That Merriam-Webster Definition is the cookie cutter way many people think of revenge. In the “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” mentality that if someone does something to you, it’s ok if you inflict it right back at them; “A taste of their own medicine” in a sense. However when you look into it, revenge is way more than a simple retaliation. It can be a meaningful, passion driven outlet for a traumatic event that was caused by a specific individual. The need for revenge can become even more passionate when the need for revenge is sparked by the murder of a loved one. In popular literature and media today, plots for revenge can often be sparked by the murder of the protagonist’s parent. This is apparent not only in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but also in Charles Portis’s Novel True Grit. Which was later adapted for the silver screen in 1969 and again in 2010. (I’m going off of the movies, as I have seen both, yet have not read the book) Stories with plots centered on revenge open up a wide variety of problems, circumstances, and even time periods. Classical Europe and the Wild West, that’s quite a time difference!
Hamlet’s need for revenge stemmed from his
father’s murder at the hands of his Uncle Claudius. The murder was done for
power, and the method through which Hamlet’s father was murdered, left no trace
to connect him to the murder. Similarly in True Grit, Mattie Ross is out for
revenge on Tom Chaney, the man who murdered her father then robbed him, before
running into Indian Territory. Both Mattie and Hamlet take matters into their
own hands when the law can't help them. Early on in their revenge planning
(both of which includes killing the murderer)
Hamlet and Mattie realize they
need help with carrying out their plan.
Hamlet enlists the help of a travelling acting group to stage a play with similar circumstances to his father’s murder. Hamlet then plans to expose his uncle’s guilt by how he behaves in response to the play. Mattie’s plan is a bit more, gritty. She plans to hunt Tom Chaney down in Indian Territory with the help of Rooster Cogburn, a U.S. Marshal with "grit", (I guess grit means toughness, and... this? ) and kill him with her father’s own gun. Both revenge plots seem initially well thought out. But when do plans ever go…as planned?
Hamlet enlists the help of a travelling acting group to stage a play with similar circumstances to his father’s murder. Hamlet then plans to expose his uncle’s guilt by how he behaves in response to the play. Mattie’s plan is a bit more, gritty. She plans to hunt Tom Chaney down in Indian Territory with the help of Rooster Cogburn, a U.S. Marshal with "grit", (I guess grit means toughness, and... this? ) and kill him with her father’s own gun. Both revenge plots seem initially well thought out. But when do plans ever go…as planned?
Originally, Rooster had no intention of
bringing Mattie along to apprehend Tom Chaney. He even teamed up with Texas Ranger
LaBoeuf, who was also after Chaney for a different murder. However headstrong Mattie
comes along anyways and gets in and out of dangerous situations on the journey.
Unknown to Hamlet, while plotting his Uncle’s death, Claudius is forming a
murder plot against Hamlet! Now I don’t want to spoil any endings, so my plot
parallels will stop there. All in all Revenge plots can span many scenarios,
time periods, and create exciting and often sad plots that continue to intrigue
and ignite something in those who read (or I guess in my case watch) their
story to the end.
