Just like Marsellus' revenge in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 Pulp Fiction, the audience never sees the killing of Duncan in his sleep by Macbeth, nor the rape and mutilation of Lavinia in Titus Andronicus (although several productions since the 1970s made the decision to stage the rape of Lavinia). In fact, one could argue that Shakespeare's most violent imagery lies in his words and the descriptions of terrible acts by his characters.
Shakespeare's King Lear contains one of his most notorious on-stage mutilations: the plucking out of Gloucester's eyes [III.vii]. Shakespeare gave his actors clear instructions on how to achieve this theatrical feat by giving Cornwall the line:
'To this chair bind him' [III.vii.32].
And from that moment it is simply a matter of tipping back Gloucester's chair; Cornwall plunges his hands into Gloucester's face; Gloucester screams and up comes Cornwall with something that resembles an eye which he then stamps on.
