The success
of Olivia Goldsmith's The First Wives Club comes as no surprise to
romance readers. They know that revenge is satisfying! No ifs, ands
or buts; in the black and white world of romance, when evil has been
done, vengeance will be had. And if either the heroine or the hero
must take revenge upon the other–oooh, what a delicious
conflict! But just as often the hero and heroine must form a perfect
union to avenge the evil wrong-doing inflicted on one or the other.
Until victory has been won, vengeance remains a very stimulating
agitator that will always culminate in satisfaction!
Revenge is
sweet, even if it takes years to plot and decades to exact. A
revenge romance features elaborate plots and sweet justice. There
are two varieties of stories: One features a vendetta between the
hero and heroine, and the other features the two swept together in a
dangerous escapade to avenge one or the other. Both involve high
drama, deep emotional commitment and enough sexual tension to knock
your socks off. Readers be wary, however, and, "Don't try this at
home." Revenge isn't the best kind of satisfaction!
What's The Appeal?
It's rare to go through life
unscathed. Somewhere along the way everyone gets wronged.
Unfortunately, in real life it isn't always possible or practical
to exact revenge for a wrong-doing. Thank goodness for fiction! It
offers readers the opportunity to avenge all wrongs. And in romance
fiction particularly, avenging a wrong is rarely a mistake.
No
one "turns the other cheek" in a romance novel. When a character has
a vendetta, he or she must extract "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth, blood for blood." Retaliation rarely goes sour in a romance
unless the hero or heroine must learn to change and grow as a
person, and can only achieve this through false retribution or by
learning to find forgiveness.
The desire for vengeance is a
powerful one. A victim feels strongly that evil needs to be
redressed, villains need to be taught lessons, and that all wrongs
ought to be righted! As a result, the plots and machinations for
revenge can be elaborate. A successful avengement may take years of
brooding and plotting. Revenge is a serious enterprise. There is
never any doubt: the villain is wrong and the hero or heroine is
clearly right.
Righting a wrong is a way of simplifying the
worldÂremoving the blemish that was marring possible perfection. And
when the heroine and hero are deadly partners out to extract revenge
from each other, or even if one party is innocent, the love story in
contrast becomes magnified and offers titillating sexual tension.
But is vengeance really sweet? Not if it puts the avenger and the
villain on a perpetual merry-go-round. The first shot will always be returned. Does the retaliation ever stop? Fortunately, for
readers, romance heroes and heroines manage to transform the evil
apparent into absolute good, offering eternal love to one another
rather than years in a psychiatric ward.
-Kate Ryan
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