236 CHAPTER 6 REVENGE MOTIF IN SHAKESPEAREAN TRAGEDIES Vengeance is not just a theme created by authors; it is seen throughout the world every day. Vengeance is repeated endlessly throughout human history and most people encounter vengeance at some point in their life. Vengeance is also a natural part of the human character. Therefore, vengeance is a universal theme which many authors introduce in their works. Sometimes, even when their works are translated to different languages; their theme can also be communicated to the audience or readers around the world effectively. Vengeance also makes a great change in human life. It may bring sadness or conflicts, sometimes even injury or death. For that reason, vengeance is an imperfection in the human character and it may cause serious destruction. Elizabethan ear saw the flourishing of drama and its Theatre it was in this era in which the literature and art grew with magical effects and the love of art by the queen herself. With the expert emerging of dramas and scriptwriting s becoming common between socialites. Between 1580 and 1660 was the result of a remarkable outburst of energy. It is, however, the drama of roughly the
237 same period that stands highest in popular estimation. The works of its greatest representative, William Shakespeare, have achieved worldwide renown. In the previous Middle English period there had been, within the church, a gradual broadening of dramatic representation of such doctrinally important events as the angel's announcement of the resurrection to the women at the tomb of Christ. Ultimately, performances of religious drama had become the province of the craft guilds, and the entire Christian story, from the creation of the world to the last judgment, had been reenacted for secular audiences. It was basically socially and religiously connected." It is also true that the Elizabethan Era was a very violent age and that the high incidence of political assassinations in Renaissance Italy (embodied by Niccole Machiavelli's The Prince) little to calm fears of popish plots. As a result, representing that kind of violence on the stage was probably more cathartic for the Elizabethan spectator" 1. William Shakespeare is synonymous with greatness for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was his ability to take ordinary situations and make them intensely comical and or interesting, and to do so in a way that relied almost completely on well-arranged dialogue to do so. He also was able to very deftly take on serious subjects, especially power and intrigue, which, at the time, would have been fantastically interesting to the average British reader or audience. Also, Shakespeare was incredibly prolific, turning out play after play over the course of his career, leaving us with a rich and varied body of work to
238 appreciate, reasons for Shakespeare's excellence are many and various and very fascinating. For a start, for such an accomplished writer, he had a surprisingly un-aristocratic background. His writings show great awareness of the classics and traditional stories yet he did not go to university. Amazing then, that by 1592 he was already known in London as both an actor and playwright. His greatness perhaps came out of an ability to learn quickly and to adapt that knowledge to what he knew audiences wanted for example he took many of his early plays from England's history. He is a product of his time, as all writers are, but he transcended what any of his contemporaries accomplished. Others were writing revenge tragedies in his day, as many writers had done before him. But he reaches a sophistication and complexity that is unmatched. His word play, his use of motifs, his themes, and his characterization are all superior to what anyone else was doing at the time. Shakespeare takes a common plot like hamlet and turns it into a complex masterpiece, for instance. His vocabulary, his phrasing, and his transcendence make Shakespeare a great playwright. Shakespeare is also good at toying with every human experience. He knew how to keep an audience involved, every member of the audience. Recent commentary on the question of revenge in Shakespeare's plays frequently alludes to the dramatic genre known as revenge tragedy, a form that achieved widespread popularity in the late Elizabethan and Jacobean period. The most notable English example of this form is Thomas Kyd's The Spanish
239 Tragedy (c. 1587), a play which helped formulates the conventions of this genre and to which Shakespeare's adaptations are frequently compared. Critics do not agree on the extent to which Shakespeare's treatment of revenge adheres to or diverges from the standards established by Kyd and others. Shakespeare studies the moral and ethical dilemmas facing the revenger's much more closely than did any of his predecessors or contemporaries. It's been argued that his depiction of revenge generally reflects normative religious and ethical precepts that condemn personal retaliation for a wrong; indeed, it could be contend that Shakespeare endorsed the idea that revenge is the prerogative of heaven but in contrast to this it is also believed that regardless of moral or religious injunctions against personal vengeance, Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences shared a universal, instinctive desire to see violence repaid with violence and that Shakespeare understood and even, on occasion, sympathized with this impulse. Despite disagreements over what his works may reveal about the dramatist's attitude toward revenge, scholars uniformly regard Hamlet and Titus Andronicus as the plays that come closest to the revenge tragedy model. To talk about the great four tragedies of Shakespeare, one of the greatest tragedians this world has ever known, was particular skillful in creating intensely dramatic scenes; in this he is rivaled only by the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Shakespeare necessarily included much violence and death in his works, as these elements produce perhaps the most powerful and
