Revenge has often been presented throughout history and particularly in literature texts as an honor bound duty. Hamlet, Wuthering Heights and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, each explore revenge through the idea of the roles as well as the different types of revengers. The “impossibility to suffer” alone is illustrated through Heathcliff Hamlet and Laertes’ reasons and motifs for revenge as well as the nature at which revenge takes place and the consequences of revenge; this demonstrates the impossibility “to suffer without making someone pay for it” as these characters finds themselves sacrificing several human lives as mere pawns in their game. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched on the other hand illustrate this impossibility through their constant need to out run the other in their race of authority and every step taken in their plot “already contains revenge”.
Revenge to begin with is considered to be a “desire to retaliate for an injury” and “is a powerful, natural, and dangerous human emotion” this motif is evident in all three texts and to some extent could be said to be the message which the writers were trying to put across. To begin with, in Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw are presented by Bronte as the characters seeking revenge; with Heathcliff specifically seeking revenge for the life he had whilst growing up as well as for Catherine being taken away from him. His motif was that of a personal agenda as he aimed to avenge the past he had with Hindley by treating him as he had been treated. Rousseau stated in the Social Contract that “Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains” this seems to be the angle at which Bronte approaches her revenge plot. She alters the views of revenge through her pr...
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...ic and rite of war speak loudly for him” (IV, 2,400-403) a soldiers death suggest one of honor and great sacrifice, while McMurphy at the end had shown the patients “what a little bravado and courage could accomplish” and “taught us how to use it”. Heathcliff on the other hand “walked the hearth in evident agitation” (pg. 319) till his death.
In Conclusion, the impossibility to suffer without making someone pay for it is evident in all texts as the revenge characters presented each suffer from a past or present experience which becomes their driving force causing them majority of the time not consider their actions. This in turn links with the quote that every complaint already contains revenge as the characters such as Laertes and Heathcliff to a large extent are seen having vengeful motives from the start of which the outcome of death and disgrace are inevitable.
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.”
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.
Many years later, Heathcliff returns to the Heights to begin his plan of revenge. Therefore, Bronte suggests that society can distort one’s personality because it provides the situation in which money and greed can fulfill one’s vanity and ambitions for social status, and she indicates that revenge is an index of the hatred that the pressures of society can produce. Thus, one uses revenge to cover up their wounded heart and tricks themselves into a cycle of hatred and self-deception.
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.
Norms of Revenge. 4. Blackwell Publisher, 1990. 862. eBook. . Bar-elli, G. and Heyd, D. (1986), Can revenge be just or otherwise justified?.
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.
Hindley’s obstructive actions, imposed on Heathcliff’s life, expand an internal anger that arouses as Heathcliff’s time at Wuthering Heights draws to a close. The negligent and condemnatory conditions advanced by Hindley transform Heathcliff’s futuristic outcome and supply him with motives to carry out vengeance on multiple personalities involved in the plot. Heathcliff’s troubled social environment renders it difficult to determine the ethical legitimacy behind his decisions, contributing to the moral ambiguity of his
Revenge is a major theme throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. This theme provides motivation for characters to murder each other throughout the play, whether or not characters seek revenge for themselves. Because Laertes and Hamlet are so absorbed with wanting to exact revenge upon certain people, they ultimately cause the deaths of all of the main characters in the play. Revenge is the main root of evil in this play. Laertes is greatly influenced by revenge for his actions, especially when he is seeking revenge for his sister.
Revenge is a recurring theme in Hamlet. Although Hamlet wants to avenge his father’s death, he is afraid of what would result from this. In the play Hamlet, Hamlet’s unwillingness to revenge appears throughout the text; Shakespeare exhibits this through Hamlet’s realization that revenge is not the right option, Hamlet‘s realization that revenge is the same as the crime which was already committed, and his understanding that to revenge is to become a “beast” and to not revenge is as well (Kastan 1).
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. In the play, Hamlet seeks revenge on his uncle Claudius.
Throughout Hamlet, each character’s course of revenge surrounds them with corruption, obsession, and fatality. Shakespeare shows that revenge proves to be extremely problematic. Revenge causes corruption by changing an individual’s persona and nature. Obsession to revenge brings forth difficulties such as destroyed relationships. Finally, revenge can be the foundation to the ultimate sacrifice of fatality. Hamlet goes to show that revenge is never the correct route to follow, and it is always the route with a dead
Heathcliff determination for revenge Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is not an actual love story; it is built on revenge and not on love. Love is weaker than revenge. In this story, Heathcliff spend most of his time planning his revenge instead of going after Catherine, who he loves. Being deeply in love with someone should show some kind of happiness for one another instead of seeking revenge. Heathcliff dedication for revenge is greater than the love he has for Catherine. An innocence gypsy boy grows up with the Earnshaw. As he grows up the Earnshaw and Linton families mistreat Heathcliff for so long. Revenge. Only shows us that getting back at everyone at any cost is better than being in love, plus love is for the weak and revenge is for the strong. Heathcliff has a grudge on the two families and is determined for vengeance sooner or later.
The Roman poet, Juvenal, once said that, "Revenge is always the weak pleasure of a little and narrow mind." Most people would agree with Juvenal that revenge is an abhorrent human need that can only satisfy narrow-minded people. Even though, we know revenge will generally not bring us much satisfaction, we still constantly lust for taking revenge on someone. It is because revenge is such a natural part of human nature that writers so often use it as their theme. Revenge can easily be an awe-inspiring theme for a novel because it is something that all people can relate to, whether they know it or not. The suspense from it will make most people sit on the edge of their seats.
After Heathcliff gets revenge by bankrupting Hindley for mistreating him (which was Hindley’s revenge for Heathcliff having become his father’s favorite), Hindley’s desire for revenge multiplies. At first he simply wanted to separate Heathcliff from Cathy, but now he tells Isabella, “I will have [my house] back; and I’ll have his gold too; and then his blood; and hell shall have his soul! It will be ten times blacker with that guest than ever it was before!” (124). Hindley’s desire for revenge has become murderous and intensely cruel, to the point of wishing Heathcliff’s soul to be in Hell. Heathcliff, originally abused by Hindley, has become the abuser and appears to grow more greedy for revenge as the plot develops. When he explains to Catherine, “ You are welcome to torture me to death for your amusement, only allow me to amuse myself a little in the same style” (100), he is showing her that she can torture him as much as she wants, but he will pass all of this pain onto someone else. The remedy to his pain is to become the inflictor of pain. Compounding his emergence as the abuser, later in the novel Heathcliff develops an interest in tormenting Hindley’s son, Hareton. He wants to “see if one tree won’t grow as crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it!” (165), meaning that that he was blown by the wind and became twisted by Hindley, now he will return the favor to Hareton, denying Hareton an
Emily Bronte’s, Wuthering Heights, includes the struggle for happiness, like marry like, and revenge. Heathcliff grew up neglected and abused. When he fell in love with his long time friend, Catherine Earnshaw, she betrayed him by choosing another man over him, causing Heathcliff to become bitter and rude to everyone who comes in contact with him. He goes out of his way to make everyone miserable and unhappy just like himself. Although the perspective of Heathcliff is seen as “a mad man,” he is actually suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder, Conduct Disorder, and Depression.