“Revenge is barren”

“Revenge is barren” is Walter Furst’s concise judgment on the aftermath of a crime that has brought its perpetrators no lasting benefit. With Duke John still wandering in the mountains, the phrase presents revenge not as a route to redress or security, but as an impulse whose apparent reward turns into despair.

Context and Speakers

Walter Furst speaks the phrase while the group considers the crime’s outcome. Duke John must still be wandering in the mountains, and Furst concludes that the crime has yielded its perpetrators no fruits. Werner Stauffacher follows by observing that the assassins reap no profit from it, reinforcing the point in practical terms: the act has not secured a benefit for those responsible.

Meaning and Image

The metaphor of barrenness makes the judgment one of fruitlessness. Furst develops it by describing revenge as generating the very conditions that sustain it, while its seeming satisfaction ends in despair. The phrase thus links the act’s consequences to its inner logic: revenge does not resolve the suffering that motivates it but perpetuates a cycle with no fruitful outcome.

Dramatic Function

The line turns the scene’s attention from the crime itself to what it has achieved. Duke John’s continued wandering supplies a concrete sign that the outcome is not triumph or settled gain; Furst’s moral conclusion and Stauffacher’s practical restatement converge on the same contrast between the promise of revenge and its barren result.