Spanish Tragedy
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Key Facts
title · The Spanish Tragedie, Containing the lamentable end of Don Horatio, and Bel- imperia: with the pittifull death of old Hieronimo.
author · Thomas Kyd
type of worek · Play
genre · Tragedy
language · English (with interspersed Latin)
time and place written · 1582–1592 (most likely in the late 1580's), England
date of first publication · 1592
publisher · Edward Allde
narrator · Andrea and Revenge serve as quasi-narrators
climax · There are two: the murder of Don Horatio in Act II.v, and the playlet Soliman and Perseda, in IV.iv.
protagonist · Hieronimo, the Knight-Marshal of Spain
antagonists · Lorenzo (primary) and Balthazar (secondary)
setting (time) · Late sixteenth-century
setting (place) · The Spanish and Portuguese courts, and the estate of the Spanish King surrounding his court
falling action · After killing Lorenzo and Balthazar, Hieronimo runs off to commit suicide. The King, the Viceroy, and the Duke of Castile attempt to stop him, and question him; but he ends up biting off his tongue. When he asks for a knife to sharpen his pen so that he can write out a confession, he stabs himself and the Duke of Castile.
foreshadowing · The "dumb-show" in Act III.xv; Lorenzo's threats in II.ii.
tone · Ironic; serious; tragic
themes · Justice and revenge; love and memory; fortune; reality vs. appearance
motifs · The Classical World vs. the Christian world; Machiavellianism; antithesis and irony; the meta-theater
symbols · The bloody handkerchief
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