenge Hamlet, a play written by Shakespeare, is the tragic story of young Hamlet bent on taking a bloody revenge for the unjust murder of his late father, King Hamlet. Several times throughout the play, Hamlet seems reluctant to carry on with his plot for revenge, and often questions why he is struggling with this plot so much. Through Hamlet’s hesitation, Shakespeare portrays that revenge may not always be the right answer,this is then confirmed by the deaths of innocents due to Hamlet’s plot for revenge. Polonius’s death marks the first of many unnecessary deaths, and although Hamlet feels no guilt after murdering him, the death is still unjustifiable and wrong. After Polonius has been stabbed, Hamlet says,”Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell!/ I took thee for thy better: take thy fortune;/ Thou find’st to be too busy is some danger”(4.4.32-33).
In the play there are many mistakes that come with taking revenge. I believe revenge is bitter sweet and that everything will come back and end up poorly for the person seeking revenge. Revenge is something that will cause you to make mistakes or regrets in life. “How now, a rat? Dead for a
The Elizabethan disposition concerning revenge was that it was an act fueled by a condition, an ailment of the body. To Shakespeare's contemporaries, revenge was the end result of the disease, melancholy.
Calvin Dillards once said, “Weak people revenge, strong people forgive, intelligent people forget.” In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, revenge is something everyone seems to seek. Revenge was meant to solve every problem and allow everything to go back to normal. This plan did not go very well. Multiple characters in Hamlet prove that revenge only leads to disaster and death.
Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy (c. 1587) is generally considered the first of the English Renaissance "revenge-plays." A rich genre that includes, among others, Hamlet. These plays tend to be soaked in blood and steeped in madness. The genre is not original to the period, deriving from a revival of interest in the revenge tragedies of the Roman playwright Seneca. Nor is it exclusive to the past, as anyone who has seen the "Death Wish" or "Lethal Weapon" films can attest. The revenge-play satisfied a deep longing in its audience for simple black-and-white rough justice that seems to be universal. (Watson, 317)