You Get What's Coming to You... Or Do You?

Dear Renaissance Woman,

So all my life my parents have told me to "forgive and forget" but now I am having a hard time following it. My boyfriend of three years slept with my best friend and the last thing I want to do is forgive them, and I don't ever think I'll be able to forgive the pain and betrayal I feel. I just want them to hurt as badly as I do now. Is revenge really that bad? What about that whole "eye for an eye" thing?

Sincerly,

Seeking Revenge




Dear Seeking Revenge,

You think you have it bad. So random dude came out of nowhere one day and killed my beloved Sansfoy. There was no way I was going to let him get away with that, so I plotted my revenge. I tricked Redcross into thinking that I was poor and helpless and that he needed to "save" me. Then I made him fall so madly in love with me that he was oblivious to my true identity so that I could trick him into coming to the my house where Sansjoy (my boyfriend's brother) was waiting to kill him. Although, Redcross didn't die I don't regret my choice of seeking revenge. You should have seen the look on his face when he realized who I was, and that he ditched he pure, beloved Una for me. I say go for it, make them suffer for what they did to you. They've got it coming to them.

Sincerly,
Duessa

Historical side note: Duessa is also from Spencer's The Faerie Queen and represented the Catholic church. Which at that time was looked at as the filth and evil and corruptness of people. Although, Duessa would have thought she had "won" by tricking Redcross Spencer made it clear by the end that true faith (Una) and holiness (Redcross) always win out. As shown through her answer above, Duessa was very cunning and conniving and used her feminine wiles to trick Redcross for so long, but did not succeed on wining him over, or in the book trapping him in the dungeon of the House of Pride.