Introduction
Of Revenge Essay is a literary masterpiece work produced by Francis Bacon in 1625. It is one of the most remarkable works in English literature. This essay deals with revenge, types of vengeance, and human morals and nature. The essay portrays the complexities of human nature and the moral implications of human nature seeking vengeance.
About the author
The author Francis Bacon (born on 22 January 1561 in York House, Strand in London—died on 19 April 1626 in London, England). He was a well-versed English scholar, considered a scientist, and popularly known as an essayist.
Some of his other prominent essays are Of Friendship, Of Love, Of Hatred, Of Studies, Of Death, Of Truth, Of Beauty, Of Philosophy, Of Ambitious, Of Custom and Of Education.
Of Revenge Essay by Francis Bacon | Of Revenge Essay Analysis
The Of revenge essay encompasses several perspectives, including morality, irrevocable pasts, justifications for retribution, and many forms of revenge.
Four Types of Retaliation
Unlawful Retaliation: It is covered in the Wild Justice section.
Illegal vengeance: it is defined as retaliation that violates the rules of justice and legality.
Justice beyond the law: The individuals can use retaliatory action in response to unfairness and inconvenience if the law fails to protect them. According to Bacon seeking retribution to uphold the law is not illegal.
The third is public vengeance: Public revenge often causes civil rebellion. The civil rebellion is against those rulers who misuse their powers to crush the nation’s interests.
According to Bacon, these are those rulers who form tyrannical governments and patronize the offenders through their misuse of power. This also implies a conspiracy against an already-formed government.
This is associated with attempting assassinations against powerful rulers. Julius Caesar was killed with a knife by senators led by Brutus. This is an example that points to the evil of public revenge. It is a kind of retaliation in a way that is visible to the broader community.
This also implies exposing the wrongdoing of an individual to the public to damage his position or reputation in society. Public revenge refers to different forms of revenge, including public outcry, lawsuits, humiliating the offender, and aggression witnessed by others.
The last and fourth type of revenge is private revenge: This type of revenge points to personal confrontation. It is a retaliation against an individual who did wrong to you. It can be for personal satisfaction, sabotage the standing position of someone, personal confrontation, or attacking someone’s loved ones.
Wild Justice
Bacon uses the term in order to describe human inclination towards taking revenge. According to Bacon, there is a natural inclination in humans to take revenge when they have been harmed by any offender.
Wild justice is a natural instinct that grows up and rises up when emotions surpass control. Bacon unveils the wild justice through uncontrollable human emotions.
This is against rational thinking, which helps to control and subside human emotions. Wild Justice is a kind of unchecked revenge, which goes against lawful justice and creates frequent violence and conflict.
Psychology Francis Bacon puts forward his observation or the belief that most people do not want to kill their enemy, but they want to see the enemy suffering in tyrannical circumstances. Those people just cause an injury and leave the enemy for suffering and repenting. This is because the people want to satisfy their anger.
The conclusion
The Of Revenge essay is a vivid reflection of human nature. Bacon explains that people wish to cause suffering for their enemies. The people do not want to kill their enemy in one go. Contrary to this, they wish to satisfy their ego and quest for revenge. Bacon uses the word “wild justice,” which means revenge is a type of natural desire that may be controlled but not extinguished.