The Revenger’s Tragedy Written by Cyril Tourneur

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get you into serious trouble such as jail. In both these stories, “The Squaw” and “The Revenger’s Tragedy”, they both perform the type of revenge that you can get into trouble with. Killing a cat is illegal and killing people is illegal. This unrealistic revenge would not be performed in real life because you are not allowed to.

Without unrealistic revenge, stories would not be as interesting as they are. The revenge that takes place in any story, “The Revenger’s Tragedy” in particular, makes the readers want to continue reading. In “The Revenger’s Tragedy”, Vindice wants to take revenge on the Duke by killing him because he poisoned Vindice’s wife. In “The Squaw”, when Elias murders the kitten, the cat goes into defensive mode by wanting to attack Elias “She gnashed her teeth, and her claws stood out stark and at a full length on every paw. The she made a wild rush up the wall as if to reach us” (Stoker 88); the cat ends up killing him. This situation is very unrealistic, but, the way Elias is murdered intrigues the reader. A similar situation happens in “The Revenger’s Tragedy”; there is a lot happening and it gets confusing at times, but the story is still interesting. At the end of act five scene three, that is where most of the characters die or are sent to die. This is the scene the most confusing because so many people are dying that you end up losing track of what has really happened. “Duke, royal lecher! Go, grey-haired adultery, And thou his son, as impious steeped as he: And thou his bastard, true-begot in evil: And thou his Duchess that will do with the Devil” (Tourneur 45). This is a specific part in “The Revenger’s Tragedy”. This story is more difficult to understand because of the dialogue, but, once again, the moment you understand what is going on, you do not want to stop reading. The revenge performed in these stories is very unrealistic to the point that it could not be executed in real life, but yet it is so interesting and makes us want to continue reading.

Many people get revenge on others who have wronged them, but in ways that are realistic. Authors tend to describe a sort of revenge that is unrealistic in stories. This unrealistic revenge makes the story more interesting for readers to want to continue reading, it allows the authors to let their imagination run and creates pleasure for them and it cannot be performed in real life because many people would get into trouble for it. In the stories that we have read, the revenge is unrealistic and would not be executed in real life due to the fact that it is so unrealistic.

Works Cited

Bacon, Francis. Of Revenge. Toronto, 1957.

Stoker, Bram. "The Squaw." Midnight Tales. 1914. 85-97.

Tourneur, Cyril. "The Revenger’s Tragedy." Three Revenge Tragedies. London, 1607. 45-136.