Revenge

Quiz: "Revenge" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

1. Recall – Form & Context: In which early published collection did "Revenge" first appear, and who co-authored it with Shelley?

1. Recall – Setting: What type of location serves as the central setting for the supernatural encounter in the poem, and what broader Gothic literary tradition does this setting reflect?

1. Recall – Key Image: Describe the two most striking visual features of Conrad's ghost as he materialises before the couple. What does his unusual cloak symbolise, according to the analysis?

1. Recall – Plot: What specific demand does Conrad's ghost make of Adolphus before the encounter at the tomb, and how does Adolphus initially misinterpret this demand?

1. Comprehension – Character motivation: Why does Agnes insist on accompanying Adolphus to the tomb despite his warnings? What does her decision reveal about her character?

1. Comprehension – Conrad's grievance: Explain the backstory Conrad reveals to justify his revenge. Who wronged him, and in what way?

1. Comprehension – The storm's role: The analysis describes the storm as serving a "dual purpose." What are those two purposes?

1. Analysis – Theme of injustice: How does the poem use Agnes's fate to explore the theme of inherited guilt? In what sense is the revenge both "complete" and "profoundly unfair"?

1. Analysis – Symbolism: The demon who empowers Conrad is described as symbolising revenge as a "corrupting influence." Using details from the analysis, explain how Conrad's transformation illustrates this idea.

1. Analysis – Biographical context: The analysis notes that "Revenge" predates Shelley's later philosophical and political work by nearly a decade, yet already anticipates a key concern of his mature writing. What is that concern, and how is it expressed in the poem?

Answer Key

1. The poem appeared in Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire (1810), co-authored with his sister Elizabeth Shelley.

1. An ancestral tomb / sepulchre in a graveyard; it reflects the tradition of the Gothic ballad and the German Schauerroman, featuring haunted tombs, vengeful spirits, and doomed lovers.

1. Conrad is described as tall and fierce, with eyes blazing like a plague-star at midnight, and wearing a cloak as fine and delicate as spider silk. The gossamer mantle symbolises his in-between existence — neither fully physical nor fully spirit — and captures the contradiction of his nature.

1. Conrad demands that Adolphus bring the thing he loves most to the tomb, or face death. Adolphus misinterprets this as a reason to leave Agnes behind and go alone, believing he is protecting her.

1. Agnes refuses to be separated from Adolphus because her love for him is too deep to allow him to face the unknown alone. Her decision demonstrates genuine courage, agency, and selfless devotion.

1. Conrad reveals he is the illegitimate son of Adolphus's father. His mother was seduced and then abandoned, and Conrad himself was left to suffer and die before he could receive any justice. He blames the sins of Adolphus's father for his ruin.

1. First, the storm creates a Gothic atmosphere of dread and urgency. Second, it reflects the moral chaos of a world in which innocent people suffer for the sins of others — the weather mirrors the poem's ethical disorder.

1. Agnes is entirely innocent — she has committed no wrong — yet she is dragged to the underworld as punishment for a sin committed by Adolphus's father long before she was involved. The revenge is "complete" because it destroys what Adolphus loves most and kills him; it is "profoundly unfair" because the suffering falls entirely on those who bear no responsibility for the original wrongdoing.

1. Conrad's pain and sense of betrayal are portrayed as legitimate, but his choice to make a pact with a demon in order to seek vengeance transforms him into a monstrous figure. The very act of embracing demonic power to punish others corrupts his cause, turning a victim's justified grief into a destructive, evil force that harms the innocent.

1. Shelley's mature work is deeply concerned with injustice. Even in this early Gothic poem, injustice is central: an innocent woman is punished for wrongs she did not commit, and a young man dies for sins belonging to his father. The poem already probes the question of who truly bears responsibility when power and wrongdoing are passed down through generations.