Connor Jennings
Revenge Essay
Revenge is a fundamental human response. It is natural for people to want to “balance the scales” so to speak, when they have been done a wrong. In both Macbeth and my monologue an appreciable wrong has been done to the ones seeking revenge, Malcolm and Macduff in Macbeth and Mook #3 in my monologue. The most interesting thing about revenge in both cases is it’s relation to justice because the desire to enact both often results in similar actions, yet one is seen in a more negative connotation than the other. To make a related comparison, revenge could be seen as a chaotic neutral action, and justice is generally seen as lawful good. Ultimately, despite how the general populace views the two actions, their main difference is generally the reasoning the one carrying out the deed provides to himself/herself and others about why they are doing it. An act of justice is usually justified by the idea that the actions someone did need to be countered in some way, to make the world a more fair and balanced place. Revenge is often justified by the idea that someone needs to be punished for a wrong they have done to another person, with no regards given to how other people have already dealt with the problem. It is because of this that revenge is generally a more personal action and, definitely in the case of fiction, usually more extreme.
In Macbeth the two people who openly speak about their desire for revenge are Malcolm and Macduff, both of whom have family members that have been murdered by the titular tyrant. As I said before, their actions could be easily described as justice, especially because, once they succeed, Malcolm is placed back on the throne, and with the throne he decides the rules and regulations of scotland. However, the main arguments for why the re-taking of scotland and killing of Macbeth is revenge come from Malcolm and Macduff themselves. Malcolm literally says “Let's make us med’cines of our great revenge, To cure this deadly grief.” Macduff complains that Macbeth doesn’t have any children, presumably because he wishes to inflict the same emotional pain on Macbeth that Macbeth has inflicted on him. It is likely that Malcolm attempts to invoke a desire for revenge in Macduff because he knows that revenge is generally a stronger emotion. Malcolm wants Macduff’s help in beating Macbeth, and he knows that if he simply talks about justice he may not make Macduff as adamant about re-taking Scotland.
In my Monologue the one seeking revenge is a low level enemy named Mook #3. In a similar fashion to Malcolm in Macbeth, Mook #3 tries to convince other people to exact vengeance as well, in this case Orcus. Interestingly, while Mook #3 comes unapologetically from a position of revenge, he tries to convince Orcus by invoking a concept of preventive justice; the adventurers have done no personal wrong to Orcus so to convince him Mook #3 conjectures that the adventurers will treat him, and all monster kind, as nothing more than a collection of numbers. Orcus doesn’t verbally respond to this request, because it’s Mook #3’s monologue, but he does seem to agree with what Mook #3 says. However, it is unclear to Mook #3 if this is because he believes in justice for the adventurers actions or if he just likes reanimating people and being evil (it’s both). Regardless, despite what he says when convincing Orcus Mook #3 ultimately doesn’t care about what Orcus gets out of any of this; as evident by the fact that he sought out many other demons and devils before Orcus Mook #3 is solely concerned with enacting his personal revenge, a true testament to how strong the emotion is.
The concepts of revenge and justice are closely intertwined, but while acting on them has similar results (two people can seek the same result, one coming from a position of revenge, the other from justice) the extent of the actions and the events leading to them are quite different. As demonstrated by the likes of Malcolm and Mook #3, both concepts can be used to great effect when coercing or convincing someone to lend you help. Recognizing their differences and similarities can help you evaluate other people and yourself and acting on that knowledge can help you navigate potentially heated social (and if you live in the worlds of Macbeth or D&D: physical) encounters.
Revenge Essay
Revenge is a fundamental human response. It is natural for people to want to “balance the scales” so to speak, when they have been done a wrong. In both Macbeth and my monologue an appreciable wrong has been done to the ones seeking revenge, Malcolm and Macduff in Macbeth and Mook #3 in my monologue. The most interesting thing about revenge in both cases is it’s relation to justice because the desire to enact both often results in similar actions, yet one is seen in a more negative connotation than the other. To make a related comparison, revenge could be seen as a chaotic neutral action, and justice is generally seen as lawful good. Ultimately, despite how the general populace views the two actions, their main difference is generally the reasoning the one carrying out the deed provides to himself/herself and others about why they are doing it. An act of justice is usually justified by the idea that the actions someone did need to be countered in some way, to make the world a more fair and balanced place. Revenge is often justified by the idea that someone needs to be punished for a wrong they have done to another person, with no regards given to how other people have already dealt with the problem. It is because of this that revenge is generally a more personal action and, definitely in the case of fiction, usually more extreme.
In Macbeth the two people who openly speak about their desire for revenge are Malcolm and Macduff, both of whom have family members that have been murdered by the titular tyrant. As I said before, their actions could be easily described as justice, especially because, once they succeed, Malcolm is placed back on the throne, and with the throne he decides the rules and regulations of scotland. However, the main arguments for why the re-taking of scotland and killing of Macbeth is revenge come from Malcolm and Macduff themselves. Malcolm literally says “Let's make us med’cines of our great revenge, To cure this deadly grief.” Macduff complains that Macbeth doesn’t have any children, presumably because he wishes to inflict the same emotional pain on Macbeth that Macbeth has inflicted on him. It is likely that Malcolm attempts to invoke a desire for revenge in Macduff because he knows that revenge is generally a stronger emotion. Malcolm wants Macduff’s help in beating Macbeth, and he knows that if he simply talks about justice he may not make Macduff as adamant about re-taking Scotland.
In my Monologue the one seeking revenge is a low level enemy named Mook #3. In a similar fashion to Malcolm in Macbeth, Mook #3 tries to convince other people to exact vengeance as well, in this case Orcus. Interestingly, while Mook #3 comes unapologetically from a position of revenge, he tries to convince Orcus by invoking a concept of preventive justice; the adventurers have done no personal wrong to Orcus so to convince him Mook #3 conjectures that the adventurers will treat him, and all monster kind, as nothing more than a collection of numbers. Orcus doesn’t verbally respond to this request, because it’s Mook #3’s monologue, but he does seem to agree with what Mook #3 says. However, it is unclear to Mook #3 if this is because he believes in justice for the adventurers actions or if he just likes reanimating people and being evil (it’s both). Regardless, despite what he says when convincing Orcus Mook #3 ultimately doesn’t care about what Orcus gets out of any of this; as evident by the fact that he sought out many other demons and devils before Orcus Mook #3 is solely concerned with enacting his personal revenge, a true testament to how strong the emotion is.
The concepts of revenge and justice are closely intertwined, but while acting on them has similar results (two people can seek the same result, one coming from a position of revenge, the other from justice) the extent of the actions and the events leading to them are quite different. As demonstrated by the likes of Malcolm and Mook #3, both concepts can be used to great effect when coercing or convincing someone to lend you help. Recognizing their differences and similarities can help you evaluate other people and yourself and acting on that knowledge can help you navigate potentially heated social (and if you live in the worlds of Macbeth or D&D: physical) encounters.