The Spanish Tragedy

Title page of the 1615 edition.

The Spanish Tragedy is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582–92.

Highly popular and influential in its time, The Spanish Tragedy established a new genre in English theatre, the revenge play or revenge tragedy. Its plot contains several violent murders and includes as one of its characters a personification of Revenge. The Spanish Tragedy was often referenced (or parodied) in works written by other Elizabethan playwrights, including William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe. Many elements of The Spanish Tragedy, such as the play-within-a-play used to trap a murderer and a ghost intent on vengeance, appear in Shakespeare's Hamlet. (Thomas Kyd is frequently proposed as the author of the hypothetical Ur-Hamlet that may have been one of Shakespeare's primary sources for Hamlet).

Date

In the Introduction to his play Bartholomew Fair (1614), Ben Jonson alludes to The Spanish Tragedy as being "five and twenty or thirty years" old. If taken literally, this would yield a date range of 1584–89 — a range that agrees with what else is known about the play. Some critics, noting that the play makes no reference to the Spanish Armada of 1588, have argued for a date of 1587 as the most likely single year; others have varied that date a year or so, either way. Philip Edwards, in his Revels edition of the play, entertains a date range of 1582–92, but favors a date c. 1590.

Performance

No details on the earliest performances of the play in the late 1580s have survived. Lord Strange's Men staged a play that the records call Jeronimo on March 14, 1592, and repeated it sixteen times to January 22, 1593; it was their big hit of the season. It is unclear whether Jeronimo was The Spanish Tragedy, or The First Part of Hieronimo (printed in 1604), the anonymous "prequel" to Kyd's play, or perhaps either on different days.

The Admiral's Men revived Kyd's original on January 7, 1597, and performed it twelve times to July 19; they staged another performance conjointly with Pembroke's Men on October 11 of the same year. The records of Philip Henslowe suggest that the play was on stage again in 1601 and 1602. English actors performed the play on tour in Germany (1601), and both German and Dutch adaptations were made.

Publication

Kyd's play was entered into the Stationers' Register on October 6, 1592, by the bookseller Abel Jeffes. The play was published in an undated quarto, almost certainly before the end of 1592; this first quarto was printed by Edward Allde — and published not by the copyright holder Jeffes, but by another bookseller, Edward White. On December 18 of that year, the Stationers Company ruled that both Jeffes and White had broken the guild's rules by printing works that belonged to the other; both men were fined 10 shillings, and the offending books were destroyed — so that Q1 of The Spanish Tragedy survives in only a single copy. Yet the Q1 title page refers to an even earlier edition; this was probably by Jeffes, and no known copy exists.

The popular play was reprinted in 1594; in an apparent compromise between the competing booksellers, the title page of Q2 credits the edition to "Abell Jeffes, to be sold by Edward White." On August 13, 1599, Jeffes transferred his copyright to William White, who issued the third edition that year. White in turn transferred the copyright to Thomas Pavier on August 14, 1600, and Pavier issued the fourth edition (printed for him by William White) in 1602. This 1602 Q4 featured five additions to the pre-existent text (see below). Q4 was reprinted in 1610, 1615 (two issues), 1618, 1623 (two issues), and 1633.

Authorship

All of the early editions are anonymous. The first indication of the author's identity appeared in Thomas Heywood's Apology for Actors (1612), where Heywood assigns the play to Kyd. The style of The Spanish Tragedy is considered such a good match with Kyd's style in his other extant play, Cornelia (1593), that scholars and critics have universally recognized Kyd's authorship.

Influences

Many writers have influenced The Spanish Tragedy. Notably those from the Medieval tradition and Seneca. The play is ostensibly Senecan with its bloody tragedy, rhetoric of the "horrible", the character of the Ghost and typical revenge themes.The characters of the Ghost of Andrea and Revenge form a chorus similar to that of Tantalus and Fury in Thyestes. The Ghost describes his journey into the underworld and calls for punishment at the end of the play that has influences from Thyestes, Agamemnon and Phaedra. The use of onomastic rhetoric is also Senecan, with characters playing upon their names, which Hieronimo does repeatedly. Hieronimo also references the Senecan plays, Agamemnon and Troades, in his monologue in Act 3, scene 13. The character of the Old Man, Senex, is seen as a direct reference to Seneca.

