The Revenger's Tragedy is, as its name suggests, a prototypical example of the revenge tragedy, a genre of drama that rose to great popularity in Britain during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. First and foremost, like all revenge-tragedies, the play features a vengeful protagonist, Vindice, whose desire for revenge is the central force driving the narrative. Vindice seeks to avenge a personal wrong—the fatal poisoning of his fiancée nine years before the events of the play—and in this quest for retribution he takes aim at the highest echelons of his society, as his fiancée’s murderer is none other than the Duke, the most powerful political leader in the play. Typically, revenge tragedies revolve around a tragic hero who is consumed by a desire for vengeance that has bloody consequences. The Revenger’s Tragedy exceeds most other plays in this bloody genre with the scale and severity of its violence.
The play also exhibits the dark moral ambiguity common to other revenge tragedies. Vindice and Hippolito grapple with the steep costs of their pursuit of revenge as they engage in acts of violence, manipulation, and deceit that have far-reaching consequences and ultimately destabilize the entire court. The play highlights the moral ambiguity inherent in the quest for vengeance and the gulf between private revenge and public good. Antonio's decision, at the end of the play, to execute Vindice and Hippolito demonstrates his own awareness that future acts of "vengeance" might similarly destabilize his rule.