240 tragic effects of all literary. Shakespeare uses revenge mostly because it is a very natural yet intensely emotional path to violence, but also because revenge is one of the great vices of human life, and by showing the tragic consequences of vengeance Shakespeare conveyed a powerful message to humanity. We may see in his work the focus on his play in which revenge and violence are central themes. This violence was necessary, because without it Shakespeare could not have so powerfully shown the destruction spread by the emotion of revenge. This is true in many of his plays. For example, we could not feel the extreme power of the love of Romeo and Juliet without seeing that they were willing to follow this bond beyond death itself. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses violence as the ultimate sin, and shows how decadent and destructive it can be. Violence and vengeance are intensely dramatic and intensely tragic; this is the primary reason for Shakespeare's use of it in his tragedies. Shakespeare shows us the evil of revenge by telling of the extremely dire consequences of Hamlet's obsession. Death, disease and destruction are all present in Hamlet, and the death of Claudius is insignificant compared to the massive death to even the more innocent and fair characters. William Shakespeare throughout his work presents aspects of the human condition which are so undeniably universal that anyone could at least understand them if not relate to them. The masterful manner in which Shakespeare puts forth countless concepts common to all people is one of the greatest reasons his work as survived over the centuries and has continued to be
241 popular. One of the most eminently occurring and important aspects of human nature that appears in Shakespeare s work is the concept of revenge. Shakespeare proves through his plays that revenge is wrong. Others agree that revenge is a universal attribute if not a desirable one. We can say that a revenge play can definitely easy to equate with contemporary society. Vengeance is a powerful force, one that many people succumb to. Every day, in this country, crimes are committed against citizens in the name of revenge, and the same things happen in other countries as well. This is true, not only throughout the twentieth century, but throughout all time as well and it was so clearly seen in the sixteen century as well. "Revenge is an integral part of human nature. Therefore, a play that deals with that particular concept is extremely viable in popular culture because it shows the immorality of the subject. Vengeance never triumphs, Iago is proof of that" 2. It can be said that of course Iago in Othello is foiled at least in that he does not escape punishment for carrying out his evil revenge. But when we talk about Hamlet the same reader or viewer who may condemn Iago for his vengeance can often be more forgiving of Hamlet s revenge. The Elizabethan Revenge in Hamlet points that no revenge, no matter how just, ever wholly escapes the penalty for shedding blood, even in error. Hamlet s demise may bring about a sense of sympathy for his spiteful cause, but neither his downfall nor his motives can truly justify his vengeful actions. One must not look at Hamlet alone to grasp the tone of Shakespeare concerning
242 revenge, but all of his plays that deal with the subject. Looking at Hamlet by itself, one might mistake the playwright s attitude toward revenge, but keeping the play in context with the rest of his work, one sees much more accurately the view of Shakespeare. The ghost of his father appears to Hamlet Author Ben Kimpel points out that "Revenge in its cruelest forms is an element in every category of the plays (written by Shakespeare) except the happy comedies" 3. It was quite sure that it was difficult to understand revenge only on the basis of the understanding the playwright s view on the subject then with just Hamlet. Kimpel continues to address "the unsurpassed vengeance found in Titus Andronicus, in which the Queen of the Goths seeks revenge on a Roman general for killing her son by murdering all of his sons: The Queen of the Goths exacts revenge upon her enemy according to a version of the ancient mentality of an eye for an eye" 4. Another dark example of revenge that remains even truer to the latter philosophy is that of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Here revenge shows an uglier face than in Titus Andronicus or Hamlet partly because the motive of the revenge Shylock seeks is belittling persecution he has received at the hand of Antonio. Although an injustice, this is not nearly as justifiable grounds as the murder of one s father or son as in the other plays. Iago in Othello also fails to seize the reader or audience s sympathy because his motive for revenge, Othello sleeping with his wife, is just a suspicion of which he has no proof.
243 Indeed, one of the only reasons Hamlet s murders could be viewed as justified in any way is that Hamlet finds himself caught between two moral codes, one urging him to honor his father by avenging him and the other requiring him to forgive. Similarly in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo finds himself caught avenging the death of Mercutio in a rage even though it sets up the tragic downfall of his love with Juliet. Fortinbras and Laertes find no such bind with moral dilemma when they seek revenge for the death of their fathers only because they are consumed by vengeance. They serve as foil characters to Hamlet. Although the degree and severity of guilt varies in all these instances, Shakespeare never portrays vengeance as a noble cause. Even Hamlet eventually resolves that what will be, will be. Furthermore, the Elizabethan Christian morals of Shakespeare s time condemned revenge. Alfred Harbage reminds Shakespearean students, "Few moral notions were an unfamiliar notion to Elizabethans. A warning against vengeance, at least as directed at kings, appears in the Belleforest version of the Hamlet story itself, and all moralists of the time fulminated against it" 5. Although Elizabethans may have liked to see revenge carried out on the stage much the way modern society may take pleasure with seeing it in movies, they were as a society morally set against revenge. Shakespeare undoubtedly was well aware of this and through his plays conveys a similar view. The article "Elizabethan Revenge in Hamlet" supports these facts: "It should not be
