Reprising Revenge

Abstract

In Violence and the Sacred, René Girard argues that vengeance is a vicious circle that is broken only when the power to seek reprisal is consolidated in a sovereign authority. Drawing on the work of Hannah Arendt, and in particular her concept of natality, I argue that Girard fails to appreciate how revenge is an act that may be repeated with a difference. When this possibility is admitted, we need no longer depend upon sovereign authority to disrupt the cycle of vengeance and, practicing humble resolve, may be surprised by what unfolds.