Mini: Shakespearean Vengeance: Exploring Revenge Tragedies in Early Modern England

In today's episode, we're peeling back the layers of a genre that not only fascinated audiences of the Early Modern period but also left an enduring mark on the works of the Shakespeare himself: Revenge Tragedies.

Join us as we journey through time to an era of dramatic tension, dark desires, and vengeful spirits. Revenge tragedies, a genre that flourished in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, paved the way for some of Shakespeare's most iconic plays. In this episode, Kourtney and Elyse will shed light on the defining features, influential playwrights, and societal factors that contributed to the allure of these gripping tales of retribution.

Delve with us into a world of poisoned chalices, secret plots, and enigmatic ghosts as we dissect the very essence of a classic revenge tragedy. We'll explore the groundbreaking works of playwrights like Thomas Kyd, whose play The Spanish Tragedy not only set the stage for the genre's popularity but also influenced Shakespeare's own exploration of vengeance on the stage.

Step into the shoes of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatergoers, and discover why themes of political intrigue, power struggles, and personal vendettas struck a chord during those tumultuous times. We'll discuss the psychological complexities of characters seeking revenge, as well as the societal undercurrents that resonated with audiences then and continue to captivate audiences today.

Kourtney Smith (KS): Welcome to another Shakespeare Anyone mini-episode! In these mini-episodes, we’ll be exploring topics that are related to Shakespeare but aren’t necessarily connected to whatever play we’ve been discussing. 

Elyse Sharp (ES): And they’re mini, because, well, they’re shorter than our other episodes. They’re like quartos if the regular episodes are folio editions.  

KS: In today’s episode, we’ll be talking about revenge tragedies.

ES: Now we’ve talked about revenge tragedies before. Both plays, Hamlet and Titus Andronicus, respectively, are revenge tragedies. And the revenge tragedy genre is exactly what it sounds like: a drama in which the protagonist seeks revenge for an imagined or actual injury. In addition, these plays can question the morality of revenge and taking justice into one’s own hands. The term “revenge tragedy” was introduced in 1900 by A. H. Thorndike to label a class of plays written in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras, from roughly the 1580s to 1620s. And this genre was popular.

KS: And that makes sense because it grappled with early modern fears, anxieties and moralities. As we’ve discussed in Hamlet, the certainty that Hamlet requires in order to avenge his ghostly father offers a crucial moral dilemma for both Hamlet and the audience. We also discussed antic disposition and feigned madness as a tool to potentially vindicate Hamlet if he does fulfill the revenge plot. In Titus Andronicus, we’ve spoken of the continuous cycles of trauma and pain both the Andronici and the Goths endure as a result of Titus’ and Tamora’s vigilante revenge plots.

ES: But revenge tragedies were around long before Hamlet, Titus Andronicus or the slew of other early modern revenge tragedies, like Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy (which we’ll get to later!) The genre was derived from the Roman tragedies of Seneca, who lived from 4 BCE to CE 65 (40 years after Caesar’s death). His plays, though known for being bloodthirsty, were also quite popular. They circulated around Europe as early as the 13th century, and they were regularly performed in theatres, universities and courts by the 15th century. In fact, Seneca: His Tenne Tragedies was first published in English in 1581 by Thomas Newton, following individual publications in the 1550s and ‘60s.

KS: And Seneca made quite an impact on Shakespeare! Like we mentioned, Seneca shaped the Elizabethan and Jacobean revenge tragedies, generally. But we also see verbal echoes that link Seneca to Shakespeare. For example, in Seneca’s Medea, the title character invokes Hecate and visualizes the slaying of her own children, urging herself to be rid of her femininity, “Exile all foolish Female feare.” The scene ends with the visual of blood on her hands. Sound familiar to Lady Macbeth? Seneca is also referenced as a central figure of revenge drama when Polonius advises the traveling players, “Seneca cannot be too heavy.” Here, Polonius advises the actors to really lean into the emotional heaviness of a Senecan revenge tragedy.

ES: Fun fact: Seneca was also one of the primary models for the 5-act play structure!

KS: Now, let’s talk about perhaps the most influential of all of the Elizabethan and Jacobean revenge tragedies: Thomas Kyd’s 1592 The Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronomo is Mad Again. While Hamlet is often referred to as the greatest revenge tragedy of the era, Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy is most important because it established the new genre in English theatre. Modeled after the Senecan tragedy, this play contains several violent murders, a character who personifies Revenge, a vengeful ghost and a play-within-a-play to catch a murderer. Allusions to The Spanish Tragedy show up throughout other plays written by Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson.

