Revenge

In this study of revenge and revengers in two Elizabethan revenge

tragedies the two plays I shall look at are Hamlet, by William

Shakespeare, and The Revenger's Tragedy, by Thomas Middleton. I shall

look first at the playwrights' handling of the characters of the

revengers, and then at the treatment of the revengers by other

characters in the plays.

Although having similarities in their underlying themes, and in their

adherence to conventions, these two plays present contrasting pictures

of the figure of the revenger; Hamlet offering a far more complex

treatment of its main character, and The Revenger's Tragedy appearing,

in comparison, limited by the author's social message, and lacking in

realistic characterisation.

Hamlet and Vindice, the two revengers, have in common their tasks as

revengers, but they have very different methods of dealing with

situations, modes of thought, and instinctual behaviour. Middleton's

Vindice is largely an allegorical character; his name and the names of

other characters in The Revenger's Tragedy (e.g. Spurio, Ambitioso)

are derived from Medieval morality plays; names which suggest the

quality of near-farcical exaggeration which is a feature of The

Revenger's Tragedy from the opening scene's remarkable similarity to a

procession of the Seven Deadly Sins, to Vindice's simplistic

association of lust with Judas and the Devil.

Hamlet, in contrast, is an individual with depth, who suffers from

insecurity, and a sense of absurdity. As we see him at the beginning

of