HON 292 - The Art of Revenge

Prerequisite, acceptance to the University Honors Program, or consent of instructor. This course focuses on representations of revenge from classical antiquity to contemporary times. Specific texts vary by semester but typically include a mixture of stageplays, short stories, short films, and feature-length films, along with contextualizing religious writings and philosophical treatises. Our objective in considering these texts will be to analyze the ethical and aesthetic “grammar” of revenge. In other words, how do various authors and directors tell revenge stories in such a way as to shape, satisfy, modify, and/or confound our notions of right and wrong, offense and punishment, and justice and mercy? (Offered as needed.) 3 credits