Is Revenge Justified Analysis

Revenge is considered by many, sought by some, and carried out by few. It consumes the avenger and what is left is madness. The theme of revenge is depicted in many works of literature. Two great examples of this theme would be The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe and Hamlet Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare. In Shakespeare’s play the character of Hamlet is looking to avenge the murder of his father King Hamlet and in McCabe’s novel the character of Francie Brady seeks for revenge for almost everything that has happened to him, from the death of his mother to the loss of Joe’s friendship. Often the question of whether revenge is justified arises. In Hamlets case I see revenge as being justifiable because his motivations are strong, but things get complicated quickly which result in tragedy. On the contrary I do not believe Francies acts of revenge are justified because his motivations for revenge are unjustly placed; his acts of revenge result in harm to himself as well as the person whom he places all the blame on.

The combination of distress and anger motivated Hamlet to avenge his father’s murder. The first thing that is learned in the play is that King Hamlet had recently died. As a result Hamlet felt an overwhelming melancholy, this is apparent in his soliloquies, he states “How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!” (1.2.133-134). Life to him is pointless and tiring. It’s been two months and he is still grieving to a point where it is not sane. This melancholy combined with the anger he felt with the remarriage of his mother to his uncle so quickly after his father’s funeral was a bad combination, but what pushed Hamlet over the edge was the encounter with the ghost of his father w...

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...stairs room (209).

This last act of revenge is not justifiable it is cold-blooded murder. When she called the Brady’s pigs she sealed her fate, and she was killed like a pig. Mrs. Nugent did wrong by insulting the Brady family and she did think and acted as if she was better then them but to go as far as to do this is unreasonable.

Francie attempted to get revenge on the Nugent family led to punishment against him. The first was when he broke into the Nugent home and trashed the place (he even defecated on their carpet). As a result Francie got sent to a convent where was sexually abused by a priest, and his friendship with Joe began to end. The next act of revenge was when he actually killed Mrs. Nugent and as a result he got sent to “the garage” and doesn’t come out. It was definitely a sad ending and I do feel some kind of sympathy for both Hamlet and Francie.