Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to ArmageddonRevenge has long been a central theme in Western culture. From Homer to Nietzsche, from St. Paul to Sylvia Plath, major writers have been fascinated by its emotional intensity and by the questions it raises about the nature of justice, violence, sexuality, and death. John Kerrigan employs both wide-ranging historical analysis and subtle attention to individual texts to explore the culture of vengeance in several languages and genres. Thus, he shows how evolving attitudes to retribution have shaped and reconstituted tragedy in the West and elucidates the remarkable capacity of this ancient theme to generate innovative works of art. Although this book is a literary study, it makes use of anthropology, social theory, and moral philosophy. As a result, it will be of interest to students in a variety of disciplines, as well as to the general reader. |
Contents
On Aristotle and Revenge Tragedy | 3 |
Aeschylus and Dracula | 33 |
Sophocles in Baker Street | 59 |
Copyright | |
14 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Revenge Tragedy : Aeschylus to Armageddon: Aeschylus to Armageddon John Kerrigan No preview available - 1996 |
Common terms and phrases
abjection action Aeschylus Agamemnon ancient anger Antonio's Revenge Aristotle audience avenge become Benoît blood Byron calls Cambridge Chorus claim Clarissa classical Clytemnestra Coleridge corpse crime cultural curse dead death detective fiction dialogue divine drama enemy Erinyes Essays ethical Euripides father feminine feminist fiction guilt Hamlet Harmondsworth Hecuba heroine Hieronimo honour human instance Jason justice Kantian killed King language Libation Bearers lives London Lovelace Lyotard Medea moral Moral Luck mother murder narrative nature Nietzsche novel Nussbaum Oedipus Oresteia Orestes Oxford Pasolini philosophical Plath play plots poem poet Poetics Polymestor protagonist punishment quoted rage reader remembrance repetition resists retribution revenge play revenge tragedy Revenger's Roman says scene Seneca sense Shakespeare shows Sophocles story sword thou Thyestes tion Titus Titus Andronicus tragic turn vengeance vengeful victim vindication violence vols Williams woman women words wrath writes wrong