the game changer
by addy perlman
Revenge, a popular television show, embodies the philosophy of three great scholars:
Plato, Confucius, and Nietzsche. The main character Emily Thorne, a.k.a. Amanda Clarke,
represents points from all three philosophers. Her actions, her thoughts, her personality, and her
journey represent points, such as filial piety, Eudaimonia, and will of power vs. will of life.
Young Amanda Clarke was enjoying her summer at the beach with her father until
everything was turned upside down. Her father had been framed for aiding terrorists and
performing a terrorist attack, but his boss and husband of his lover and used David Clarke as a
scapegoat. When the FBI ripped Amanda from her father’s arms and took him to prison, her life
changed. She lost her innocence, her father, and her childhood all in one night. When she
turned eighteen, she discovered that her father had been framed, and she wouldn’t rest until
she had cleared his name and took revenge on the ones who destroyed her life. Amanda
adopted the alias Emily Thorne and embarked on the journey of revenge.
Believing her father had died in prison, Emily spent her life scheming and forming the
perfect plan to take down the Graysons, the family responsible for her father’s demise.
Confucius said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves,” and Emily Thorne
was prepared to encounter all the dangers that would come with clearing her father’s name
even if it meant death for her.
Confucius believes in filial piety, which means that people should treat their parents with
reverence, obey their parents, care for their parents, and mourn their parents. He said children
should sacrifice for their parents after the die, and Emily Thorne does just this. She sacrifices
the idea of a normal, everyday life to clear her father’s name and exact retribution on the family
and members of Grayson Global that took her father away from her.
On this journey of revenge, Emily is searching for Eudaimonia as Plato would put it. She
is searching for fulfillment in a life she believes is empty. Emily seeks revenge to fill that void in
her life where her father should be. In seeking retribution, Emily demonstrates two of Plato’s
ways to reach Eudaimonia. She thinks more. Instead of acting on impulse, she cultivated her
revenge plan for years as she observed and studied her targets. Plato says, “True love is
admiration,” and one must know oneself to reach Eudaimonia. Emily believes she is showing
her true love for her father by adopting this way of life, but in reality, he would want her to to live
the life she deserved: a blissful, safe, and normal life. She has tricked herself to believe that she
knows herself, but when she ends her role as Emily Thorne, she does not know who Amanda
Clarke is anymore. When she clears her father’s name, she thinks her work is done, but she
continues to exist as Emily Thorne because she is afraid to enter reality because of her fear of
the “ugliness” of the world. She doesn't know herself without revenge; therefore she hasn’t
reached Eudaimonia even though she thought her end goal would achieve her fulfillment.
Nietzsche says, “and nothing on earth consumes a man more quickly than the passion of
resentment,” and Emily Thorne is an example of this idea. She lets revenge consume her and
change her from an innocent girl to a harsh and damaged woman. Emily represents another
one of Nietzsche’s points: “ressentiment changes both who punishes and what punishment is.”
Emily vows never to kill, but at times her appetites, as Plato would identify them, try to
overpower her. If she had given in to her desires, she would have allowed revenge to change
punishment to a much deeper and darker level. Nietzsche highlights the irony in punishment.
The “will of power,” or the will of the weak/ressentiment, replaces the “will of life,” which is the
act of punishing a person without seeking revenge. Emily is both strong and weak. She has
overcome multiple obstacles in her life and because of that she is strong, but her need for
revenge makes her weak. She uses the people around here including the ones she loves to win
in this game of revenge. She changes the rules of life through manipulation and deception. She
falls captive to the will of power.
Plato, Confucius, and Nietzsche. The main character Emily Thorne, a.k.a. Amanda Clarke,
represents points from all three philosophers. Her actions, her thoughts, her personality, and her
journey represent points, such as filial piety, Eudaimonia, and will of power vs. will of life.
Young Amanda Clarke was enjoying her summer at the beach with her father until
everything was turned upside down. Her father had been framed for aiding terrorists and
performing a terrorist attack, but his boss and husband of his lover and used David Clarke as a
scapegoat. When the FBI ripped Amanda from her father’s arms and took him to prison, her life
changed. She lost her innocence, her father, and her childhood all in one night. When she
turned eighteen, she discovered that her father had been framed, and she wouldn’t rest until
she had cleared his name and took revenge on the ones who destroyed her life. Amanda
adopted the alias Emily Thorne and embarked on the journey of revenge.
Believing her father had died in prison, Emily spent her life scheming and forming the
perfect plan to take down the Graysons, the family responsible for her father’s demise.
Confucius said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves,” and Emily Thorne
was prepared to encounter all the dangers that would come with clearing her father’s name
even if it meant death for her.
Confucius believes in filial piety, which means that people should treat their parents with
reverence, obey their parents, care for their parents, and mourn their parents. He said children
should sacrifice for their parents after the die, and Emily Thorne does just this. She sacrifices
the idea of a normal, everyday life to clear her father’s name and exact retribution on the family
and members of Grayson Global that took her father away from her.
On this journey of revenge, Emily is searching for Eudaimonia as Plato would put it. She
is searching for fulfillment in a life she believes is empty. Emily seeks revenge to fill that void in
her life where her father should be. In seeking retribution, Emily demonstrates two of Plato’s
ways to reach Eudaimonia. She thinks more. Instead of acting on impulse, she cultivated her
revenge plan for years as she observed and studied her targets. Plato says, “True love is
admiration,” and one must know oneself to reach Eudaimonia. Emily believes she is showing
her true love for her father by adopting this way of life, but in reality, he would want her to to live
the life she deserved: a blissful, safe, and normal life. She has tricked herself to believe that she
knows herself, but when she ends her role as Emily Thorne, she does not know who Amanda
Clarke is anymore. When she clears her father’s name, she thinks her work is done, but she
continues to exist as Emily Thorne because she is afraid to enter reality because of her fear of
the “ugliness” of the world. She doesn't know herself without revenge; therefore she hasn’t
reached Eudaimonia even though she thought her end goal would achieve her fulfillment.
Nietzsche says, “and nothing on earth consumes a man more quickly than the passion of
resentment,” and Emily Thorne is an example of this idea. She lets revenge consume her and
change her from an innocent girl to a harsh and damaged woman. Emily represents another
one of Nietzsche’s points: “ressentiment changes both who punishes and what punishment is.”
Emily vows never to kill, but at times her appetites, as Plato would identify them, try to
overpower her. If she had given in to her desires, she would have allowed revenge to change
punishment to a much deeper and darker level. Nietzsche highlights the irony in punishment.
The “will of power,” or the will of the weak/ressentiment, replaces the “will of life,” which is the
act of punishing a person without seeking revenge. Emily is both strong and weak. She has
overcome multiple obstacles in her life and because of that she is strong, but her need for
revenge makes her weak. She uses the people around here including the ones she loves to win
in this game of revenge. She changes the rules of life through manipulation and deception. She
falls captive to the will of power.