Stephanie Bailey

Dr. Diecidue

ENL 4338

1 March 2012

Revenge and Justice in Hamlet, Titus, and The Spanish Tragedy

The themes of revenge and justice are prominent aspects of Hamlet, Titus Andronicus,

and The Spanish Tragedy. These critical concepts rely on definitions to guide any discussion of

their role in the plays. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, revenge is “the action of

hurting, harming, or otherwise obtaining satisfaction from someone in return for an injury or

wrong suffered at his or her hands.” The Merriam-Webster Thesaurus lists the following

synonyms for revenge: “reprisal, retaliation, retribution, vengeance.” Justice is defined by the

OED as “the quality of being (morally) just or righteous; the principle of just dealing; the

exhibition of this quality or principle in action.” The following synonyms are listed for justice in

the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus: “fairness, impartiality, goodness, virtue; honor; decorum.”

However, there are important differences between the two terms that can be deduced from these

definitions and synonyms. The first major distinction between revenge and justice is that revenge

is personal retaliation whereas justice is a public concern. Secondly, there is a contrast between

the two terms and their intent. Revenge is motivated by a negative emotion, such as hatred or

anger. Justice is instigated by positive feelings, like duty or honor. Hieronimo, Titus and Hamlet

briefly contemplate justice, but instead they turn to revenge. The effect of revenge at the end of

these plays indicates that Hamlet and Titus Andronicus criticize revenge, but The Spanish

Tragedy depicts revenge as an appropriate method of punishment.

Bailey 2

Hieronimo considers public justice and divine justice before deciding to seek revenge for

the loss of his son. Shortly after the death of Horatio, Hieronimo is fulfilling his duties as a judge

and doling out justice to other people. He remarks on how unfair it is that he is performing

justice for everyone else, but no one is helping him achieve justice: “That only I to all men just

must be, / And neither gods nor men be just to me” (3.6.9-10). The revenge hero waits for

evidence to support the claims of Bel-Imperia in her letter. The second letter delivered by the

Hangman serves as this evidence and confirms the identities of Horatio’s killers. Hieronimo

shows restraint and reason in his decision to wait for evidence of the killers’ guilt. Hieronimo

vows to either “purpose justice by entreats/ Or tire them all with my revenging threats” (3.7.72-

73). The protagonist undertakes justice before resorting to revenge. Hieronimo attempts to ask

the King of Spain for justice: “I come and see the King; / The King sees me, and fain would hear

my suit…He’ll do thee justice for Horatio’s death” (3.12. 1-13). However, Hieronimo is

unsuccessful at obtaining justice. He is unable to be clear and articulate his situation to the King

because he is too emotional. After the scene with the King, he returns home and ponders

abandoning his mission for justice and revenge in favor of divine justice: “Ay, heaven will be

revenged of every ill, / Nor will they suffer murder unrepaid” (3.13. 2-3). Ultimately, Hieronimo

believes that he has no other options available to him except avenging his son himself;

consequently, he chooses revenge: “And to conclude, I will revenge his death!” (3.13. 20).

Hieronimo’s elaborate revenge plan causes the death of five characters in the play. Hieronimo is

responsible for three of those deaths, including his own. After the execution of his revenge, he is

“at last revenged thoroughly” and confesses that his “heart is satisfied”, which recalls the

definition of revenge whereby the avenger gains satisfaction from the offender’s death (4.4. 173,

129).

Bailey 3

Revenge is a last resort for Hamlet. Similar to Hieronimo, Hamlet waits for evidence of

Claudius’s guilt before proceeding to justice or revenge. He hopes to reveal Claudius’s guilt

publicly:

I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play

Have by the very cunning of the scene

Been struck so to the soul that presently

They have proclaim'd their malefactions. (2.2. 601-604)

The protagonist wants Claudius to confess murdering Hamlet’s father aloud for everyone present

at the play to hear, which suggests a desire for public justice. Unfortunately, Claudius does not

confess his crimes at the play, but does act guilty. Claudius’s guilty demeanor proves the Ghost’s

story is accurate and now Hamlet has evidence. While Hieronimo’s tragic flaw got in the way of

justice, Hamlet faces an external obstacle in the path of justice. The object of his revenge is the

King of Denmark, the highest authority in the country. Claudius’s position as King makes

achieving justice limited. The protagonist’s only chance at justice is getting Claudius to admit to

the murder of the late king to the entire court, which is an unsuccessful strategy. Revenge

becomes Hamlet’s option by default. Revenge challenges Hamlet’s nature and religious beliefs.

Consequently, Hamlet is reluctant to avenge his father’s death: “Prompted to my revenge by

heaven and hell, / Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words” (2.2. 562-563). Hamlet

considers suicide as an escape from the obligation to obtain revenge. However, fear of the

unknown prevents him from taking his own life. Finally, Claudius and Laertes’s assassination

attempt on Hamlet forces the revenge hero to fulfill his oath to the Ghost and kill Claudius.