244 assumed that revenge plays parallel the moral expectations of the Elizabethan audience. Church, State and the regular morals of people in that age did not accept revenge; instead they thought that revenge would simply not under any circumstances be tolerated no matter what the original deed was. It is repugnant on theological grounds, since Christian orthodoxy posits a world ordered by Divine Providence, in which revenge is a sin and a blasphemy, endangering the soul of the revenger" 6. Francis Bacon says of revenge; "Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought to law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it doth but offends the law; but the revenge of that wrong, putted the law out of office" 7. It is clear that Shakespeare agrees with Bacon that it is better to forgive than to take revenge. Shakespeare reminds the audience through Prospero of the Christian moral that one must forgive to be forgiven. To be precise on the four great tragedies of William Shakespeare who started writing tragedies because he thought the tragic plots used by other English writers were lacking artistic purpose and form. He used the fall of a notable person as the main focus in his tragedies. Suspense and climax were an added attraction for the audience. He used a lot of expressions & emotion in his work of art, one of which was Revenge Motif. The four great and the most famous Shakespearean tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth lets us see the motif and emotion of revenge in these:
245 Hamlet: There are many questions concerning Hamlet s madness and multiple ways of interpreting his actions. Three separate versions of the tragedy exist, which provide even more possibilities for alternate interpretations. Shakespeare became the genius that recognized both tragedy and comedy; borrowing from classic tragedies while adding new complexity to characters. The possibility for multiple interpretations allows the themes of Hamlet to accommodate the shifting perspectives of not only Shakespeare s audience, but our own society. "Leslie Croxford calls Hamlet the most problematic play ever written due to its various medieval and Renaissance sources, multiple printed versions of the play as well as a host of unresolved thematic and psychological problems" 7. Chief among these concerns are: the question of Hamlet s contemplation and the origin of the Ghost that charges him with the task of revenge: "The suggestion that the Ghost is from purgatory is thus considerably more than just a part of Shakespeare s novel way of presenting him as less bombastic, less unequivocally evil, more integrated into the plot than such spirits tended to be in Elizabethan theatre. It is the means, precisely, of advancing the pre eminently interrogative mood, launching thereby the Prince s and play s focus on the need to interpret" 8. It is this inquisitive mood that allows us to find many plausible explanations for the Ghost as well as judging the mental state of the characters. Three prevailing modes of existence in Elizabethan society interpreted the Ghost very differently. Based on Humanists, unlike the two factions of
246 Christianity in the play were relatively unconcerned about the supernatural world and the eternal destiny of the soul. Hamlet and the others do not simply die and go to heaven in a Humanist s interpretation. This is hinted at when Hamlet considers suicide but hesitates that was not because of an absolute Christian belief in divine retribution but because he is afraid of an afterlife of which he cannot be sure. Hamlet ponders death throughout the play and in his most famous soliloquy brings his fears about death to light: To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscovered country, from who bourne No traveler returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have, Then fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards (III- 1) 9. Hamlet s insistence on the fact that no traveler returns seems at odds with his decision to believe the Ghost is that of his father but this speech does come at a time where Hamlet may be acting for Claudius and Polonius. The possibility that Hamlet is acting during these lines doesn t mean their content is insincere. It is believed that Shakespeare achieves a tone of uncertainty about death that was emerging at the time. This element would appeal to Humanists who were more concerned with the way man lives than what happens after he dies. With the emergence of Humanism Shakespeare
247 gained a large audience that was interested in the revival of traditional stories with contemporary commentary. The rapidly growing society and prosperous climate of Shakespeare s time generated interest in worldly pleasures, in spite of formal allegiance to ascetic Christian doctrine. As a time of transition is was impossible to escape the theme of religion but innovative writers such as Shakespeare were able to layer multiple meanings within the same space. This supports the argument that Hamlet, as a Renaissance man was a figure that represented the gap between the two vastly different worlds: The world of the medieval Christian matrix, in which the significance of every phenomenon was ultimately determined through uniform points of view, no longer existed for him. On the other hand, he had not yet found in a system of scientific concepts and social principles stability and security for his life. In other words, Renaissance man may indeed have found himself suspended between faith and reason. While the words of King Hamlet to his son are to revenge his death, the play Hamlet is not simply a revenge play, for the revenge of the ghost to which Hamlet has sworn is enacted only in the final act. Rather, Hamlet is a "dialectical revenge play" as one critic terms it. For, the resolution of the revenge plot is mired in veils of illusion and conflict that demonstrate the incommensurability of revenge. While the death of King Hamlet disrupts the realm of the Danish court, it is not the king's death which effects the action; instead it is the dialectic that Hamlet has with death and life that moves the tragedy because justice calls for his life. Shakespeare's longest
