Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to agrievance, be it real[1] or perceived.[2] Vengeful forms ofjustice, such as primitive justice orretributive justice, are often differentiated from more formal and refined forms of justice such asdistributive justice orrestorative justice.
Social psychologist Ian McKee states that the desire for the sustenance of power motivates vengeful behavior as a means of impression management: "People who are more vengeful tend to be those who are motivated by power, by authority and by the desire for status. They don't want tolose face".[4][5]
Vengeful behavior has been found across a majority of human societies throughout history.[6] Some societies encourage vengeful behavior, which is then called afeud.[7] These societies usually regard thehonor of individuals and groups as of central importance. Thus, while protecting their reputation, an avenger feels as if they restore the previous state ofdignity andjustice. According toMichael Ignatieff, "Revenge is a profound moral desire to keep faith with the dead, to honor their memory by taking up their cause where they left off".[8] Thus, honor may become aheritage that passes fromgeneration to generation. Whenever it is compromised, the affected family or community members might feel compelled to retaliate against an offender to restore the initial "balance of honor" that preceded the perceived injury. This cycle of honor might expand by bringing the family members and then the entire community of the new victim into the brand-new, endless cycle of revenge that may pervade generations.[9]
German announcement of killing 2300 civilians inKragujevac massacre as retaliation for 10 killed German soldiers. Nazi-occupiedSerbia, 1941.
Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does [..]. offend the law [and] putteth the law out of office."[10]
Feuds are cycles ofprovocation and retaliation, fueled by a desire for revenge and carried out over long periods of time by familial or tribal groups. They were an important part of manypre-industrial societies, especially in the Mediterranean region. They still persist in some areas, notably inAlbania with its tradition ofgjakmarrja or "blood feuds", revenge that is carried out not only by the individual, but by their extended relations for generations to come.[11]
Blood feuds are still practised in many parts of the world, including Kurdish regions ofTurkey and inPapua New Guinea.[12][13]
In Japan, honouring one's family, clan, or lord through the practice of revenge killings is called "katakiuchi" (敵討ち). These killings could also involve the relatives of an offender. Today, katakiuchi is most often pursued by peaceful means, but revenge remains an important part of Japanese culture.[14]
Philosophers tend to believe that to punish and to take revenge are vastly different activities:[15] "One who undertakes to punish rationally does not do so for the sake of the wrongdoing, which is now in the past - but for the sake of the future, that the wrongdoing shall not be repeated, either by him, or by others who see him, or by others who see him punished".[16] In contrast, seeking revenge is motivated by a yearning to see a transgressor suffer; revenge is necessarily preceded by anger, whereas punishment does not have to be.[17]
Indeed, Kaiser, Vick, and Major point out the following: "An important psychological implication of the various efforts to define revenge is thatthere is no objective standard for declaring an act to be motivated by revenge or not.Revenge is a label that is ascribed based on perceivers’ attributions for the act. Revengeis an inference, regardless of whether the individuals making the inference are the harmdoers themselves, the injured parties, or outsiders. Because revenge is an inference, various individuals can disagree on whether the same action is revenge or not."[17]
Belief in thejust-world fallacy is also associated with revenge: in particular, having strong experiences or challenges against, can increase distress and motivate individuals to seek revenge, as a means of justice restoration.[18]
A growing body of research reveals that a vengefuldisposition is correlated to adverse health outcomes: strong desires for revenge and greater willingness to act on these desires have been correlated withpost-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and psychiatric morbidity.[19]
The popular expression "revenge is a dish best served cold" suggests that revenge is more satisfying if enacted when unexpected or long-feared, inverting traditional civilized[20] revulsion toward "cold-blooded" violence.[21]
The idea's origin is obscure. The French diplomatCharles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838) has been credited with the saying, "La vengeance est un met que l'on doit manger froid" ["Revenge is a dish that must be eaten cold"], albeit without supporting detail.[22] The concept has been in the English language at least since the 1846 translation of the 1845 French novelMathilde byJoseph Marie Eugène Sue: "la vengeance se mange très bien froide",[23] there italicized as if quoting a proverbial saying, and translated "revenge is very good eaten cold".[24] The phrase has been wrongly credited[25] to the novelLes Liaisons dangereuses (1782).