ES: So, Elizabethan revenge tragedies burst on the scene after the publication of Seneca’s tragedies in 1581, and then their popularity appears to have declined in the early Jacobean period, around 1620. According to literary scholar Fredson Bowers, the focus on revenge had shifted from revenge per se, to a taste for violence and horror. This, according to Bowers, the bourgeois could not take, and so the form was corrupted. After 1620, “revenge [had] lost all power of true inspiration and remain[ed] only an artificial incentive to create and, in turn, to resolve strained and bewildering situations.”

KS: But not everyone agrees with Bowers’ conclusion. Linda Woodbridge, a specialist in English Renaissance literature, challenged this assessment and argued that “vengeance was an essentially political phenomenon with very material roots … linked to the concepts of retribution and justice”. And because of this, revenge was used consistently in the service of resistance by both Royalists and Parliamentarians throughout the English Civil Wars. Another thesis argues that the revenge drama is an enduring theatrical form, from classical times to the present, that continues to attract the attention of writers across the historical landscape.

ES: Luckily modern scholars can examine the popularity of revenge as a theme in early modern works by using the Early English Books Online, abbreviated to EEBO, to identify occurrences of the words “revenge”, “avenge” and vengeance”, plus their derivatives. According to Renaissance Drama scholar Alison Findlay, distance-reading allows us to test revenge’s decadence, political timelines and durability.

KS: From their data, “revenge” did increase dramatically following the publication of Seneca’s tragedies. For example, between 1530-80, there were roughly 127 occurrences per million words. The next data set jumps to 130 occurrences per million words between 1580-89. For clarity: 50 years contained 127 occurrences, while 10 years contained 130 occurrences. The number continues to fluctuate over the course of the following decades; and reaches its height at 167 occurrences per million words in 1590-99, then steadily decreases after 1610-19, down to 112 occurrences by 1690-99.

ES: Even though “revenge” in these texts reached its height in 1590-99, Findlay does also note that the concept of revenge tragedies as an essentially political phenomena can be seen in the numbers. First, the statistics from 1660-99 demonstrate the popularity of revenge following the English Civil War up until the end of the century, when both theatrical practices and the monarchy were restored. Also, the statistics show that there was a sort of preoccupation with revenge themes during crises of succession after the deaths of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey and Mary I.

KS: According to early modern literature scholar Deborah Willis, these popularity spikes also correspond with times when Protestant reformers and state authorities “were energetically denouncing the private revenges of aristocratic clans and ‘brawling’ at all social levels” as they sought to expand England’s centralized legal system. In early modern plays, Elizabethan dramatists questioned the effectiveness of a central state judicial authority while also criticizing “the innocent suffering produced by honor-driven feuds and factional violence.” For more about the early modern legal system, check out our episodes “Macbeth: King James I’s Obsession with Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland and the North Berwick Witch Trials” and our mini-episode “The Gunpowder Plot.”

ES: The early modern revenge playwrights also brought women into the forefront of revenge tragedies. While men are often associated with the act of avenging (think patriarch-centered movies like Taken), that’s not always the case, and especially not in Shakespeare’s revenge plays. According to Willis, earlier revenge narratives and dramatic works often “portray[ed] vendettas as ‘grand struggles’ highlighting masculine traits of bravery, daring and fighting skill. Women appeared, if at all, as idealized figures of chastity to be protected or, more darkly, as vulnerable vessels of the enemy.” But, the early modern dramatists presented women as active participants in revenge plots and presented them in ambivalent terms, just as male revengers were.

KS: The vengeful women of early modern theatre offer parallels to what Edward Muir and other historians have shown as the subtext of surviving historical records: a tradition of real women writing revenge as early as classical times. According to Findlay, “Prayers for revenge inscribed on lead tablets, dating from the first century BCE and written exclusively by women, were discovered in the sanctuary of Demeter at Knidos. Similarly, prayers for justice – in the form of revenge – are marked on tombstones of women at Rheneia in ancient Greece and at Alexandria in Egypt … ‘to channel feelings and to contain the negativity of a situation.’” We’re sorry for who wronged these women

ES: Early modern writers were inspired to write about female revenge. And write they did. Tamora and Lavinia, alongside Margaret in the Henry VI plays, Bel-Imperia in The Spanish Tragedy, the Duchess of Gloucester in Richard II, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Catalina and Berinthia in The Maides Revenge, Evadne in The Maid’s Tragedy, and Hippolita in ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore are all active participants in honor-based feuds or compel others to seek revenge on their behalf. 

KS: Additionally, early modern and classics scholar Marguerite A Tassi states that if King Lear is read through the lens of a revenge play (although it is typically not categorized that way), then Cordelia can also be considered a female revenger. Tassi notes the parallels between Cordelia and another “avenging daughter” from the classics: Electra. Both are royal daughters who are forced into exile and, in the absence of a brother, take on the responsibility of avenging the injustices done to their fathers by female relatives.