248 play is an existential one: "To be or not to be" is, indeed, the question at the crux of the drama. That the play is logical is evident in the seven monologues of Hamlet that direct the movement of the play that is most of these monologues are reflective of Hamlet's great self-debate about avenging his father's murder. In his first reason, for example is that Hamlet expresses his anger against his mother for so quickly marrying after the death of her husband. When we talk about the second reason being after seeing King Hamlet's ghost, he rails further against his mother, calling her a "damned villain" while he promises to avenge his father's death, "I have sworn't." Yet, Hamlet does not proceed with this revenge until the final act. While he delays this action, he recriminates himself for not doing something when a player in fictional The Murder of Gonzago displays so much more emotion than he, Had he the motive and the cue for passion That I have? He would drown the stage with tears, And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, Make mad the guilty...why, what an ass am I!... Must...unpack my heart with words... (2.2) 9. But, in his next reason Hamlet is still passive, reflecting on existence and how it would be better to "sleep, to say we end," but "conscience doth make cowards of us all"(23.1) 9. Finally, after he observes Fortinbras, a "delicate and tender prince," who fights for a parcel of land that has been taken from his father, Hamlet is shamed into action, declaring, and "This is I, Hamlet the
249 Dane" (5.1) 9. With Ophelia, Hamlet is, perhaps, more verbally vengeful than with any other character because he knows that their conversation is being overheard and he feels betrayed. He acts as though he no longer loves her, "I did love you once"; he insults her with lewd words as they wait on the play's beginning. But, he continues his dialogue with revenge as inadequate after she dies and he declares his love for her to Gertrude in the graveyard scene. Likewise, his veiled illusions with his former friends result in their revenge deaths as do Hamlet's angry words with Polonius, as well as his words with Gertrude that result finally with her death hat may be considered as her sacrifice, perhaps, for her son as she drinks from the cup intended for Hamlet. Certainly, this death, too, is incommensurable for Hamlet as is that of Laertes, who tells Hamlet, the foul practice/hath turned itself on me" (5.2) 9. The final act of revenge is the only one that is satisfying to Hamlet- One question that is often debated by critics of the play is the true nature of Hamlet s revenge. Harold R. Walley describes Hamlet as "a sensitive gentleman scholar disillusioned in his social contacts and oppressed with the villainy and futility of life" 10. It is no wonder that it's so clear when he questions himself and his impending revenge we can identified with this description of Hamlet and feel Shakespeare must have had a great deal of insight into the psychology of his characters that was specially in revenge. Walley asserts that Hamlet uses his madness only in certain circumstances and in the view of certain characters for the purpose of facilitating his revenge" 11. This madness is not the same as
250 Ophelia s because he can clearly choose to whom he discloses it and yet remain sane when talking with Horatio, the only character he feels he can fully trust. While religious readings of his odd behavior would point directly to madness a Humanist view would point out that Hamlet s ravings, no matter how crazy they seem to the characters within the play make perfect sense in Hamlet s mind. Shakespeare is regarded so highly in part because his characters are so deep and memorable, especially when compared to other plays of the time. It is Shakespeare s characters that give typical tragedies their human motivation which allows them to relate with so many generations. The interpretations of the Ghost and Hamlet s madness are partially due to the existence of three distinct versions of the. Hamlet was most likely based off of an earlier play and then was expanded and given stronger character motivation and intricate under and over plots. It can be considered that this would have been what Elizabethan audiences would have viewed; its reliance on action and emotion make it the most conducive of the revenge tragedy genre. In Hamlet, Shakespeare follows regular convention for a large part of the play. In the beginning, Shakespeare sets up the scene, having a ghost on a dark night. Everyone is working and something strange is happening in Denmark. It is as if Shakespeare is saying that some kind of foul play has been committed. This set up for the major theme in the play which is of course revenge. The ghost appears to talk to Hamlet. It is quite obvious that the play had a gruesome, violent death and the sexual aspect of the play was clearly introduced in the play
251 when Claudius married Hamlet s mother Gertrude. The ghost tells Hamlet that he has been given the role of the person who will take revenge upon Claudius. Hamlet must now thinking of how to take revenge on Claudius, although he doesn t know what to do about it. He ponders his thoughts for a long period of time, expecting to do the deed immediately, but instead he drags it on until the end of the play. Although what was important to note was that all tragic heroes of plays at that time delayed their actual revenge until the end of the play. In most revenge plays, the revenger was often anonymous and well disguised, stalking the enemy about to be killed, but Hamlet started a battle of wits with Claudius by acting mad and calling it his antic disposition, although the whole thing was a ploy to get closer to Claudius to be able to avenge his father s death more easily. The tactic was a disadvantage in that it drew all attention upon him. It was an advantage that his temperament isolated him from the rest of the court because of the people not paying attention to what he thought or did because of his craziness. One important part of all revenge plays is that after the revenge is finally decided upon, the tragic hero delays the actual revenge until the end of the play. Hamlet s delay of killing Claudius takes on three distinct stages. Firstly he had to prove that the ghost was actually telling the truth, and he did this by staging the play The Mousetrap at court. When Claudius stormed out in rage, Hamlet knew that he was guilty. The second stage was when Hamlet could have killed Claudius while he was confessing to god. If Hamlet had done
