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Explain revenge as a theme in literature
Explain revenge as a theme in literature
Revenge in literature throughout time
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"Hop Frog" is a story of irony, violence, revenge, and how all of those things are inseparable. The story suggests that violence of some kind is always the beginning of revenge. Whether that violence is emotional, physical, or mental violence, it always results in revenge. There are examples of violence throughout the story, such as the physical violence done to Trippetta and Hop-Frog when they're stolen from their homeland, taken by force from their friends and family and shipped off to the king as a gift. An example of physical, emotional, and mental violence in the story would be that of the king shoving Trippetta and then proceeding to throw a glass of wine on her, embarrassing her and dehumanizing her. Or how the king forced Hop-Frog to drink wine, disregarding his dislike for wine and his obvious distress. These may not seem like your typical examples of violence, but violence isn't inherently bloody or even physical. An act of violence can be …show more content…
When we first see Hop-Frog grinding his teeth out of anger, it's quieter and hard to prove, but at the end of the story there "could be no question as to whence the sound issued. It came from the fang-like teeth of the dwarf, who ground them and gnashed them as he foamed at the mouth, and glared, with an expression of maniacal rage, into the upturned countenances of the king and his seven companions." His desire for vengeance had turned him "maniacal" and caused him to perform a monstrous act. It made him worse than his captors, he became a monster far worse than the monsters who hurt
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.”
Though the role of a king and his rank in the kingdom is known to several people, the King feels the need to boast his power by degrading the others. The king uses his social status to confine to all rules of wisdom and responsibility. His throne seems to give him permission to degrade Hop Frog and Trippetta in every manner. The King is fully aware of Hop-Frogs intolerance to alcohol, yet the King amusingly makes him drink. When the dwarf refuses to fully obey to him, the Kings pride gets the best out of him. The story teller records “At last, without uttering a syllable he pushed her violently from him and threw the contents of the brimming goblet in her face” (Poe 4).To show his power over the dwarf, the King physically harms Trippetta. The King harming Trippetta shows that the king was fully aware of Hop-Frogs weakness. Thus to show his power over the dwarf, the King abuses Trippetta. This reveals that even though the King has every tangible item he wants, the physical and emotional pain of others caused by him is what gives him great joy. Also, through this pain, the King also feels more in power. Though, the King may have the highest of ranks, Hop-Frog steadfast in showing the King just how high really is. Just as the Kings pride was inflicted when Hop-Frog did not drink the entire goblet, Hop-Frogs pride was also hurt when the King made a move on his
One of the most significant examples of violence caused by anger is due to the emotion jealousy. For instance, jealousy played as an accomplice to violence in The Odyssey. One example is when the suitors in Ithaca were planning to kill Telemachus, so that one of them could become king of Ithaca and marry
It (the indention of revenge) sensitise you to eruptible sensations of vile sense, dispensable hatred and rummage of nature; that you are clogged to the world in feigned madness even what’s more real is the actual insertion of provocation that ought be abused and rugged and motioned to speak for itself. The evacuation of connection, and hope, and love, makes Hamlet all the more bitter whereby for instance he alludes in a soliloquy to his mother as,
Hop Frog had suffered through years of torment at the hands of the king. To begin with, Hop Frog was kidnapped from his own land and sent as a captive to the king. Hop Frog was made to suffer verbal abuse for his physical shortcomings and sufferings.
The action of inflicting harm on someone for a wrong suffered at their hands is known as revenge. Revenge is a natural human instinct and it can be displayed in many different ways. People want to get back at others who have wronged them, this either happens quickly or it becomes a long process. In the epic poem Beowulf, revenge is taken when Grendel and Grendel’s mother attack the Herot and when Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother and the dragon; this is also prevalent in today’s society when opposing gang members kill each other, when people are oppressed by their government, and when a country or group retaliates to attacks.
Finally, as we reach the end of the story, we witness Hop-Frog’s fierce revenge. In fact, there is something particular in the way how Hop-Frog takes revenge on king & his seven ministers: he burnt them. It is closely related to the image that the Southern States had after the loss in the Civil War. Everything from plantations to natural resources were put to fire by the Northern armies, as they were making their way to the Confederate’s capital, Richmond. Hop-frog’s escape symbolizes the massive migration of slaves from the South after the end of the war. Although the serfdom was officially abolished in 1863 in the North & by the end of the war in the South, it took many more years before an Afro-American could be treated the same way as every citizen in the United States of America.
In the short story of “ The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allen Poe and the poem” A Poison Tree” by William Blake a theme about revenge is used for both the story and the poem. The theme that is used is when anger is nurtured it can turn into a poisonous revenge. To develop the themes of revenge, both writings both the authors used dramatic irony and sensory details.
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-...
I do agree that revenge does have an effect on the story, but not as strong as conflict does. An example is the plot that follows the battle of Hamlet and Claudius. Hamlet wants revenge on Claudius, killing his father (Shakespeare, 39). Claudius wants Hamlet out of the picture in any way possible before that kid spoils his plan. That conflict, that revenge, that fight between them causes events like people dying or Hamlet gets shipped away.
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.
My personal experience with revenge isn’t much, and it concerns little things. Revenge can simply be when a person draws on your book, and in spite you would draw on their book as well. It might as well occur in a game, for example my friend plays a lot of game online and this game is to simply ‘kill’ other opponents. Once, her character got attacked by another opponent but she was not prepared for the attack and she lost. Because of this, she was angry and wanted to seek revenge. She then got all her other friends to ‘gang’ up and attack the opponent. Since it wasn’t a very fair battle, the opponent lost. This act might seem childish and trivial, but this is the act of revenge.
In this essay I will be writing about whether Hamlet is a revenge tragedy or not, I will have an introduction which will introduce the meaning of a revenge tragedy, then I will have a main body of text in which I will explain why Hamlet is a true revenge tragedy and finally I will have a conclusion. “What is a revenge tragedy?” Well, a revenge tragedy is when a character takes vengeance for a murdered victim, the character is usually a family member of the avenged victim. A Revenge tragedy conventionally results in the death of both the murderer and the avenger. This type of play was very popular during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras.