Introduction
The Revenger’s Tragedy, as the name suggests, is a play in the revenge tragedy genre. Originally published in 1606, it was traditionally attributed to Cyril Tourneur, but is now thought to have been written by Thomas Middleton (Rieger 120). However, due to its tone and the way it defies the tropes of its supposed genre, arguments have been made regarding the play’s classification as a tragedy. Many underline the importance of satire in the titular tragedy and argue that this places the play outside the bounds of conventional revenge tragedies. For instance, Vivier outright claims The Revenger’s Tragedy to be “preoccupied by satire” (40). Through a close critical reading of the play, it is argued that the main ways in which the conventions of tragedy and satire interact in it—blending, subversion, and juxtaposition—end up defining it.
The Blending of Tragedy and Satire in the Plot
It is worth establishing that the overall storyline of the play is constructed according to the principles of tragedy. Namely, the plot follows the protagonist, Vindici, as he sets off on a quest to avenge his fiancée, Gloriana, who was poisoned by the old Duke ten years ago for rejecting his advances. Through various schemes involving deception and changing of clothing, Vindici does achieve his revenge, killing the Duke and his sons, but he does so at the cost of his identity, integrity, and, ultimately, his life. It is apparent that this basic structure of a revenge quest with a tragic finale is the main element that serves to identify the play as a tragedy.
On the other hand, although the play steadily follows the beats of a tragedy, the exact twists of the plot, as well as the language with which it is written are teeming with irony. As put by Rieger, “irony suffuses the world of The Revenger’s Tragedy like a contagion, and like a contagion it infects nearly everyone” (122). In his quest to avenge his beloved, Vindici is first hired as a pimp for his own sister by paying his mother, then as a killer for his pimp self. These events highlight the overall irony present in the play, bringing it closer to the satiric genre.
Another scene where the dark irony shines is after the Duke’s murder. Vindici and his brother Hippolito dress the Duke’s body in Vindici’s pimp clothes, thereby tricking the Duke’s son Lussurioso into ordering them to “murder” the body by stabbing it. The brothers exact their revenge in plain sight, defiling the body right before the Duke’s son and on his orders. Moreover, a shade of dark comedy can be seen in the scene following Lussurioso’s murder as well. As his brothers scheming to kill him enter and find him already dead, Supervacuo proclaims himself Duke and is promptly murdered by Ambitioso. Spurio then follows by killing Ambitioso and himself dying at an unnamed character’s hands. While these events are undoubtedly tragic by their nature, the rapidity with which they happen renders the scene satirical. This showcases that the tragedy of the play is so permeated with irony that not even the key scenes are left out of the satire.
The Blending of Tragedy and Satire in the Character System
Besides following the superficial plot structure of a tragedy, the play borrows its character tropes. Vindici is the revenger, while Hippolito is his loyal companion, a Middletonian Horatio; Gratiana, the corruptible older woman, can be aptly compared to Gertrude. Many further comparisons of this sort can be made regarding the characters of The Revenger’s Tragedy. More importantly, the way the play interacts with its characters is more typical of the satire genre. As stated by Rieger, early satirists drew particular inspiration from morality plays (41). This becomes apparent when one pays attention to the character naming system present in the play, where the names of the characters are direct translations of what they are supposed to mean. In particular, Vindici’s name most literally means “the revenger”, Lussurioso stands for “the lecherous one”, Supervacuo means “the vacuous one”, and Gratiana, ironically, is “grace”. This convention is a direct borrowing from the morality plays; each of the names is either a straightforward explanation of who the character is or a direct joke. Although the essence of the characters is tragic, the satiric element of the play is apparent when it concerns the names.
Finally, it is important to underline that Vindici as a character paradoxically blends satire and tragedy. It goes unsaid that his base character archetype is that of the revenger, as this can be inferred from his name alone. However, in his very first appearance it becomes abundantly clear that he is a clearly satirical character. His first monologue is a barbed critique of the Duke, his family, and his court:
Duke, royal lecher, go, gray−hair’d adultery;
And thou his son, as impious steep’d as he;
And thou his bastard, true−begot in evil;
And thou his duchess that will do with [the] devil:
Four ex’lent characters. (Middleton)
The fact that this monologue is the reader’s introduction to Vindici suggests the importance of the satirical to his overall character. Over the course of the play, Vindici is the main source of the many insults and critiques regarding the moral character of the others and himself. This is in line with the satirical tradition, which sets the mockery of others’ vices as its overarching goal.
Despite his tendency to make quick and harsh judgments, it is clear that Vindici is far from being a moral paragon. In his quest for revenge, Vindici becomes a witness to many vices that he admonishes, but he also partakes in them extensively, becoming a pimp, a liar, and a murderer. In the end he is able to recognize his falling: “Tis time to die when we are ourselves our foes” (Middleton). This revelation completes the ultimately tragic arc of his satirical character.
The Blending of Tragedy and Satire in the Language
More can be said regarding the satirical elements in the language with which the play is written. The instances of wordplay and innuendos in The Revenger’s Tragedy are numerous. For example, in Scene III of Act I, Junior Brother refers to a “trick” that would have him released from prison—the Duke’s supposed decree to free him (Middleton). However, due to his saviors’ Ambitioso and Supervacuo’s misstep, the letter actually causes the guards to execute him. Therefore, the “trick” that Junior Brother relied on spells out his death, and the usage of this word becomes a source of irony in the scene. A similar misunderstanding happens when the guards tell Junior Brother he is soon to be “discharged”, which he takes at face value while the actual meaning of the word is “executed” (Middleton). These are the examples of how the satirical device of irony is used in the play on the level of its language.
The Juxtaposition of Tragedy and Satire
In The Revenger’s Tragedy, the elements of satire and tragedy often interact through juxtaposition, where the proximity highlights the irony of what is happening. The satire in particular often hinges upon the tragic scenes and remarks being adjacent to the bizarre ones, such as in the aforementioned scene with Gloriana’s skull. Another instance where this becomes particularly apparent is the dialogue in the later scene when the murder of the Duke by Vindici takes place. Vindici seethes in triumph, having exacted his revenge: “Alas, poor lecher, in the hands of knaves, / A slavish Duke is baser than his slaves” (Middleton). To this, the poisoned Duke can only muster: “My teeth are eaten out” (Middleton). It is hard to imagine such remarks—during the climactic culmination, no less—in a different tragic play, but in The Revenger’s Tragedy, they seem in place due to the previously established thoroughly satirical tone of the play.
The Subversion of Tragedy
In The Revenger’s Tragedy, satire is often created by the ironic subversion of tragedy tropes, bordering on parody. In particular, the trope of lightning and thunder foreboding terrible events is subverted in Act IV, Scene I. In anger with Lussurioso’s misdeeds going unpunished, Vindici asks himself: “Is there no thunder left, or is’t kept up / In stock for heavier vengeance?” (Middleton) At this moment, there is thunder that would usually signal divine retribution to the villain, yet nothing at all happens to Lussurioso; Vindici is forced to take fate into his own hands. The timing of the thunder therefore comes off as both darkly ironic and tragic.
Another way in which the subversion of tragedy can be seen is in the scene where Vindici and Hippolito threaten Gratiana with daggers in order to change her mind. This scene is notable as it is a parody on multiple levels. Firstly, it was Vindici himself who corrupted his mother in his pimp disguise; it is obvious that Vindici is really scorning his own actions. Secondly, in the very next scene, the other duo of brothers, Ambitioso and Supervacuo, encounter their own mother, the Duchess, who is having an affair with her stepson, Spurio. Ambitioso and Supervacuo admonish their mother in a very similar fashion, therefore making the scene even more ironic. Thirdly, in an intertextual way, the scene is reminiscent of Shakespeare’s Hamlet admonishing Gertrude for her moral failings. This multi-layered subversion serves to further link the satire and the tragedy in The Revenger’s Tragedy.
The scene that sheds more light on the usage of the satirical device of irony through its subversion of established tragic tropes is Vindici’s murder of the Duke. As a protagonist, Vindici is not above embracing the irony of what is happening; in fact, it can be said that he revels in it. His main motivation is to ensure that the Duke and his sons are subjected to the most ironic and unusual punishments for their misdeeds. Therefore, his revenge on the Duke, Gloriana’s killer, consists of poisoning him via Gloriana’s skull, all the while making him watch his wife have an affair with his own bastard. By using Gloriana’s skull, Vindici assures that the punishment is appropriate for the crime but at the same time subjects Gloriana to the same fate that she died to escape. This moral ambiguity serves to subvert the trope of the climactic “justified revenge”.
This central event becomes even more ambiguous in its distinction between tragic and satiric when the language used for the scene is considered. In particular, Vindici says to the Duke that Gloriana’s skull he had dressed up in silks has “somewhat a grave look to her” (Middleton). On an aesthetic level, Gloriana’s skull begs comparison with the famous skull of Yorick. However, it is apparent that Vindici’s satiric remark would hardly belong in a play like Hamlet. This further showcases the borderline parodic tone of the scene, despite its utmost significance for the plot, and points to the overall importance of the satirical in The Revenger’s Tragedy.
Conclusion
Having discussed the way The Revenger’s Tragedy is constructed, it becomes clear that tragedy and satire are equally important for the play. Its plot structure and character system are borrowed from the conventions of tragedies but are played upon in an undeniably satiric way. The naming of the characters and their remarks are intentionally brimming with irony, and certain signature scenes are parodied and subverted on an inter- and intratextual level. On multiple occasions, tragedy and satire can blend and juxtapose in the same scene. In fact, one can argue that this combination of tragedy and satire is The Revenger’s Tragedy’s defining characteristic.
Works Cited
Middleton, Thomas. The Revenger’s Tragedy. Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1964. Project Gutenberg. Web.
Rieger, Gabriel A. “Satiric Tragedy.” The Genres of Renaissance Tragedy, edited by Daniel Cadman, Andrew Duxfield, and Lisa Hopkins. Manchester University Press, 2019, pp. 115-131. Web.
Vivier, Eric D. “Pleading for and Against the Devil: Satirical Ethics and Efficacy in The Revenger’s Tragedy.” The Revenger’s Tragedy: The State of Play, edited by Gretchen Minton. Bloomsbury Academic, 2019, pp. 39-60.