In “Of Revenge” by Sir Francis Bacon, he expresses his thoughts on revenge and claims that those who seek revenge only hurt themselves and referred to revenge as a “wild justice”. Additionally, Bacon claims, “…vindictive persons live the life of witches: they are mischievous and come to a bad end” which explains that private revenge ends with negativity. He believes public revenge can mostly be good. Even though revenge can be good, “…a man consumed with a desire for revenge keeps his own wounds open which otherwise would heal” (Bacon). Bacon’s idea of private revenge is present in other literature such as “The Interlopers” by Saki, “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, and in the “Autobiography of Takashi Tanemori”.
“The Interlopers” by Saki relates to Bacon’s ideas on private revenge as two men are hurt in the act of seeking revenge. In the past, Ulrich Gradwits and Georg Znaeym’s families have fought over woodland full of game. The feud becomes personal as Ulrich and Georg’s feelings become murderous. On a winter night, both men hunt for the other on the disputed land and they come face to face, “Each had a rifle in hand, hate in his heart, and murder uppermost in his mind” (Saki 305). While seeking and hunting for revenge, Ulrich and Georg are crushed by a tree and injured. Although they hate each other, they realize they were stupidly fighting over a feud they had not started. Under the tree, they argue about who will be found by their team first as they wait, Ulrich speaks, “’Lying here tonight, thinking, I’ve come to think we’ve been rather fools; there are better things in life than getting the better of a boundary dispute’” and they agree to be friends (Saki 308). In the distance, they see what they thought was their...
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... “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, and the “Autobiography of Takashi Tanemori” exemplified Bacon’s idea on revenge. In “The Interlopers”, two men fought over land only to be crushed and when they finally become friends, they are killed, continuing on the feud. Two children’s fated death is the only solution to end the feud in “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare. Takashi Tanemori writes of his own life where he is filled with anger for his family’s death, until he sees a vision of a crane turning into a butterfly and realized he is a part of both countries and turns to a peaceful and forgiving person. Bacons claims in his essay, “Of Revenge”, that those who seek revenge only hurt themselves and also states “… a man consumed with a desire for revenge keeps his own wounds open which otherwise would heal” and his ideas were present in all of the passages.
Revenge is a fairly strong emotion; it’s wanting to retaliate towards those who wronged you. Revenge is such an uncontrollable way of retaliation that it can result in a destructive outcome or carried out successfully. Although the results may vary, revenge sums up to one thing which is pain of some sort, affecting both parties or just one. Throughout history we see many tales of revenge and redemption. Often revenge does leave the one carrying it out feeling victorious but this can suddenly change as the process of karma generally begins in some tales.
Evil exists naturally in the world, and there are many acts that are considered evil. As a result, evil is often a theme in literature. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by William Shakespeare, and “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe each rely heavily on evil to portray a message. Out of all of the evil acts that exist, exacting revenge is the evilest act that a person can make, for a person’s rash decision to exact revenge will ruin their sense of morality. The characters of Hamlet and Laertes in “Hamlet” each commit terrible acts of revenge, as does Montresor in “The Cask of Amontillado.”
Many people percieve revenge to be something that falls under justice, as they are driven by emotions, while others consider getting the police involved as serving justice. Moreover, some people find revenge to be pleasing and satisfying, but to argue the point that just because something is more satisfying does not mean it is
In a sense, revenge is slowly killing oneself and dragging another into death as well. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his novel The Scarlet Letter, evinces this reality in the eventual fate of Roger Chillingworth. Aroused by a vehement zeal for payback towards the Reverend Dimmesdale, Chillingworth drains the life out of himself, shown in his gradually decaying body and soul. With a raging desire for knowledge and a single-minded pursuit of retribution, Chillingworth’s demonic actions lead him to damnation, demonstrating the need for reconciliation in times of conflict. Chillingworth’s unquenched thirst for knowledge leads him to a state of vengeance, foreshadowing its eventual control over his actions.
In Elizabethan drama, the revenge tragedy was already a favorite genre by the time Shakespeare penned Hamlet. The basic structure guaranteed that one killed at the beginning of the play, usually a father, would somehow call for a younger relative, usually a son, to avenge his murder (Encyclopedia Britannica). Based on the traditional values of the time, the son would then confront and kill his father’s murderer, restoring honor to both his father’s death and the family as a whole. Yet Hamlet, unlike the typical hero of a revenge tragedy, ...
After kissing one’s arse; or being harassed for money; or having someone demoralize another’s occupation, according to “The Miller’s Tale”, “The Friar’s Tale”, and the tension between The Summoner and The Miller, one might have the motive to cause harm to those who hurt them. This shows the level of maturity in the characters, as well as demonstrating human feelings such as hurt, anger, and animosity. In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer illustrates the pilgrims and characters within their stories as strong, clever, and sometimes even childish. They are often quick to react with revenge to solve their problems, instead of thinking about their actions. However, even if revenge does work to their advantage, it’s not always the most morally correct way for them to fix their troubles.
