her uncle, does not care a lot about her (Woolway, 1998, pg 2). Proctor is the first person she truly loves. Thus, she will pay any price to strive for Proctor to be with her.
In Shakespeare’s King Lear, people also use vengeance for gaining power and position. Edmund is the unlawful son of Gloucester. Throughout his life, he is treated unfairly because of his status as a bastard. He feels he does not have the same quality of life as his father and brother. As a result, he plans to take revenge and take back what he thinks should belong to him (I, ii, 16). He thinks he should not abase himself as a bastard and should not suffer because of the guilt of his father.
In a soliloquy in Act I, Scene 2, Edmund is lamenting his status as a bastard when he shouts out, “Now, gods, stand up for bastards” (I, ii, 20)! This quotation shows his determination to take revenge on his father and brother. However, in reality, Edmund really cares and feels shame in the bottom of his heart about being a bastard. Usually the one who says he does not care will be the one who cares the most. The shame and sense of inferiority bring up the idea of vengeance in Edmund’s mind.
Regan and Goneril are Lear’s daughters; however Lear favours his youngest daughter, Cordelia the most. Regan and Goneril are very greedy and desire power, money and land. The love from the family is not that important for them. For this reason, these two princesses seek revenge against their father and sister. At the same time, Lear banishes Cordelia from his kingdom because he thinks she does not love him as much as the other daughters do (Gluilfoyle,1990,pg.9).
Hence, it gives the gluttonous sisters a good chance to take up retaliation upon the muddled Lear and innocent Cordelia. At the beginning, Regan and Goneril both help each other, yet they are at odds with each other in their hearts because there is conflict caused by a desire for power and nothing is more important than power and land for them. As they are closely cooperating, they both know each other well and their distrust towards each other causes the vengeance and odds between the two sisters. Also, both sisters compete with each other for Edmund’s love.
Furthermore, the theme of vengeance can be compared in these two classic dramas by looking at the consequences of vengeance. Even if it is an unreasonable settlement in the end of The Crucible; the innocent people are still willing to sacrifice themselves for the truth. Rebecca Nurse is a respectful Christian in Salem and she still keeps her virtuous Christian beliefs and personality when she is falsely accused and put to death. Although a false confession could rescue her life, she will not forsake the word of God. Proctor also has his goodness back in his soul at the end of the play and he knows that he can not surrender to Abigail and her vengeance toward his wife (Miller, 1953, pg 145). For innocent people to sacrifice for the revenge of Abigail it is a tragedy.
Even though the judges know that Proctor is innocent of witchcraft, they still have to hang him if he refuses to give a false confession. On the other hand, the result at the end is incredibly different than what Abigail planned and she has to vanish at the end. Abigail expects Elizabeth will be hanged and she can be with Proctor (Miller, 1953, pg 19). However, the outcome crosses the purpose of the revengeful girl. Not only is she not with Proctor, she has to vanish from her home town to an unfamiliar place to start her new life. After she vanishes, she has to live incognito to keep away from the trial. She is also an indirect murderer of her lover, John Proctor. She has to carry the guilt of killing her lover and the other innocent people throughout her entire lifetime. All of these seem to be retributions for her vengeance.
There are simi
