History Theatre / TheRevengersTragedy

''The Revenger's Tragedy'' is a Jacobean {{Revenge}} play written in 1606 by (scholars now believe) Thomas Middleton. Earlier studies attributed the play to Cyril Tourneur and some scholars (e.g. Frank Kermode) still list Tourneur as the main author to this day, though a majority of scholars agree that Middleton is the most likely identity of the author.

%%* UpToEleven: Vindice's revenge.

* KillEmAll: To an absurd degree. By the end of the show, ten characters have died, with another three being escorted off to be executed for a total of 13 deaths. Of the main cast, only Antonio, Castiza, Gratiana, and the Duchess are still alive. Antonio's wife dies offstage at the start of the play (suicide), then Junior (beheaded), then the Duke (poisoned and/or blood loss), then three nobles (stabbed), then Supervacuo (killed by Ambitioso), then Ambitioso (killed by Spurio), then Spurio (killed by an unnamed henchman of Ambitioso) and then Lussurioso (also stabbed). Ambitioso's henchman, Vindice, and Hippolito are all lead away to "speedy execution" at the end of the play. This list does not include Gloriana, Vindice's lost love who dies before the show starts.

** The Duke and The Duchess are only referred to by their titles, with their actual names never being said.

** Downplayed with Ambitioso and Supervacuo. In the dialogue, they are only referred to as "the Duchess' sons". The speech prefixes and stage directions, however, do refer to them by their actual names: Ambitioso and Supervacuo.

--> ''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments There it is!]]''

** Castiza's servant Dondolo is the closest the play has to a clown, offering snarky responses to his mistress when he introduces the disguised Vindice to her. Dondolo excuses his himself and he is never seen again in the text.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Vindice and Hippolito. Ambitioso and Supervacuo also apply, with one never appearing in a scene without the other close by.

%%* ThoseTwoGuys: Vindice and Hippolito. Ambitioso and Supervacuo also apply, with one never appearing in a scene without the other close by.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Downplayed with The Duchess, who is the least awful member of the royal family by FAR. The Duchess is certainly not a great person, considering she attempts to defend her youngest son Junior when he's put on trial for raping a woman, and that she engages in an adulterous relationship with her husband's bastard son out of spite. At the very least, she is the only member of the royal family who does not murder or even attempt to murder anyone. While the play calls her relationship with Spurio "incest", they are not actually related by blood at all, making their dalliances at least a little less awful (not to mention that The Duke has cheated on her multiple times before this point). [[spoiler:Fittingly, The Duchess is the only member of the royal family to survive the entire play, as Lussurioso banishes her before the final massacre scene happens.]]

''The Revenger's Tragedy'' is a Jacobean {{Revenge}} play written in 1606 by (scholars now believe) Thomas Middleton. Earlier studies attributed the play to Cyril Tourneur and some scholars (Frank Kermode) still list Tourneur as the main author to this day, though a majority of scholars agree that Middleton is the most likely identity of the author.

* DarkerAndEdgier: You wouldn't think that was ''possible'', with this source material. But in the original play, the Duke and Duchess have no children together (Lussurioso is the Duke's son by a previous wife, Spurio by his mistress, while Ambitioso, Supervacuo, and Junior are the Duchess' children by a previous husband). The film makes them all one biological family, which means that: [[spoiler: the Duke sentences HIS SON Junior to death; Spurio has an affair with HIS MOTHER; Ambitioso and Supervacuo try to murder THEIR BROTHER Lussurioso]]. Pretty screwed up in a step-family, but even worse when they're blood relations.

* ParentalIncest: Between the Duchess and Spurio.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:The Duke. Good LORD, The Duke. First, he's tricked into kissing a skull that has been covered in a poison that is caustic enough to disolve his teeth. Then, he gets stamped on by Hippolito, a man he thought was his ally. Then, his tongue gets nailed to the floor. Finally, he's forced to watch his wife engage in adulterous acts with Spurio, his own bastard son. Only then does The Duke finally die which, depending on the production, comes about from the poison, his massive blood loss, Vindice murdering him, or his tongue being ripped out. Yikes]].

** Downplayed with Gratiana. The speech prefixes, the dramatis personae, and her three children (Vindice, Castiza, and Hippolito) only refer to her as "Mother". Other characters also mostly refer to her as "the mother" or "Castiza's mother". Her name, however, does get briefly mentioned once by Lussurioso in Act 1, Scene 3, a scene where she does not appear.

** Downplayed with Gratiana. The speech prefixes, the dramatis personae, and her three children (Vindice, Castiza, and Hippolito) only refer to her as "Mother". Other characters also mostly refer to her as "the mother" or "Castiza's mother". Her name, however, does get mentioned once by Lussurioso in Act 1, Scene 3.

** Subverted with Gratiana. The speech prefixes, the dramatis personae, and her three children (Vindice, Castiza, and Hippolito) only refer to her as "Mother". Other characters also mostly refer to her as "the mother" or "Castiza's mother". Her name, however, does get mentioned once by Lussurioso in Act 1, Scene 3.

** Subverted with Gratiana. The speech prefixes and the dramatis persona only refer to her as "Mother". Vindice, Hippolito, and Castiza also only refer to her as "Mother" while other characters also mostly refer to her as "the mother" or "Castiza's mother". Her name, however, does get mentioned once by Lussurioso in Act 1, Scene 3.

** The masquer who kills Spurio in the final scene is only referred to in the stage directions as "a fourth man", with speech prefixes being "Fourth Man". He refers to Ambitoso as his "lord and master", implying that he is Ambitoso's servant/henchman.