The Spanish Tragedy Play

The Spanish Tragedy

The first fully-fledged example of a revenge tragedy, the genrethat became so influential in later Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, TheSpanish Tragedy (1589) occupies a very special place in the history ofEnglish Renaissance drama. Hieronimo, Knight-Marshal of Spain duringits war with Portugal, fails to obtain justice when his son is murderedfor courting Bel-Imperia, the Duke of Castile's daughter, and decidesto take justice into his own hands… This new student edition has been freshly revised by ProfessorAndrew Gurr to incorporate the latest stage history and criticalinterpretations of the play. It also appends the scenes that were addedin 1602, discusses Elizabethan attitudes to revenge, the Senecanfeatures of the play and the significance of the Anglo-Spanish conflictin the 1580s.

The Spanish Tragedy

The Spanish Tragedy

The Spanish Tragedy became one of the most successful plays on the Elizabethan English stage and laid the foundation of the revenge tragedy, a genre that playwrights returned to throughout the early modern era and that endures even today. The story surrounds the civil servant Hieronimo, who joins Bel-imperia of the royal family to take revenge on her own brother for murdering Hieronimo’s son, the object of her affection. The work goes far beyond a story of intrigue and brings up questions of aristocratic privilege, the moral hazards of revenge, the spectacle of violence, and the agency of women at court. This Broadview Edition includes a freshly edited text based on the 1592 edition, notes designed to help first-time readers understand and enjoy the work, an extensive introduction that situates the play in its literary and historical context, and extensive historical documents. The documents open up avenues of inquiry for students interested in the life and work of Thomas Kyd, the construction of women at court, the question of revenge, violence, and entertainment in Elizabethan England, and Spain in the Elizabethan imagination.