252 it at that time during the play then Claudius would have gone to heaven. So Hamlet therefore decided not to murder Claudius at this point in the play. The third delay was the fact that he got side tracked. He accidentally killed Polonius which created a So Hamlet therefore decided not to murder Claudius at this point in the play. After he commits this murder he was also sent off and unable to see the king for another few weeks until he could finally do the job. We may say that Hamlet very closely follows the regular conventions for all Elizabethan tragedies. First Hamlet is faced with the fact that he has to avenge the murder of his father and since there is no fair justice available, he must take the law into his own hands. The ghost of his father appears to guide Hamlet to Claudius and inform Hamlet of the evil that Claudius has committed. Hamlet is definitely a great example of a typical revenge tragedy of the Elizabethan theater era. It followed every convention required to classify it as a revenge play quite perfectly. Hamlet is definitely one of the greatest revenge stories ever written and it was all influenced first by Sophocles, Euripides and other Greeks, and then more importantly by Seneca. Hamlet as well as The Spanish Tragedy tackled and conquered all areas that were required for the consummation of a great revenge tragedy. Revenge although thought to be unlawful and against the Church was absolutely adored by all Elizabethan people. The Elizabethan audience always insisted on seeing eventual justice, and one who stained his hands with blood had to pay the penalty. That no revenger, no matter how just,
253 ever wholly escapes the penalty for shedding blood, even in error. This was also a very important point that was also dealt with brilliantly by Shakespeare in finding a way to kill Hamlet justly even though he was required to kill Claudius. Hamlet was written with the mighty pen of Shakespeare who once again shows people that he can conjure up any play and make it one of the greatest of all time. Hamlet was one of the greatest of all time. After have read many opinions and critiques of Hamlet but even the most well established ideas of history are simply conception that are communicated overtime through physical documents. This remains true even when the history in question is that of an imaginary person, a character inhibited by many actors over time. While the words of King Hamlet to his son are to revenge his death, the play Hamlet is not simply a revenge play, for the revenge of the ghost to which Hamlet has sworn is enacted only in the final act. Rather, Hamlet is a logical revenge play the resolution of the revenge plot is troubled in veils of illusion and conflict that demonstrate the appropriateness of revenge. While the death of King Hamlet disrupts the realm of the Danish court, it is not the king's death which effects the action; instead it is the dialectic that Hamlet has with death and life that moves the tragedy because justice calls for his life. Even when considering the version that most people would have known in Shakespeare s day there were other factors in an individual s interpretation. The most common view during the period was Protestantism. However, Queen Elizabeth was known for being religiously tolerant of
254 Catholics which accounts for the two conflicting viewpoints existing in society simultaneously. Shakespeare clearly had enough knowledge of the religious world to use it in his plays evident in his references to Purgatory. The cultures at play during Shakespeare s life influenced him as a writer and therefore his plays. Society was changing from a medieval state to a modern one. There are characters that represent each stage within the play and Hamlet rests in the middle, a character that represents the Reformation and Renaissance, the stepping stones to modernity. The Ghost represents the passing medieval world. King Hamlet was a ruler only as long as he was able to overpower his adversaries. While we can say it is up to Hamlet to decide whether or not the spirit is truly his father. Hamlet is ultimately stuck between two worlds and so he obeys the Ghost but drags his feet a bit. Hamlet eventually avenges his father, a common belief and practice in the medieval age. Claudius as the most modern character has no reservations about poisoning his own brother to gain a more favorable position for himself. Hamlet is a conflicted character because he doesn t fit easily into either category. He wants to avenge his father and eventually decides to do so but thinks about it carefully spending much of the play in limbo. At first Hamlet fears the spirit and thinks it may be a demon and later he refuses to kill Claudius in a moment in which he appears to be absolving himself from his sins. Hamlet and Claudius usually defer the most in decision
255 making ultimately leads to Hamlet s downfall and serves as the climax of the tragedy. The Renaissance was a restoration of classical Greek culture which highly valued the tragic genre and revered its heroes in spite of their fatal flaws. Hamlet s excessive thinking leads to inevitability of death, which is the precondition of revenge tragedy. Shakespeare didn t invent revenge tragedy but many believe he perfected it. Hamlet was only possible because of the revenge tragedies that came before it, like Thomas Kyd s The Spanish Tragedy with its father avenging a son, its play within the plat, its introductory ghost, and its heroine s madness. There are many additional instances in the play that render themselves useful for these contrasting interpretations. Shakespeare played with the idea of multiplicity in much of his work and constructed complicated multi-layered plots and foil characters to emphasize this point. Shakespeare was able to create multiple layers in his dramas because he lived in a time of transition and his plays had to appeal to a large and varied audience. This makes his plays withstand the test of time and remain intriguing to modern minds. Modern audiences read their own complexities into Shakespeare s characters, especially Hamlet. Hamlet could be seen as simply mad, but it is much more interesting to consider that he is an actor playing a character who decides to play a mad character. Madness is only one aspect of society that has changed since Shakespeare s time.
