People give wishy-washy answers as to why Shakespeare is celebrated as the greatest writer in the English language. Here’s my 100 sats: 1) the sonic prosody of his speech is unparalleled 2) his heroes are heroes and his villains are villains; there is no moral ambiguity. But his heroes are complex in that they at times commit “unvirtuous action” - action that leads to murder, war, and sabotage. However, they are justified in revenging great grief and their ends justify the means. Put another way, Shakespeare’s morality condones revenge. Here’s what we can learn about “moral revenge” - but first, what makes revenge immoral?
Titus Andronicus is a raucous ride I recommend to everyone. Interestingly, scholars hated it until after WWI. Tamora, Queen of the Goths, is emotionally destroyed by the execution of her first born son at the hands of Titus. To plot her revenge, she sets her eye on “leveling the playing field” - she has her sons rape and mutilate Titus’s beloved daughter, Lavinia, and puts on a whole charade to drive Titus to insanity. Could Tamora have been the hero of Titus Andronicus if she had plotted to simply murder Titus?
A stark contrast to Tamora’s grief is found in Richard III. Richard III murders his way to the top and repeatedly attempts to court the widows of his victims or ask for their daughters in marriage. Nobody plans to hurt Richard by hurting something close to him: they all just want him dead. But in Act 4, Scene 4, lines 119-1291, we see Margaret instructing Elizabeth how to nurse her hatred to better curse her enemy (Richard), and we see an interesting idea that to nurse grief is what makes you smart. I infer from this Shakespeare grief-joking that “plotting revenge makes you good at plotting.”
To continue, in Julius Caesar, Caesar is avenged by loyal Mark Antony. Antony is implied to be a classically virtuous hero-warrior: he is reckless, loves women, and is loyal beyond reproach. This is why he is excluded from the cabal that murders Caesar (the “coup”). The coup even discuss Antony’s character and that while he is loyal, he is nothing more than an appendage of Caesar’s: when you have cut off the head, why would you hack off the arm? Well, this is where they underestimate Antony. In the aftermath of Caesar’s murder, Antony plays polite and defers to Brutus’s “wisdom”, but as soon as they clear the stage, he begs forgiveness to Caesar’s corpse and promises a bloody revenge:
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,—
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue—
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.
(3.1 280-301)
Footnotes
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QUEEN ELIZABETH O, thou well-skilled in curses, stay awhile, And teach me how to curse mine enemies. QUEEN MARGARET Forbear to sleep the ⟨nights,⟩ and fast the ⟨days;⟩ Compare dead happiness with living woe; Think that thy babes were sweeter than they were, And he that slew them fouler than he is. Bettering thy loss makes the bad causer worse. Revolving this will teach thee how to curse. QUEEN ELIZABETH My words are dull. O, quicken them with thine! QUEEN MARGARET Thy woes will make them sharp and pierce like mine. ↩