What is meant by revenge tragedy?

Revenge Tragedy is a kind of tragedy modeled on the Senecan tragedy. It is a tragic play in which the tragedy results from revenge. This kind of tragedy originated in ancient Greece in the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. The popular elements of this type of drama are-

• A quest for vengeance
• Ghosts
• Graveyards
• Insanity
• Incest
• Adultery
• Rape
• Suicide
• Arson
• Play within a play
• Sensational incidents and
• Horrible murders on the stage      

It is Seneca, the great tragic dramatist of ancient Rome, introduces horror elements in a revenge play. The revenge tragedy enjoyed great popularity in the 17th Century. In the Elizabethan Age, and later on in the jacobean Age it was very popular. Thomas Kyd's The Spanish  Tragedy, Marston's Antonio and Millida, and John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Tourner's  The Revenger's Tragedy and Shakespeare's Hamlet are remarkable revenge tragedies. The revenge tragedy and the Seneca tragedy are almost similar. The difference lies in the fact that revenge tragedy allows murders on stage while Senecan tragedy reports off-stage murder.