Final essay Draft
Kristen Castillo
ENL 4161
4/10/14
The Spanish Tragedy Final Paper
Intro- Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy written between 1582 and 1592 was a very popular and influential play in its time. One of the first plays to be known as a revenge tragedy this play established the genre. The play is written around justice and revenge these are the two major themes in the play. I will be analyzing these two major themes throughout the play and looking at how Kyd used revenge and justice in The Spanish Tragedy. Justice and revenge are two of the major themes in The Spanish Tragedy. In this play revenge is not only something that is being thought of to get justice it is an actual character. I find this to be of great significance the fact that revenge in this play isn’t just something people are trying to gain to get vengeance for a wrongdoing here Kyd creates an actual character that personifies revenge. In its opening scene the ghost of Andrea is speaking to Revenge of his death and his life before he died, speaking of his love to Bel Imperia and the affair they shared. Andrea is murdered while at war by Balthazar in a fair fought hand to hand combat yet when he is sent back to earth as he watches the play he swears his vengeance for Balthazar. Andrea truly believes he deserves revenge against Balthazar for taking him away from the world and more importantly his love Bel Imperia. In Portugal the King is told his son has been killed by Alexandro however this is a false statement made by Villuppo in an attempt to gain power in the kingdom and become the Kings right hand man. Doubting Alexandro’s innocence the King arrests him and in a fit of revenge sentences him to death. I believe that although this is just a small piece of the play and it is not looked at as a vital moment or scene this is actually an extremely important scene because it shows how powerful revenge was in that time, with just word of mouth you could have been put to death to gain justice for
ENL 4161
4/10/14
The Spanish Tragedy Final Paper
Intro- Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy written between 1582 and 1592 was a very popular and influential play in its time. One of the first plays to be known as a revenge tragedy this play established the genre. The play is written around justice and revenge these are the two major themes in the play. I will be analyzing these two major themes throughout the play and looking at how Kyd used revenge and justice in The Spanish Tragedy. Justice and revenge are two of the major themes in The Spanish Tragedy. In this play revenge is not only something that is being thought of to get justice it is an actual character. I find this to be of great significance the fact that revenge in this play isn’t just something people are trying to gain to get vengeance for a wrongdoing here Kyd creates an actual character that personifies revenge. In its opening scene the ghost of Andrea is speaking to Revenge of his death and his life before he died, speaking of his love to Bel Imperia and the affair they shared. Andrea is murdered while at war by Balthazar in a fair fought hand to hand combat yet when he is sent back to earth as he watches the play he swears his vengeance for Balthazar. Andrea truly believes he deserves revenge against Balthazar for taking him away from the world and more importantly his love Bel Imperia. In Portugal the King is told his son has been killed by Alexandro however this is a false statement made by Villuppo in an attempt to gain power in the kingdom and become the Kings right hand man. Doubting Alexandro’s innocence the King arrests him and in a fit of revenge sentences him to death. I believe that although this is just a small piece of the play and it is not looked at as a vital moment or scene this is actually an extremely important scene because it shows how powerful revenge was in that time, with just word of mouth you could have been put to death to gain justice for