256 Hamlet was written at the height of Shakespeare s tragic period and was ultimately produced by the culture of that time. Hamlet s inaction is caused by internal conflicts and a feeling of uneasiness about the rapidly shifting world. Shakespeare has become more than a writer, his life and his characters lives have interwoven themselves into literary history. Just as Hamlet has become almost real through his various representations, the biography of William Shakespeare requires as much interpretation as his plays. Shakespeare himself is one of the most known and yet elusive characters in history. In order to interpret his multi-dimensional approach to classic revenge story we need to t understand much about Elizabethan culture. It is possible to interpret these stories from long ago if the zeitgeist of pre-modern England is preserved and supported with sufficient textual and imaginative evidence but we can never know the full meaning behind one of the most enduring tragedies of all time. Hamlet is about an emotionally scarred young man trying to avenge the murder of his father, the king. The ghost of hamlets father appears to Hamlet, telling him that he was murdered by his brother, Claudius, who has now become the king; Claudius has also married Gertrude, the old kings widow and hamlets, mother. Like many other critics we can absorb that Hamlet broke new ground although Shakespeare incorporated the central elements of revenge tragedy in the play, he freely adapted them to facilitate an exploration of Hamlet's attempt to reconcile his actions with the evil implicit in the pursuit of revenge. The
257 principal distinction between Hamlet and its descendants is Shakespeare's complex characterization of the revenger. In Hamlet the revenge is shown with the appearance of the Ghost as Hamlet s father who uttered this line: "So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear" In these lines the Ghost of Hamlets father tells him that he had been poisoned by his brother Claudius at the time he slept in his orchard. The ghost further says: "Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder This is said to further provoke Hamlet to take revenge if he is not already feeling the longing to do so. In Shakespeare Hamlet one may also considers the stock role of the revenger, proposing that while Hamlet is not averse to the idea of bloody vengeance, he finds the traditional form of revenge philosophically and aesthetically contrary to his image of himself. But at the end revenge is unsuitable to the prince's nature and that Hamlet is convinced that revenge is pointless, for, unlike remembrance, it cannot restore that which has been lost. Hamlet tries to persuade himself that revenge is a means of restoring the past, but ultimately he rejects vengeance, both because it is futile and because it entails replicating the crime that incited it. Evaluating Hamlet as a version of revenge tragedy we may simply understand that the revenger's pursuit of retribution for past wrongs traditionally and paradoxically leads him to imitate the actions of the object of his vengeance. Thus we can say that hamlet is truly a revenge play as its main motif is revenge.
258 Othello: William Shakespeare's works gained immortality due to the fact that the central themes in most of his plays encompass human emotions like jealousy, ambition, greed, betrayal, and revenge which are universal themes that were evident in Shakespeare's time, that are evident in our time as well and that the theme of Revenge in Othello is a constant theme throughout the play. Othello a Moor serving as a general in the military of Venice, is Victimized as a result of his love for Desdemona, the daughter of a Venetian statesman. The villain of the play is Iago a career military man who plots revenge against revenge against Othello, Desdemona and Michael Cassio because Othello has promoted cassio to lieutenant, a position to which Iago feels he is entitled. The theme of revenge is portrayed through the character Iago. Iago is determined to destroy Othello and his loved ones. This retribution is a result of Othello promoting Cassio to the position of lieutenant. The theme of revenge is the motivation of Iago hatred toward Othello. In the beginning of the play, Iago feels betrayed by his good friend, Othello. Through many years of loyalty and service Iago is personal suit to make himself a lieutenant by Othello. When Othello has to choose his lieutenant, he appoints Cassio. Iago feels hurt and betrayed, and realizes there is no remedy except for revenge. From the start of Shakespeare's Othello, Iago makes it very clear that he holds no love for the title character. In his opening argument with Roderigo, Iago says that his anger stems from the fact that Othello unfairly passed him over for promotion and
259 made Michael Cassio his lieutenant, even though Cassio, unlike Iago, has no military field experience. Although this is a good reason to be angry at Othello, Iago later reveals to the audience what he doesn't reveal to Roderigo. Throughout Othello revenge has became a major part of the conflict. As Othello has progressed we see Iagos hate towards Othello, which can be assumed as revenge. Iago is jealous of Othello and what he has. He also believes that Othello slept with his wife therefore; Iago has been seeking revenge against Othello. This can be seen when Iago says: Let me see now, to get his place and to plume up my will in double knavery. How? How? Let s see. After some time, to abuse Othello s ear that he is too familiar with his wife (I. III Lines 383-387) 12. From this quote we can infer how Iago is seeking revenge against Othello by using others against him. Iago has planned to use Cassio as Desdemona s other lover, which is not true. Iago then works to use Othello s wife and Lieutenant against him, in order to get revenge. In this process, Othello then begins to seek revenge against Cassio and his wife, because he thinks they are having an affair. Othello then becomes angry with them and wants Cassio dead. In the end, revenge has created a large part of the conflict within Othello. In a soliloquy at the end of Act I, Scene 3, Iago divulges perhaps the true nature of his hatred toward Othello: I hate the Moor; And it is thought abroad that 'twixt my sheets He has done my office: I know not if's be true; But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,