Revenge is best served cold or so says the well-known expression. This idea of revenge that they seek is usually to restore a balance and take an “eye for an eye” as the bible says. Revenge, if by chance everyone were in Plato’s perfect utopia, would be in a perfect form, where justice and revenge would be one, and the coined phrase an “eye for an eye” would be taken literally. By taking an eye for and eye, and punishing those who did wrong equally as they did wrong, there is justice. However, this revenge sometimes goes to far and is consequently not justice. This notion of Revenge and justice is often in literature, one of the better-known being the novel The Count of Monte Cristo, written by Alexandre Dumas. However, literature is not the only time that revenge and justice is discussed in. Works and Rules and real-life events that took place like the Bible, Hammurabi’s code, Twelve Tables, and others each have something different about the topic. More religious texts seem to forbid violence, while laws, such as the Hammurabi’s code, recommend revenge, but equal revenge. By judging from literature, it can be concluded that most authors have different opinions on the matter at hand, and revenge is sometimes justice, but usually not, and tends to lead to violence that was not intended.
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once declared, “It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay for it.” In other words, when one is suffering, the desire to reap revenge without consideration as to who is being harmed in the process is innate. This is a common theme within the poem The Epic of Gilgamesh, Euripides tragic play, Medea, and Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Hamlet. Characterization is used in these three works to exemplify the revenge seeker’s disregard for anyone but themselves in order to take vengeance on those who committed an act against them.
Moving forward, rather than lagging behind, a truly noteworthy concept of revenge can be seen in the Shakespearean tragedy: “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” It is within this particular tragedy that prince Hamlet is enlightened, by the ghost of his father, to the murder of his father by his uncle, Claudius, an incestuous, adulterous beast who greedily claimed the throne and Hamlet's mother as his wife. (Hamlet 1.5.45-46, 49-53) Nevertheless, it is through this enlightenment that Hamlet sets off toward avenging his father's death, but along the way he is pitted against misfortune as the downward-...
“If you seek revenge, dig two graves.” This ancient Chinese proverb explains the mood in Hamlet, a play, written by Shakespeare. The theme of revenge is seen throughout the play as each character extracts one form or another of revenge from a person who has wronged them. In the play the characters Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all desire revenge for a lost father; however, their motivations for murder differ.
“Those who plot the destruction of others often fall themselves” (Phaedrus). This quote was said by a Roman fabulist and it depicts the entire concept of revenge in Hamlet. The nature of revenge causes someone to act upon anger rather than reason. Hamlet takes place in Denmark and is about Hamlet’s uncle who kills his dad to gain power of Denmark. After the killing, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle. In the play, there are several characters wanting vengeance like that of Hamlet. Throughout the play, Hamlet, Laertes, and Fortinbras all had a tragic death of a family member which caused their decision for revenge. Consequentially, these revenges caused the demise of two characters and the rise of power of another. The retaliation shown by the Prince of Denmark, as well as Laertes led to the downfall of their government.
Revenge almost always has the makings of an intriguing and tragic story. William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is a perfect example of how revenge unfolds and what it unveils. The play tells the story of Hamlet, the prince of Denmark. Claudius, Hamlet’s uncle, marries his mother soon after his father’s death. Hamlet greatly disapproves of the hasty marriage and suspects foul play. His suspicions are confirmed when the ghost of his father appears and tells him that Claudius murdered him. Hamlet’s father asks him to take revenge upon Claudius, and soon everything takes a drastic change. The courses of revenge throughout Hamlet surround each character with corruption, obsession, and fatality.
When you read a book or watch a movie, you want it to capture your attention immediately. Revenge is one of those themes that can easily be used grasp the audience. It is always an exhilarating theme to read about because it can bring out so much in a character. It will often be used to bring out the worst in people. It can make people go mad, and in fact it can completely consume them. It can bring people to an extreme point in life, and this is what makes it so fascinating. In the movie, Straw Dogs, the protagonist, Dustin Hoffman, goes to such an extreme. After Hoffman’s wife is taken advantage of, he begins to slip into the abyss of madness. He wants revenge, and then it escalates quickly into a bloody battle. Older novelists also often used revenge to show the extremes of people’s personality.
Revenge is defined as the action of causing hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Shakespeare’s Hamlet contains the central idea of revenge. In this story, the father is murdered, the mother marries the murderer, and the son is left to the duty of revenge (Barzilai 87). It is Hamlet’s duty to follow his father’s commands and get his revenge on his uncle, but multiple problems occur and lead to his death along with many others.
People can be motivated to take revenge on others for various reasons. While these reasons may be considered as very serious or rather trivial, they are all motives for revenge. Revenge occurs when a person has been offended or angered by an individual and in result they have the desire to pay them back. People’s opinions on revenge differ from each other, some may believe it is justified and some don’t. Mahatma Ghandi believed that revenge is not the answer and he stated that “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. This quote portrays the opinion that if everyone gets even then there will be no one else; if we all take an eye for an eye everyone would be blind. Revenge can be learnt through real life experiences as well as fiction and can be shown as justice or unacceptable. It becomes difficult to determine when revenge can be justified but is revenge always worth it?