Revenge is a messy game that makes for an action packed story filled with bloody violence. The trilogy of The Orestia is based around the acts that happen before and after Clytemnestra seeks revenge on her husband King Agamemnon for killing her daughter. Her avenges is part of a chain reactions of violence’s and leads to her son avenging his father. Clytemnestra is a vindictive character and reminds me of the role Uma Thurman plays in the movie Kill Bill.
Uma is first shown getting married in a small chapel in Texas, she is pregnant and has decided to give up her life as an assassin to be a wife and mother. In the middle of the ceremony, Bill her ex boss and lover and the father of the baby enters the chapel along with four other assassins. They are sent to kill her, her husband and her baby. Bill shoots her in the side of the head. After waking up out of a four year coma and discovering that she is no longer pregnant and now is dedicated to killing the five people who destroyed her life and killed her baby.
Clytemnestra and Uma are both mothers who seek revenge on their daughter’s lives by killing the father of their children who resulted in their death. Clytemnestra was also cheating on her husband with his cousin Aegisthus and Uma left Bill to be with another man while she was pregnant with his baby. Clytemnestra motives for killing Agamemnon were to avenge her daughter and to gain power in the kingdom. If Clytemnestra did not succeed in completely killing Agamemnon would he have returned to seek full vengeance on her just like Uma does on the man who attempted to kill her? Both of these example prove the messy and twisted game of revenge, how it seems that it is almost never ending. Although it may be self-serving and provide closure for some, it never full resolves the problem only causes more violence and bloodshed.
From Kate Southerton
ReplyDeleteJenna,
I love Kill Bill. It's satirically violent, epic, over-the-top, thus, awesome. The connection you made really is striking. Awesome call on that; I definitely never would of thought about it. You're totally right. The similarities are numerous and accurate.
It would be interesting to see how many movies involve a mother seeking revenge for the death of her child. As horrible as it is, I'm sure it's not too uncommon. The bond between mother and child is one of the strongest. It makes sense that playwrights/movie-makers/television show writers would choose that relationship to experience the tragedy: it has the most pre-existing emotional connection with the audience.