ES: According to Willis, Titus Andronicus “stands out among revenge plays for its insistent exposure of revenge as a cross-gender and cross cultural phenomenon.” In Titus, revenge transcends all perceived boundaries, and by the end of the play, Tamora literally embodies the personification of Revenge, saying, “I am revenge, sent from the infernal Kingdom.” 

KS: Shakespeare and Renaissance scholar Chloe Kathleen Preedy argues that this influx of early modern female avengers was informed and influenced by the contemporary increase in women’s education. Alongside their capacity for revenge, many of these characters are also depicted as literate and having knowledge of the classics. Lavinia, for example, is so familiar with Ovid’s Metamorphoses that is she is able to use a physical copy of the book to make clear to her male relatives what happened to her, and therefore lead them to seeking vengeance. The education of these female characters, Preedy argues, is a reason they are able to become active participants in the plot of the revenge tragedy rather than remain on the margins like their predecessors. 

ES: But why were/are revenge tragedies so popular? We say “are'' because we still see revenge themes throughout pop culture to this day – think the Kill Bill trilogy, the John Wick tetralogy and the revenge plot in I May Destroy You. Audiences continue to be enthralled by a passionate vengeful character in a thrilling revenge plot; so it’s clear to us that, even though the medium has changed, the theme has not gone out of fashion. 

KS: To consider revenge’s longevity, let’s talk about the so-called mirror neuron in cognitive sciences. (We want to preface this by acknowledging that cognitive sciences’ evidence is not robust enough to be wholly certain in practice, but we still want to look at it.) So, a mirror neuron fires in the nervous system when the organism observes an action performed by another, and this reveals the psychological basis to empathy, suggesting humans viscerally comprehend the actions, emotions and intentions of others.

ES: According to theatre historiographer Bruce McConachie and literature scholar F. Elizabeth Hart, when an actor on stage performs feelings, the spectator involuntarily mirrors these themself, bonding with the character. Ultimately, actors and spectators of revenge drama engage in a heightened echo of empathetic resonance throughout the course of the play, following the tension between a revenger’s passion and the poise with which they craft a perfect revenge.

KS: Revenge tragedies have also been shown to evoke physiological responses in modern audience members. In 2017, the Royal Shakespeare Company, in collaboration with Ipsos MORI, the global market opinion and research specialist, tested the emotional engagement of 107 audience members who viewed a production of Titus Andronicus either live, as a filmed cinema production, or as a 360-degree filmed VR experience. 

ES: These audience members were fitted with a heart-rate monitor and interviewed after their viewing of the production. Across all three modalities, audience members experienced a comparable number of spikes in heart rate to above-average levels. Cumulatively, watching Titus Andronicus raised audience heart rates to a cardio workout level for a total of 5 minutes (~3% of the length of the production’s run time).

KS: Just like early modern revenger’s audiences, modern audiences empathize for, root for and question modern revengers like The Bride, John Wick and Arabella. We enjoy the twists and turns of their unfolding revenge plots, which hopefully, lead them to success.

ES: To quote Queen Margaret from Richard III: “Bear with me; I am hungry for revenge.”

KS: And that’s revenge tragedies in early modern England!

ES: Thank you for listening to this episode. 

Quote of the Episode:

KS: From Henry IV pt. 2, Epilogue, spoken by a dancer, “I meant, indeed, to pay you with this; which, if, like an ill venture, it come unluckily home, I break, and you, my gentle creditors, lose.”

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

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Works referenced:

Findlay, Alison. “Re-Marking Revenge in Early Modern Drama.” Revenge and Gender in Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature, edited by Lesel Dawson and Fiona McHardy, Edinburgh University Press, 2018, pp. 58–82. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv7h0vqp.7. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.

“The Maid’s Revenge.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maid%27s_Revenge.

“The Maid’s Tragedy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maid%27s_Tragedy.

Preedy, Chloe Kathleen. “‘Women’s Weapons’: Education and Female Revenge on the Early Modern Stage.” Revenge and Gender in Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature, edited by Lesel Dawson and Fiona McHardy, Edinburgh University Press, 2018, pp. 181–200. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv7h0vqp.14. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.

“Seneca His Ten Tragedies, 1581.” British Library Collection Items, British Library, 2023, www.bl.uk/collection-items/seneca-his-ten-tragedies-1581.

“The Spanish Tragedy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Mar. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spanish_Tragedy.

Tassi, Marguerite A. “The Avenging Daughter in King Lear.” Revenge and Gender in Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Literature, edited by Lesel Dawson and Fiona McHardy, Edinburgh University Press, 2018, pp. 111–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctv7h0vqp.10. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.

“’tis Pity She’s a Whore.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 May 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Tis_Pity_She%27s_a_Whore.

Willis, Deborah. “‘The Gnawing Vulture’: Revenge, Trauma Theory, and ‘Titus Andronicus.’” Shakespeare Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 1, 2002, pp. 21–52. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3844038. Accessed 26 Aug. 2023.