Revenge Play
The revenge tragedy, or revenge play, is a dramatic genre in which the protagonist seeks revenge for an imagined or actual injury. The term ''revenge tragedy'' was first introduced in 1900 by A. H. Thorndike to label a class of plays written in the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras (circa 1580s to 1620s).Kerrigan, John. ''Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddon''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1996. Print. Origins Most scholars argue that the revenge tragedies of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries stemmed from Roman tragedy, in particular, Seneca's ''Thyestes.''Bowers, Fredson Theyer. Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy: 1587–1642. Glaucester, MA: Peter Smith. 1959. Print. p. 41. Seneca's tragedies followed three main themes: the inconsistency of fortune ('' Troades''), stories of crime and the evils of murder (''Thyestes''), and plays in which poverty, chastity and simplicity are celebrated ('' Hippolytus''). In ''Thyestes'', Seneca portrayed the evil repercussi ...
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