The phrase has also been credited to thePashtuns of Afghanistan.[26]
Earlier speakers of English might use the set phrase "with awanion" rather than the more modern standard "with a vengeance" to express intensity.[27]
A Japanese proverb states, "If you want revenge, then dig two graves". While this reference is frequently misunderstood by Western audiences, the Japanese reader understands that this proverb means that enactors of revenge must be more dedicated to killing their enemy than to surviving the ordeal themselves.[28]
Igagoe buyuden. This is an episode from a popular story of revenge – how the son of a murderedsamurai tracked the killer over all Japan.
Revenge is a popular subject across many forms of art. Some examples include the paintingHerodias' Revenge byJuan de Flandes and the operasDon Giovanni andThe Marriage of Figaro, both byWolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In Japanese art, revenge is a theme in various woodblock prints depicting theforty-seven rōnin by many well-known and influential artists, includingUtagawa Kuniyoshi. The Chinese playwright Ji Junxiang used revenge as the central theme in his theatrical workThe Orphan of Zhao;[29] it depicts more specifically familial revenge, which is placed in the context ofConfucian morality and social hierarchical structure.[30]
Revenge as a genre has been consistent with a variety of themes that have frequently appeared in different texts over the last few centuries. Such themes include but are not limited to:disguise,masking,sex,cannibalism, thegrotesque, bodily fluids, power, violent murders, and secrecy.[33] Each theme is usually coupled with the concept ofdramatic irony. Dramatic irony is a literary device in which the audience possesses knowledge unavailable to characters in a novel, play, or film.[34] Its purpose is to intensify the tragic events that are going to unfold by creating tension between the audience and the actions of the characters.[34]
The most common theme within the genre of revenge is the recurring violent murders that take place throughout the text, especially in the final act or scene. The root of the violence is usually derived from the characters' childhood development.[35]
The themes of masking and disguise have the ability to go hand in hand with each other. A character may employ disguise literally ormetaphorically. A mask is the literal example of this theme; while pretending to be something one is not is considered to be the metaphoric example. Additional themes that may cause theprotagonist andantagonist to develop a masked or disguised identity include sex, power, and evencannibalism. Examples of sex and power being used as themes can be seen in the novelGone Girl byGillian Flynn, as well as the aforementioned drama,Titus Andronicus.[36]
The emergence of theinternet has provided new ways of enacting revenge.[37] For example, customer revenge targets businesses and corporations with the intent to cause damage or harm.[38] In general, people tend to place more credence inonline reviews rather thancorporate communications.[37] With technology becoming more readily available, corporations and firms are more likely to experience damage caused by negative reviews posted online goingviral. Recent studies indicate this type of consumer rage aimed at corporations is becoming more common, especially inWestern societies.[39]
The rise ofsocial media sites likeFacebook,Twitter, andYouTube act as public platforms for exacting new forms of revenge.[37]Revenge porn involves the vengeful publicdissemination ofintimate pictures and videos of another person'ssexual activity with the intent of creating widespreadshame.[40] Participation in online revenge porn activities incites a sense of pleasure through the harm, embarrassment, and humiliation being inflicted on the victim. The allowance ofanonymity on revenge porn sites encourages further incivility by empowering and encouraging this type of behavior.[41] In many instances, the original poster provides the victim's personal information, including links to social media accounts, furthering the harassment.[40] Online revenge porn's origins can be traced to 2010 whenHunter Moore created the first site,IsAnyoneUp, to share nude photos of his girlfriend.[41]
Humans are not the only species known to take revenge. There are several species such ascamels,elephants,fish,lions,[42]coots,[43]crows, and many species of primates (chimpanzees,macaques,baboons, etc.) that have been recognized to seek revenge.PrimatologistsFrans de Waal and Lesleigh Luttrell have conducted numerous studies that provide evidence of revenge in many species of primates. They observed chimpanzees and noticed patterns of revenge. For example, if chimpanzee A helped chimpanzee B defeat his opponent, chimpanzee C, then chimpanzee C would be more likely to help chimpanzee A's opponent in a later squabble. Chimpanzees are one of the most common species that show revenge due to their desire for dominance. Studies have also been performed on less cognitive species such as fish to demonstrate that not only intellectual animals execute revenge.[44] Studies of crows by Professor John Marzluff have also shown that some animals can carry "blood feuds" in similar ways to humans.[45] Using a "dangerous" mask to cover their face and trap, band, and then release crows, Marzluff observed that within two weeks, a significant percentage of crows encountered - 26%, to be exact - would "scold" the people wearing the dangerous mask, proving that crows pass information pertaining to feuds within their family units to spread awareness about dangers they may face.[46] This included crows not initially trapped by the mask-wearing researchers, seeing as some of the crows were un-banded. This was further proven three years after the initial study, as the percentage of "scolding" crows increased to 66% from the initial 26%.[45]
^Michael Price (June 2009).Revenge and the people who seek it. Vol. 40. apa.org. p. Print version: page 34.Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved1 October 2010.
