The Revenger's Tragedy is influenced by Seneca and Medieval theatre. It is written in 5 acts[15] and opens with a monologue that looks back at previous events and anticipates future events. This monologue is spoken by Vindice, who says he will take revenge and explains the corruption in court. It uses onomastic rhetoric in Act 3, scene 5 where characters play upon their own names, a trait considered to be Senecan.[16] The verbal violence is seen as Senecan, with Vindice in Act 2, scene 1, calling out against heaven, "Why does not heaven turn black or with a frown/Undo the world?"
The play also adapts Senecan attributes with the character Vindice. At the end of the play he is a satisfied revenger, which is typically Senecan. However, he is punished for his revenge, unlike the characters in Seneca's Medea and Thyestes.[17] In another adaptation of Seneca, there is a strong element of meta-theatricality as the play makes references to itself as a tragedy. For example, in Act 4, scene 2, "Vindice: Is there no thunder left, or is't kept up /In stock for heavier vengeance [Thunder] There it goes!"
Along with influences from Seneca, this play is said to be very relevant to, or even about, Shakespeare's Hamlet. The differences between the two, however, stem from the topic of "moral disorientation" found in The Revenger's Tragedy which is unlike anything found in a Shakespeare play. This idea is discussed in a scholarly article written by Scott McMillin, who addresses Howard Felperin's views of the two plays. McMillin goes on to disagree with the idea of a "moral disorientation", and finds The Revenger's Tragedy to be perfectly clear morally. McMillin asserts The Revenger's Tragedy is truly about theater, and self-abandonment within theatrics and the play itself. It is also noted that the most common adverb in The Revenger's Tragedy is the word "now" which emphasizes the compression of time and obliteration of the past. In Hamlet time is discussed in wider ranges, which is especially apparent when Hamlet himself thinks of death. This is also very different from Vindice's dialogue, as well as dialogue altogether in The Revenger's Tragedy.[18]
The medieval qualities in the play are described by Lawrence J. Ross as, "the contrasts of eternity and time, the fusion of satirically realistic detail with moral abstraction, the emphatic condemnation of luxury, avarice and superfluity, and the lashing of judges, lawyers, usurers and women."[19] To personify Revenge is seen as a Medieval characteristic.[20] Although The Revenger's Tragedy does not personify this trait with a character, it is mentioned in the opening monologue with a capital, thereby giving it more weight than a regular noun.
