Influence and Themes of English Revenge Tragedy

Revenge Tragedy

Revenge tragedy is a genre of English theatre written from the mid-1580s to the early 1640s. The main themes of these plays are ghosts, incest, rape, torture, perversion, murder, betrayal, madness, strong passions, bloody violence, etc. Some of the most influential writers of this time were John Ford, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Kyd, John Marston, John Webster, George Chapman and Cyril Tourneur. We can distinguish some plays such as Kyd’s Spanish Tragedy, which initiated the dramatic archetype, inventing the basic formula.

Notable Works

Another crowd-pleasers tragedy was Thomas Middleton’s ‘The Revenger’s Tragedy’ (1606). We can distinguish Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ even if others claim that it is not a true Revenge Tragedy. Hamlet has the ingredients of revenge tragedy but is the only revenge seeker who can be considered a hero in the genre. We can highlight some Webster’s plays such as ‘The White Devil’ (based on true events) and ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ (one of the most important plays); and Ford’s ‘‘Tis pity is a whore’.

Influence of Seneca

We can see the influence of Seneca on Elizabethan revenge tragedy. Seneca was a Roman statesman, philosopher, orator and dramatist which wrote some tragedies that influenced these writers. It contained hate, jealousy and love and also contained sensational elements, such as supernatural phenomena, cruel torture and bloody violence. He also inspired the Italian nouvelle. Other scholars believe that revenge tragedy was influenced by the medieval contemptus.

Female Characters

Regarding to female characters, they are made to suffer. They are forbidden from attempting sexual independence, and tortured for daring to resist. We do not know if these plays are proto-feminist because they show women taking control of their own destinies or misogynistic, sadistic fantasies. In ‘The Revenger’s Tragedy’ Vindice defines women in two ways: morbidly sexual, like the Duchess or as bloodless virgins.

Relevance

Even though in the 18^th century revenge tragedy fell in popularity, in the 20^th it grew again. We can tell that stories of forbidden desire, political power struggles and battles between the sexes or mutual desire, erotic frustration… force us to look directly at taboos. We can say that Revenge Tragedy makes you face the horror and this horror reminds you that you are not just the victim; you can also be a monster. Added to this, these plays remind us to the madness that is inside of us.