^Ian McKee, PhD. 2008.Social Justice Research (Vol. 138, No. 2)
^Ericksen, Karen Paige; Horton, Heather (1992). ""Blood Feuds": Cross-Cultural Variations in Kin Group Vengeance".Behavior Science Research.26 (1–4):57–85.doi:10.1177/106939719202600103.S2CID144360011.
^Richard, McClelland (Summer 2010). "The Pleasures of Revenge".The Journal of Mind and Behavior.31 (3/4): 196.JSTOR43854277.
^Brandon Hamber and Richard A. Wilson, Symbolic Closure through Memory, Reparation and Revenge in Post-conflict Societies (Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 1999).
^Plato.Protagoras. p. 324.Archived from the original on 2019-12-17. Retrieved2019-12-17.
^abSchumann, Karina (2010). "The Benefits, Costs, and Paradox of Revenge".Social and Personality Psychology Compass.4 (12): 1193.doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00322.x.
^Shi, Fei (2009). "Tragic Ways of Killing a Child: Staging Violence and Revenge in Classical Greek and Chinese Drama". In Constantinidis, Stratos E. (ed.).Text & presentation, 2008. Jefferson: McFarland. p. 175.ISBN9780786443666.
^C. Armstrong, Edward; W. Bright, James; Collitz, Hermann; Marden, C. Carroll (1911). "MLN, Volume 26".MLN.26. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1911:115–116.
^Marguerite, Tassi (September 22, 2012). "Women and Revenge in Shakespeare: Gender, Genre, and Ethics".Renaissance Quarterly.
^Grobbink, Leonie (July 2015). "Revenge: An Analysis of Its Psychological Underpinnings".International Journal of Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology.59 (8):892–907.doi:10.1177/0306624X13519963.PMID24441031.S2CID220490026.
^abRholetter, Wylene (January 2015)."Dramatic Irony".Research Starters. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Literature.
^Bloom, Sandra (2001)."Reflections on the Desire for Revenge".Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice. Journal of Emotional Abuse.Archived from the original on 2015-12-09. Retrieved2015-12-12.
^Willbern, David. "Rape and Revenge in "Titus Andronicus"".English Literary Renaissance.8.
^abcObeidat, Zaid. "Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes".Psychology & Marketing.
^Grégoire, Yany. "A comprehensive model of customer direct and indirect revenge: understanding the effects of perceived greed and customer power".Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
^Grégoire, Yany. "How can firms stop customer revenge? The effects of direct and indirect revenge on post-complaint responses".Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
^abLanglois, G.; Slane, A. (2017). "Economies of reputation: the case of revenge porn".Communication & Critical/Cultural Studies.14 (2):120–138.doi:10.1080/14791420.2016.1273534.S2CID151732727.
^abStroud, S. R. (2014). "The Dark Side of the Online Self: A Pragmatist Critique of the Growing Plague of Revenge Porn".Journal of Mass Media Ethics.29 (3):168–183.doi:10.1080/08900523.2014.917976.S2CID143979919.