260 Will do as if for surety 13. It appears that there are rumors that Othello has slept with Iago's wife, Emilia. Here, Iago says to himself when no other characters are able to hear that he doesn't care whether the rumors are true; he's going to proceed as if they are indubitably true. Throughout the play, Iago's soliloquies disclose to the audience what he does not reveal to the other characters as his plans take shape. At the end of Act II, Scene 1, he reiterates the real motivation behind his plots against Othello: I do suspect the lusty Moor Hath leap'd into my seat: the thought whereof Doth, like a poisonous mineral, gnaw my inwards; And nothing can or shall content my soul Till I am even'd with him, wife for wife 14. Thus Revenge is a very immense theme of Othello. We have seen it not just once but quite a few times. At the commencement of the play, Barbantio was looking for revenge against Othello because he took his daughter away from him. By act three we have seen the complete role reversal. In this case, Cassio has done something as bad as Othello taking Desdemona away from her father. In Othello s eyes, Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio. In this next quote you can see that Othello is desperate for revenge against Cassio. "Oh, that the slave had forty thousand lives! One is too poor, too weak for my revenge. Now do I see tis true. Look here, Iago, All my fond love
261 thus do I blow to heaven. Tis gone arise, black vengeance, from the hollow hell! Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne to tyrannous hate! Swell, bosom, with thy fraught, for tis of aspics' tongues!" 15. You can sense that Othello wants Cassio vanished and out of his life as rapidly as possible. He desires revenge for Cassio taking Desdemona away from him. Revenge is always a sour topic, especially when you do not have confirmed evidence that the victim is guilty. But underlying all of Iago's excuses and justifications is a deep-seated racism, which is apparent just by looking at how he refers to Othello. When he isn't, in private, calling Othello a "Barbary horse," an "old black ram," or an "erring barbarian," he usually refers to him in public simply as "the Moor," identifying Othello not as an individual or even by his rank, but by his race. In today's terms, this would be like calling someone "the Jew" or "the Arab" all the time. Such blatant racism wouldn't have been as shocking or disturbing to Shakespeare's audience, but modern performances of this great tragedy cannot avoid calling attention to the implications of Iago's prejudice. In an attempt for revenge, Iago publically humiliates Brabantio at Othello expense. In the middle of the night, Iago calls outside Brabantio house to inform him that his daughter, Desdemona has run away and eloped with Othello. Coming from two different backgrounds, Desdemona father takes offense to their inter-religion marriage. This demeans Othello and causes him to prove to Brabantio that he did not use any witchcraft or black magic to win Desdemona heart.
262 When Desdemona accepts her true love for Othello, her father disowns her. Iago first attempt to destroy Othello is successful, yet he still craves revenge. He devises a plan to destroy Othello. He wants to make Othello believe that Cassio is having an affair with his wife Desdemona. This will cause Othello to regret appointing Cassio as his lieutenant and simultaneously destroy Othello life. Iago is successful in convincing Othello is considered to be the most tragic of Shakespeare's plays. Shakespeare plays out a tale of a self-delusional villain that has declared revenge on Othello. For Iago, our delusional violin, to carry out his plan of revenge, he must intrude Othello's trust more so then he already has and he does this by prudence. Once Iago is able to persuade Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful, Othello is on a collision course to his demise and is so overcome with jealous rage that he allows nothing to stand in his way to revenge. The character of Iago is quick to spot this weakness in Othello, and quickly uses it to get his revenge on him. Iago is one of the more interesting characters in Shakespeare's' play Othello. Iago can be described as an evil, jealous, manipulative and a revenge seeking character. Macbeth: Macbeth is about a noble warrior who gets caught up in a struggle for power. Supernatural events and Macbeth ruthless wife play a major role in his downfall with Macduff, taking revenge against him. Macbeth is the story of a Scottish
263 warrior lord (or Thane) called Macbeth. A brave fighter and member of the nobility, Macbeth is admired by all. His weakness however, is his ambition which, when tempted, prompts him to pursue the assassination of his King, Duncan. As a result, Macbeth gains control of the monarch. The play traces how Macbeth s guilty conscious leads him to pursue further murderous acts. Slowly we see the world of Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth fall apart, culminating in a fight to the death between Macbeth and Macduff another Thane who seeks revenge on Macbeth for the slaughter of his family. Shrouding all of this is the element of the supernatural, represented by the three witches whose ambiguous prophecies at first tempt and then confuse Macbeth. A Shakespearean tragedy, as a rule, has a special tone or atmosphere of its own, quite distinguishable, however difficult to describe. The effect of this atmosphere is marked with unusual strength in Macbeth. It is due to a variety of influences which combine with those just noticed, so that, acting and reacting, they form a whole; and the desolation of the blasted heath, the design of the Witches, the guilt in the hero's soul, the darkness of the night, seem to emanate from one and the same source. This effect is strengthened by a multitude of small touches, which at the moment may be little noticed but still leave their mark on the imagination. We may approach the consideration of the characters and the action by distinguishing some of the ingredients of this general effect. The play is a revenge tragedy and an ambitious motif drama, as such, concerns the notion of divine punishment of a noble but a mortal man who
