revenge

Action, usually of a violent nature, meted out by the victim of a wrongdoing against the perpetrator by way of retribution or repayment.

The desire for revenge is deep-rooted and is encoded in many cultures both ancient and modern. It differs from punishment in that it is usually performed by the victim or his or her kin as direct compensation for the wrong committed and not by a separate agency, such as the state, as an official act of disapproval. Revenge is in many societies seen as restoring the honour of the wronged party; in primitive societies this extended to the whole group and was therefore a social obligation. Not to take revenge was a sign of weakness which prolonged disgrace for the individual and the group. In modern societies revenge is seen as ‘taking the law into your own hands’ and is approved or disapproved of according to the effectiveness of the actual law.

Many of the Greek tragedies, notably the Oresteia of Aeschylus, depict individuals trapped in an endless cycle of murder and revenge. In English literature, Shakespeare's play Hamlet is the best-known example of a revenge tragedy, a genre that flourished 1580s–1640s.