Revenge
Sir Walter Scott called revenge "the sweetest morsel to the mouth that was ever cooked in hell." We are often counseled to rise above slights, grievances, and injuries, but still, the temptation and promise of revenge remain. This thematic collection gathers texts that investigate what prompts us to hunger for revenge and where this hunger leads us.
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Fear, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Love, Revenge, Femininity, Masculinity, Sexual Identity, Death, Appearance & Reality, Family, Fathers, Teamwork, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger
Tags Romance, Modern Classic Fiction, Fantasy
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Apathy, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Hope, Revenge, Mental Health, Midlife, Death, Animals, Appearance & Reality, Environment, Food, Nature Versus Nurture, Objects & Materials, Place, Family, Friendship, Marriage, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Economics, Fate, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Science Fiction
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Revenge, Femininity, Mental Health, Death, The Past, Daughters & Sons, Marriage, Mothers, Justice, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Apathy, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Loneliness, Love, Memory, Regret, Revenge, Shame & Pride, Death, Family, Fathers, Teamwork, Good & Evil, Justice, Religion & Spirituality, Truth & Lies, Trust & Doubt, Safety & Danger, Order & Chaos, Community, Power & Greed, Self Discovery, The Past, Appearance & Reality, Mental Health
Tags Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Religion & Spirituality
Doctor Sleep is a 2013 horror novel by Stephen King. It is a sequel to the events that occurred in King’s popular novel The Shining and features the return of Danny Torrance. Decades after the horrors at the Overlook Hotel, Dan Torrance must now reckon with the renewed threat of the spirits. When the novel begins, the dead woman from the Overlook’s Room 217 has returned and threatens Danny in his bathroom. King uses this... Read Doctor Sleep Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Guilt, Revenge, Femininity, Death, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies
Tags Horror & Suspense
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Revenge, Family, Marriage, Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense
Publication year 1968
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Revenge, Space, Science & Technology
Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Relationships, Science & Nature, Technology, American Literature, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1992
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Love, Perseverance, Shame & Pride, Revenge, Nostalgia, Memory, Hope, Masculinity, Gender Identity, Femininity, Sexual Identity, Death, The Past, Future, Place, Marriage, Nation, Politics & Government, War, Fate, Justice, Social Class, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Safety & Danger, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses, Religion & Spirituality
Tags Historical Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, European History, Health, World History
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Hate & Anger, Revenge, Gender Identity, Language, Coming of Age, Appearance & Reality, Friendship, Siblings, Politics & Government, War, Justice, Power & Greed, Truth & Lies
Tags Fantasy, Action & Adventure, Animals
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Justice, Animals, Environment, Revenge
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Fairy Tale & Folklore, Satirical Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Olga Tokarczuk is among Poland’s most famous and critically acclaimed contemporary authors. She has received multiple national and international literary awards, including the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature. Her most well-known novels and their translations into English are House of Day, House of Night (2003), Primeval and Other Times (2010), Flights (2018), and The Books of Jacob (2021).Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was published in Poland in 2009 but didn’t become... Read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Summary
Publication year 1931
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Justice, Revenge, Femininity, Race
Tags American Literature, Race & Racism, Education, Education, Southern Gothic, World History, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction
“Dry September,” by American author William Faulkner, is a short story that explores racial tension, violence, and moral decay in a small Southern town when a white woman’s accusation against a Black man leads to violence. The story, which unfolds in five parts, revolves around the rumors that Will Mayes, a Black man, assaulted or frightened a white woman, Miss Minnie Cooper. Without concrete evidence, the men of the town exact their revenge against Mayes... Read Dry September Summary
Publication year 2008
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Fear, Grief, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Memory, Revenge, Disability, Language, Race, Death, Environment, Place, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Teamwork, Social Class, Art, Beauty, Good & Evil, Power & Greed
Tags Horror & Suspense, Fantasy, Psychological Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Religion & Spirituality
Duma Key by Stephen King is a novel in the literary-horror genre, praised for its eerie, spooky atmosphere and suspenseful build-up. Published in 2008, Duma Key is the first novel by King to be set in Florida. The book follows Edgar Freemantle as he moves from Minnesota to the island of Duma (one of the Florida Keys, or small islands) after a life-changing accident. Tormented by phantom-limb pain from his amputation and unable to remember... Read Duma Key Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Justice, Revenge, Grief, Indigenous Identity, Family
Tags Fantasy, Mystery & Crime Fiction, LGBTQ+, Magical Realism, Action & Adventure, Grief & Death, Race & Racism, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Love, Memory, Revenge, Femininity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Race, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Animals, Environment, Place, Community, Politics & Government, War, Fate, Good & Evil, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger
Tags Fantasy, Romance, Horror & Suspense
Publication year 450
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Death, Fate, Siblings, Revenge, Family, Justice, Grief, Truth & Lies, Perseverance, Appearance & Reality
Tags Tragedy, Mythology, Grief & Death, Ancient Greece, Dramatic Literature, Classical Period, Fantasy, Classic Fiction
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Family, Justice, Revenge, Siblings, Hate & Anger
Tags Tragedy, Mythology, Ancient Greece, Classical Period, Trauma & Abuse, Dramatic Literature, Fantasy, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1891
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Revenge, Colonialism, Social Class
Tags Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government, Social Justice, Race & Racism, Social Class, Education, Education, Asian Literature, World History
Publication year 1987
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Grief, Hate & Anger, Memory, Loneliness, Shame & Pride, Revenge, Love, Gratitude, Hope, Childhood & Youth, Death, The Past, Equality, Good & Evil, Literature, Art, Beauty, Trust & Doubt, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses, Power & Greed, Daughters & Sons, Friendship, Family, Fathers, Grandparents, Mothers, Nature Versus Nurture, Appearance & Reality
Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Classic Fiction, Southern Literature, Life-Inspired Fiction, Trauma & Abuse, Race & Racism
Ellen Foster is a work of adult fiction by US novelist Kaye Gibbons, first published by Algonquin Books in 1987. The novel was Gibbons’s debut, and it won the Sue Kaufman Prize for literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a notable citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation. Critics praised the novel for its unsentimental outlook and the wry, distinct voice of its protagonist. Ellen, a young girl living in the American... Read Ellen Foster Summary
Publication year 458
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Revenge, Justice, Guilt, Gender Identity
Tags Ancient Greece, Dramatic Literature, Drama, Philosophy, Trauma & Abuse
Eumenides is an Attic tragedy by the playwright Aeschylus (circa 525/4-circa 456/5 BCE). Eumenides was the final part of the Oresteia, a tragic trilogy first produced for the City Dionysia in 458 BCE. The Oresteia describes the murder of Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra and the aftermath of this act; in Eumenides, Orestes—the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra—must undergo a trial to be purified of the blood of his mother, whom he murdered to avenge... Read Eumenides Summary
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Fear, Forgiveness, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Revenge, Appearance & Reality, Objects & Materials, Place, Teamwork, Fame, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Power & Greed
Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction