Medea

Revenge is a luscious fruit you must leave to ripen. Though it can be extremely satisfying to devour, revenge never ends well. In Euripides’ Medea, this holds very true when the vengeful protagonist, Medea, commits murder in an absolutely horrific manner for reasons of spite. After her husband, Jason the Argonaut, leaves her for another woman’s bed, Medea becomes obsessed with destroying him. The passion and desire to be with him that she once felt is abruptly altered into rage and desire to see him suffer. Another example of failed revenge occurs in The Tempest by Shakespeare. Through a twisted chain of meticulously planned events, the desperate protagonist, Prospero, seeks drastically violent revenge on those who caused him pain in the past. Although he does not achieve what he desires, Prospero indirectly gives happiness to others. In some cases, like in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the spiteful act committed by Abigail appears to be headed for a positive outcome, but then makes a drastic turn. How often, in life and literature, does revenge end as intended? Throughout many pieces of literature, characters learn through a difficult experience that they cannot succeed with revenge.