The play also subverts typically Senecan qualities such as the use of a ghost character, but in Kyd the Ghost is part of the chorus, unlike in Thyestes where the Ghost leaves after the prologue. Also, the Ghost is not a functioning prologue as he does not give the audience information about the major action on stage nor its conclusion. The Ghost is similar to those in metrical (meaning in meter form) medieval plays who come back to talk about their downfall and offer commentary on the action. Revenge is like a medieval character that acts as a guide for those on a journey although he is a guide for a Ghost, which is not Medieval.

Allusions

The Spanish Tragedy was enormously influential, and references and allusions to it abound in the literature of its era. Ben Jonson mentions "Hieronimo" in the Induction to his Cynthia's Revels (1600), and quotes from the play in Every Man in His Humour (1598), Act I, scene iv. In Satiromastix (1601), Thomas Dekker suggests that Jonson, in his early days as an actor, himself played Hieronimo.

Allusions continue for decades after the play's origin, including references in Thomas Tomkis's Albumazar (1615), Thomas May's The Heir (1620), and as late as Thomas Rawlins's The Rebellion (c. 1638).

In modern times, T. S. Eliot quoted the title and the play in his poem The Waste Land.

Dramatis Personæ

Figures in the Frame

• The ghost of Don ANDREA
• An embodiment of REVENGE

Spain

• The Spanish KING
• The Duke of CASTILE, Don Cyprian, the King's brother
• Don LORENZO, the Duke of Castile's son
• BEL-IMPERIA, the Duke of Castile's daughter
• PEDRINGANO, Bel-imperia's servant
• CHRISTOPHIL, Don Lorenzo's servant
• Don Lorenzo's PAGE boy

• Don HIERONIMO, Knight Marshal of Spain
• His wife, ISABELLA
• Don HORATIO, their son
• A SERVANT to Don Hieronimo
• Isabella's MAID

• Don BAZULTO, an elderly man
• GENERAL of the Spanish army
• Three WATCHMEN
• A DEPUTY
• A HANGMAN
• A MESSENGER
• Three CITIZENS

Portugal

• The Portuguese VICEROY
• Prince BALTHAZAR, his son
• Don PEDRO, brother to the Viceroy
• ALEXANDRO and VILLUPPO, Portuguese noblemen
• The Portuguese AMBASSADOR
• SERBERINE, Balthazar's serving-man
• Two NOBLEMEN of Portugal
• Two PORTUGUESE citizens (Portingales)

Plot

Before the play begins, the Viceroy of Portugal has rebelled against Spanish rule. A battle has taken place in which the Portuguese were defeated and their leader, the Viceroy's son Balthazar, captured; but the Spanish officer Andrea has been killed by none other than the captured Balthazar. His ghost and the spirit of Revenge (present onstage throughout the entirety of the play) serve as chorus and at the beginning of each act Andrea bemoans the series of injustices that take place before being reassured by Revenge that those deserving will get their comeuppance. There is a subplot concerning the enmity of two Portuguese noblemen, one of whom attempts to convince the Viceroy that his rival has murdered the missing Balthazar.

The King's nephew Lorenzo and Andrea's best friend Horatio dispute over who captured Balthazar, and though it is made clear early on that it is in fact Horatio that defeated him while Lorenzo essentially cheats his way into taking partial credit, the King leaves Balthazar in Lorenzo's charge and splits the spoils of the victory between the two. Horatio comforts Lorenzo's sister, Bel-Imperia, who was in love with Andrea against her family's wishes; despite her former feelings for Andrea, Bel-Imperia soon falls for Horatio. Her courtship with Horatio is motivated partially by her desire for revenge. Bel-Imperia intends to torment an amorous Balthazar, the killer of her former lover.

