The Inner Struggle for Revenge
The Inner-Struggle for Revenge
This research essay will study and interpret the subject of revenge and murder, especially of that in the play The Spanish Tragedy. The ultimate goal is to focus strongly on the revenge of Heironimo from Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, his near obsession with the matter, and the internal struggle he suffers between praying to God for guidance and the desire to take matters into his own hands.
The Spanish Tragedy was one of the most popular in its day; in fact, the play was so popular because it was performed during the era when Spain was a huge threat to England. As Steven Justice writes, it is important to remember that “Spain was much on English minds during the 1580s when the play was written” (274). Spain was a major threat both politically and religiously to Protestant England. The Spanish Tragedy gave to its audience a very fulfilling image of the end to the Spanish ruling powers, ultimately and perhaps even symbolically through our character, Hieronimo, and his driven desire for revenge. Justice also goes on to say that, “The world of The Spanish Tragedy is a world which does not offer these transitive relations of trust, friendship, love and forgiveness as possibilities; its characteristic actions are, from the beginning of the play, violent attempts to seize the goods of the earth…And this constricts the very space which the characters can know and in which they can act. None of them is aware of the two spirits’ [Andrea and Revenge] constant presence; and none can reach the heavens, even in imagination.” Frank Ardolino agrees with Justice, saying that Hieronimo “ultimately represents England against the Spanish court (30-31).”
Kyd’s play, The Spanish Tragedy, seems to be essentially pessimistic, as a few characters like Hieronimo and Revenge claim that there is no justice to be found on earth and suggest that all that remains is vengeance and death. People of Kyd’s time would have seen The Spanish Tragedy as an
This research essay will study and interpret the subject of revenge and murder, especially of that in the play The Spanish Tragedy. The ultimate goal is to focus strongly on the revenge of Heironimo from Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, his near obsession with the matter, and the internal struggle he suffers between praying to God for guidance and the desire to take matters into his own hands.
The Spanish Tragedy was one of the most popular in its day; in fact, the play was so popular because it was performed during the era when Spain was a huge threat to England. As Steven Justice writes, it is important to remember that “Spain was much on English minds during the 1580s when the play was written” (274). Spain was a major threat both politically and religiously to Protestant England. The Spanish Tragedy gave to its audience a very fulfilling image of the end to the Spanish ruling powers, ultimately and perhaps even symbolically through our character, Hieronimo, and his driven desire for revenge. Justice also goes on to say that, “The world of The Spanish Tragedy is a world which does not offer these transitive relations of trust, friendship, love and forgiveness as possibilities; its characteristic actions are, from the beginning of the play, violent attempts to seize the goods of the earth…And this constricts the very space which the characters can know and in which they can act. None of them is aware of the two spirits’ [Andrea and Revenge] constant presence; and none can reach the heavens, even in imagination.” Frank Ardolino agrees with Justice, saying that Hieronimo “ultimately represents England against the Spanish court (30-31).”
Kyd’s play, The Spanish Tragedy, seems to be essentially pessimistic, as a few characters like Hieronimo and Revenge claim that there is no justice to be found on earth and suggest that all that remains is vengeance and death. People of Kyd’s time would have seen The Spanish Tragedy as an