264 through his pride (hubris), expressed as a weakness in Macbeth s case, commits an act which upsets the natural order of the world, culminating in punishment from God or the gods of the man and thus restoring the natural order once again. Even though Macbeth has carefully planned the murder, he is still troubled by being unable to distinguish between what he has done and what has crossed his mind; the dagger is imaginary. Secondly, Macbeth s mental clash before he chooses to murder Duncan demonstrates this theme by showing the struggle between his "black and deep desires" 16 and his fear to let his eyes see the reality of what he is about to do "which the eye fears, when it is done, to see" 16. In Act III, Macbeth has been crowned king by the other thanes. Banquo reflects on how he fears Macbeth "played foully" to get the crown. Meanwhile, Macbeth has hired two men-who apparently have some grievance with Banquo-to kill him. Macbeth fears that the witches' prophecy about Banquo's sons might still come true, so he sends the murderers to kill both him and his son, Fleance. Though the murderers succeed in killing Banquo, Fleance escapes. Soon after the murder, Macbeth hosts a banquet for his thanes. Here, he has another hallucination, imagining that he sees the ghost of Banquo, which is likely a manifestation of his guilt. Lady Macbeth sends the other lords away from the banquet. She and Macbeth talk about how they have heard that Macduff, another thane, is acting treasonously. Macbeth resolves to find the witches and ask for more information about his future. The next act finds Macbeth in a cave with the witches. A series of apparitions appears, each giving Macbeth a
265 message about his future. The first is the image of a floating head, which warns him to beware of Macduff. The second is the image of a bloody child, and it tells Macbeth that he can never be defeated by someone born of a woman. The final image is of a child wearing a crown and holding a tree branch. This final apparition tells Macbeth that he cannot be defeated until the forest moves toward the trees. At the end of this, Macbeth sees one last vision, that of a line of kings with Banquo at the end, suggesting that Banquo's descendants will still inherit the throne. As a result of these visions, Macbeth gains new confidence, feeling as though he cannot easily be defeated. However, he still feels that he will do whatever it takes to prevent someone other than his own descendants inheriting the throne. He also resolves to prevent Macduff from becoming a problem, thereby deciding to murderer Macduff's family. The next scene pans to Macduff's family, showing his wife and innocent child being killed by a group of murderers. Clearly, Macbeth is responsible for this. It also represents the height of his crimes because he murders an innocent woman and her children for no reason than his own greed and ambition. The final scene shifts again, this time to Macduff. Seeking an ally, Macduff has traveled to England where Malcolm has sought refuge. Malcolm, leery of Macduff at first, tests his intentions by telling him a series of lies about his own behavior. However, Macduff passes the test and the two become allies. Additionally, at the end of this scene, Macduff learns of the death of his family and vows revenge against Macbeth. The last act of the play is much faster-paced
266 than the other acts. A brief scene shows that Lady Macbeth has lost herself to guilt. She sleepwalks, confessing to her crimes in her sleep, and constantly makes motions like she is attempting to wash blood from her hands. Meanwhile, Malcolm and Macduff's troops gather outside of Macbeth's castle. However, Macbeth is not worried because the visions he saw make him feel invincible. As camouflage, Malcolm's troops each cut down a branch from a tree and carry it in front of them to hide their numbers. Looking out from his castle, it appears to Macbeth that the forest has begun to move. He begins to become worried about the prophecies and the possibility for defeat. A battle begins inside the castle and, eventually, Macbeth is pitted against Macduff. Macduff reveals that he was ripped from his mother's womb, rather than being born, and Macbeth knows he has met his match. Indeed, Macduff defeats him, taking his head to Malcolm. The play ends on this note, with Malcolm taking over as king of Scotland. Macbeth, as with all Shakespeare plays, is a complex work. However, there are several major thematic components that are worthy of note here. One of the major ideas in the play is spoken at the beginning, when the witches utter "fair is foul and foul is fair." Throughout the play, the idea of things not being what they seem recurs in many different situations. Another important development in the play is the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, especially their relationship with guilt. Throughout the play, they both develop into far different characters than they were at the beginning. At the start of the
267 play, Lady Macbeth was very much in charge and rather remorseless. By the end, however, she is driven mad by guilt. Conversely, Macbeth at the beginning of the play wavers in what he wants to do but, by the end, he is callously willing to do whatever necessary to keep his position as king. Additionally, the ideas of fates and free will are important in the play. The witches have something to do with Macbeth's future but the question is: what? On the one hand, they might be influencing Macbeth's future by simply suggesting what he could become. On the other hand, they might actually know his unchangeable fate. We may say that how much control people actually have over their own destinies. However, it is also possible that by leaving this open-ended, Shakespeare allows the reader to continue to ask questions about the nature of fate. Because this one prophecy is left unfulfilled at the end of the play, it still begs the question whether or not the witches were showing Macbeth his actual fate all along, or whether they were manipulating him into acting based on what might be. Finally we may again see that when Lady Macbeth and her husband are washing their hands after the deed has been done, she replies to her husband's insecurity Lady Macbeth s mind suppresses the reality of the situation to fanaticize of the fair things. Themes of Macbeth: One of the themes in the partly revenge tragedy of Macbeth are that of blood and revenge. Macbeth is known for his skills as a warrior and his mercilessness that is shown in his killing of MacDonwald, this warrior mentality spreads though into his life and Macbeth begins to make