Hamlet’s quest for revenge made him responsible for four deaths throughout the play. Hamlet is

motivated by his anger and hatred of Claudius. Based on the distinction between revenge and

Bailey 4

justice established in this paper, Hamlet’s emotional state indicates that he is accomplishing

revenge and not justice. As Hamlet forces Claudius to drink the poison, he states, “Here, thou

incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, / Drink off this potion. Is thy union here? / Follow my

mother” (5.2. 326-328). This is the last thing that Hamlet said to Claudius before the revenge

hero kills him.

In the beginning of Titus Andronicus, Titus pursues public justice and divine justice, but

these methods are ineffective, and as a result he resorts to revenge. After Titus’s sons are framed

for murder, Titus attempts to seek justice from the judges, tributes and senators, but they ignore

Titus’s pleas. Titus begs the judges, tributes and senators to have mercy on his sons and not to

execute them: “Be pitiful to my condemned sons, / Whose souls is not corrupted as ‘tis

thought / . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unbind my sons, reverse the doom of death” (3.1.8-9, 24). Martius

and Quintus are put to death for the crimes they were falsely accused of because Titus’s effort at

public justice failed. Then, Titus turns to divine justice in an act of desperation. Titus shoots

arrows into the air, asking for the gods’ assistance in obtaining justice: “And sith there’s no

justice in earth nor hell, / We will solicit heaven and move the gods / To send down Justice for to

wreak our wrongs” (4.3. 50-53). Like the State, the gods ignore his appeal for divine justice.

Without public justice or divine justice, Titus’s only hope is revenge. Titus fully embraces the

tradition of revenge: “And worse than Progne I will be revenged” (5.3. 194). The revenge hero

kills four characters during the end scene alone, which is overkill and it suggests he was deeply

angry, a requisite for revenge defined in this paper.

This essay has determined that revenge is accomplished at the end of these plays instead

of justice. Revenge’s effect on the ending of these plays suggests that Hamlet and Titus

Andronicus condemn personal revenge whereas The Spanish Tragedy condones revenge as an

Bailey 5

acceptable form of punishment. Hamlet and Titus Andronicus portray the damaging ramifications

of revenge. The endings of these plays are chaotic, violent and result in a massacre. Few survive

the destructive effects of revenge. The sole surviving main character of the end scene in Hamlet

was Horatio. In Titus Andronicus, Marcus and Lucius were the only ones survived Titus’s

vengeful slaughter. Revenge causes social and political upheaval. In Hamlet, all the heirs to the

Danish throne are wiped out because of Hamlet’s and Laertes’s desire for revenge. Denmark is

left in the hands of Fortinbras, who is a foreign ruler. A foreign ruler on the Danish throne does

not bode well for the citizens of the country. Furthermore, the emperor, queen and the successors

are dead at the end of Titus Andronicus. Lucius takes Saturninus’s place and his first acts as the

emperor are violent. He begins his new reign by starving Aaron to death and leaving Tamora’s

body out for wild animals to ravage. This violence suggests a continuation of the violence that

resonated throughout the play, which could cause even further social and political turmoil for

Rome. The violent, chaotic and politically damaging consequences that revenge has brought on

depict vengeance in a negative light. Shakespeare is criticizing revenge as doing more harm than

good and being detrimental to society.

Although The Spanish Tragedy does contain some of the same negative outcomes of

revenge as in Hamlet and Titus Andronicus, the conclusion of the play rewards Hieronimo’s

violent revenge. The Spanish Tragedy has a bloody ending reminiscent to Hamlet or Titus

Andronicus. The King of Spain and the Viceroy of Portugal are the only remaining main

characters alive after Hieronimo’s revenge is attained. Additionally, there are political

ramifications of revenge in this play similar to the political issues at the end of Hamlet and Titus

Andronicus. The King and the Viceroy have lost their sons, who were the successors to the

throne. Furthermore, the peace between Spain and Portugal has been threatened because of the

Bailey 6

effects of revenge. The marriage between Bel-Imperia and Balthazar is meant to resolve the

conflict between the two countries. However, they are dead at the hands of Hieronimo’s revenge

scheme. Now there is no union or arrangement to prevent the King and the Viceroy from going

to war again. The conclusion of the play differs from Hamlet or Titus Andronicus. Hieronimo is

awarded eternal heaven for committing several murders in the course of his revenge. Also, Bel-

Imperia goes to heaven for killing herself and getting her revenge on Balthazar by stabbing him.

Hieronimo’s and Bel-Imperia’s crimes were just as wrong as crimes of the villains. Yet,

Balthazar, Lorenzo, Serberine, Pedringano and even the Duke are punished with an “endless

tragedy” (4.5. 48) in hell. The last scene of The Spanish Tragedy contradicts the assessment of

revenge made in Hamlet and Titus Andronicus because this play rewards those who seek

revenge. The Spanish Tragedy shows revenge to be a suitable method of punishment.