Dr. Wilson
Composition II
11/12/13
Revenge: Is an eye for an eye what is best?
Sir Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator and author. In 1597 he wrote a short story called “Of Revenge”. When I came across the short story in my book Reading Literature and Writing Argument I became interested in the story after reading the title. Revenge always happens to be a very interesting topic, typically filled with drama or action. After reading I began to ask myself some questions. Why might someone seek revenge? Is revenge ever justified? After I was able to finish reading Of Revenge I decided that I should summarize his story to get a better understanding of his views on revenge. I observed …show more content…
Bacon then ends by pointing out that public revenge on bad leaders is "for the most part fortunate; as that for the death of Caesar; for the death of Pertinax; for the death of Henry the Third of France; and many more” (psu.edu). He also reminds his reader that private revenge is "unfortunate.” While Bacon is in favor of publicly punishing and humiliating authority figures