As Balthazar is in love with Bel-imperia, the royal family concludes that their marriage would be an excellent way to repair the peace with Portugal. Horatio's father, the Marshall Hieronimo, stages an entertainment for the Portuguese ambassador; Lorenzo, suspecting that Bel-Imperia has found a new lover, bribes her servant Pedringano and discovers that Horatio is the man. He persuades Balthazar to help him murder Horatio during an assignation with Bel-Imperia; Hieronimo and his wife Isabella find the body of their son hanged and stabbed, and Isabella is driven mad. Revisions made to the original play supplement the scene with Hieronimo briefly losing his wits as well.

Lorenzo locks Bel-Imperia away, but she succeeds in sending Hieronimo a letter, written in her own blood, informing him that Lorenzo and Balthazar were Horatio's murderers. His questions and attempts to see Bel-Imperia convince Lorenzo that he knows something; afraid that Balthazar's servant Serberine has betrayed the plot, Lorenzo convinces Pedringano to murder him, then arranges for Pedringano's arrest in the hopes of silencing him too. Hieronimo, appointed judge, sentences Pedringano to death; Pedringano expects Lorenzo to procure his pardon, and Lorenzo, having written a fake letter of pardon, lets him believe this right up until the hangman drops Pedringano to his death.

Lorenzo manages to prevent Hieronimo from seeking justice by convincing the King that Horatio is alive and well. Furthermore, Lorenzo does not allow Hieronimo to see the King, claiming that he is too busy. This, combined with his wife's suicide, which happens just prior to Hieronimo's appeal to the King, pushes Hieronimo past his limit. He rants incoherently and digs at the ground with his dagger. Lorenzo goes on to tell his uncle, the King, that Hieronimo's odd behavior is due to his inability to deal with his son Horatio's new found wealth (Balthazar's ransom from the Portuguese Viceroy), and he has gone mad with jealousy. Regaining his senses, he and Bel-Imperia feign reconciliation with the murderers and plan to put on a play together, Soliman and Perseda. Under cover of the play they stab Lorenzo and Balthazar to death in front of the King, Viceroy, and Duke of Castile (Lorenzo and Bel-Imperia's father); Bel-Imperia kills herself, and Hieronimo tells his audience of his motive behind the murders, but refuses to reveal Bel-Imperia's complicity in the plot. He then bites out his own tongue to prevent himself from talking under torture, after which he kills the Duke and then himself. Andrea and Revenge are satisfied, delivering suitable eternal punishments to the guilty parties.

The 1602 additions

As noted above, the White/Pavier Q4 of 1602 added five passages, totaling 320 lines, to the existing text of the prior three quartos. The most substantial of these five is an entire scene, usually called the painter scene since it is dominated by Hieronimo's conversation with a painter; it is often designated III,xiia, falling as it does between scenes III,xii and III,xiii of the original text.

Henslowe's Diary records two payments to Ben Jonson, dated September 25, 1601 and June 22, 1602, for additions to The Spanish Tragedy. Yet most scholars reject the view that Jonson is the author of the 1602 additions. The literary style of the additions is judged to be un-Jonsonian; Henslowe paid Jonson several pounds for his additions, which has seemed an excessive sum for 320 lines. And John Marston appears to parody the painter scene in his 1599 play Antonio and Mellida, indicating that the scene must have been in existence and known to audiences by that time. The five additions in the 1602 text may have been made for the 1597 revival by the Admiral's Men. Scholars have proposed various identities for the author of the revisions, including Dekker, John Webster, and Shakespeare — "Shakespeare has perhaps been the favorite in the continuing search...."

(It can seem surprising to find Shakespeare, house playwright for the Lord Chamberlain's Men, as a putative reviser of a play associated with their rival company the Admiral's Men. Yet Sir Thomas More provides a precedent of Shakespeare working as a reviser in a surprising context..)

External links

• Sources and Models for Hamlet: Thomas Kyd and Revenge Tragedy
• The Spanish Tragedie from Project Gutenberg
• The Spanish Tragedy from elizabethanauthors.com
• The Spanish Tragedy Shorter version of the play for a modern audience