The Spanish Tragedy

The Spanish Tragedy, written and performed between 1587 and 1590, is an Elizabethan revenge tragedy by Thomas Kyd. The play explores the dilemmas of Hieronimo, who plots for revenge after his son Horatio is murdered. Surrounded by the intrigue and deception of the Spanish court, Hieronimo’s quest raises questions about the nature of justice and the profound impacts of grief and loss. The Spanish Tragedy was a huge hit for Kyd’s audiences, performed at least 29 times between 1592 and 1597. It is considered to be one of the first mature Elizabethan dramas and a definitive example of revenge tragedy, influencing later additions to the genre such as William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. 

This guide refers to a modern spelling edition of the 1602 quarto transcribed by Barboura Flues, which is available in the public domain. 

Content Warning: This guide describes and analyzes the source text’s depiction of violence, murder, self-harm, and death by suicide. 

Language Note: The source text includes antiquated and offensive depictions of mental health conditions. The text also engages with literary traditions that rely on poetic (i.e., unscientific) models of the mind to depict “madness” as a state in which a person exhibits erratic behavior and/or overwhelming emotion. 

This guide follows the modern convention of capitalizing both parts of the character Bel-Imperia’s hyphenated name, although the source text’s capitalization of only the first part of the name (“Bel-imperia”) is preserved in quotations. 

Plot Summary

Spanish soldier Don Andrea was killed in battle by Don Balthazar, Prince of Portugal. Since Andrea lived for the love of Bel-Imperia, but died as a soldier, the judges of the underworld quarrel over where to place him. Andrea is granted an audience with Pluto and Proserpine, king and queen of the underworld. Proserpine sends Andrea back to Earth as a ghost, along with the spirit of Revenge, to witness his murderer getting his just desserts. 

The King of Spain listens to his general recount the events of the decisive battle against Portugal. Don Lorenzo, the King’s nephew, and Don Horatio, son of the marshal Hieronimo and friend of Andrea, jointly captured Balthazar. To satisfy their claims and reward their valor, the king grants Horatio Balthazar’s ransom and grants Lorenzo Balthazar’s possessions. Wishing to unite Spain and Portugal, the king will treat Balthazar as an honored guest. In addition, he plans on wedding his niece, Bel-Imperia, Lorenzo’s sister, to the prince.

Bel-Imperia and Horatio, meanwhile, fall in love. Horatio has Andrea’s scarf, a token given to Andrea by Bel-Imperia when he went away to war. Bel-Imperia loves Horatio, but she also sees him as a means for revenge against Balthazar, who also quickly falls in love with Bel-Imperia. Lorenzo, who still harbors a grudge against Horatio, determines to help Balthazar win over his sister. He bribes and threatens Pedringano, Bel-Imperia’s servant and confidant, to divulge the identity of her beloved. Bel-Imperia and Horatio meet in secret and profess their love for each other. Unbeknownst to them, Lorenzo and Balthazar watch them. Lorenzo vows to destroy their happiness. 

An ambassador from Portugal arrives at the Spanish Court, where he is received with hospitality, including a special dumb show (a silent theatrical piece) put on by Hieronimo. The ambassador relays the king’s intent to marry Bel-Imperia and Balthazar, as long as the Portuguese deliver tribute to the king and Balthazar’s ransom to Horatio. Meanwhile, the Viceroy of Portugal despairs for the life of his son. One of his courtiers, Villuppo, frames another nobleman, Alexandro, for the “murder” of Balthazar. Alexandro maintains his innocence, and the viceroy imprisons him, threatening execution. 

Bel-Imperia and Horatio meet in secret at night in a bower in Hieronimo’s garden. Their happiness is interrupted by Lorenzo, Balthazar, and the servants Pedringano and Serberine. They hang Horatio from a tree and stab him to death. Bel-Imperia begs Balthazar for mercy, and she cries out for Hieronimo. Lorenzo stifles her cries, and they drag her away.

Roused from bed, Hieronimo enters the garden looking for whoever called for him. He is horrified to find a body hanging from his tree, initially believing that someone is trying to frame him for murder. Upon discovering that the body is his son, Hieronimo falls into despair. His wife, Isabella, senses something is wrong. The two mourn together, and Hieronimo momentarily loses his reason, denying his son’s death. When he comes to his senses, they take Horatio’s body inside, chanting a lament in Latin. The ghost of Andrea, having witnessed all that has come to past, is frustrated with Revenge, who reminds him to be patient. The spirit assures him that his vengeance will come when the time is right. 

Hieronimo is consumed by thoughts of revenge and a need for justice. However, he has no leads or proof of who murdered his son, until, as he wanders around Don Cyprian’s property, Bel-Imperia throws him a letter, written in her own blood for want of ink. The letter names Lorenzo and Balthazar as the murderers. Lorenzo has locked her away to prevent her from bringing them to justice. Hieronimo is suspicious that the letter may be a trap from Lorenzo, but he now has the lead he wanted. 

The Portuguese ambassador returns home on the day Alexandro is to be executed. The viceroy is overjoyed to hear his son lives, but he is outraged that Villuppo would frame an innocent man. Villuppo admits he hoped to profit from Alexandro’s death. Alexandro tries to intercede to spare Villuppo, but the viceroy sentences him to be tortured to death. The viceroy makes preparations to travel to Spain. He is delighted with the idea of the union between Balthazar and Bel-Imperia, and he plans to give his crown to his son on their wedding day, making him king and Bel-Imperia queen. 

Lorenzo grows suspicious of Pedringano and Serberine after Hieronimo inquires after Bel-Imperia’s whereabouts. He plans to silence them to tie up loose ends and save his own skin. Lorenzo pays Pedringano to murder Serberine in St. Luigi’s park, assuring him that he will protect Lorenzo from any consequences he may face. Lorenzo shoots Serberine to death and is immediately caught and imprisoned by watchmen. Lorenzo sends his page with an empty box, which he claims contains a pardon from the king, to keep Pedringano loyal as he awaits trial. Hieronimo presides over Pedringano’s trial but leaves in disgust over the cavalier attitude Pedringano takes toward his crime. Seeing the page with the box containing the “pardon” in the crowd attending his hanging, Pedringano cracks jokes as he ascends to the gallows. He is hanged, still believing he will be pardoned for his crime. 

The hangman visits Hieronimo in a panic, with a letter Pedringano wrote to Lorenzo, thinking he executed an innocent man. Hieronimo assures him he is safe, and he reads the letter. Pedringano wanted to remind Lorenzo of his promise to protect him, confirming to Hieronimo that Lorenzo and Balthazar are Horatio’s killers. 

Hieronimo agonizes over revenge and grief, fluctuating between “madness” and logical thought. He resolves to plead to the king for justice but is prevented by Lorenzo. In despair and frustration, Hieronimo digs at the ground with his dagger, raving about cutting the earth open to retrieve his son’s spirit. Lorenzo convinces the king that jealousy over Horatio’s ransom has driven Hieronimo “mad.” Meanwhile, a famous painter named Bazardo visits Hieronimo. Bazardo’s son was also murdered, and Hieronimo commiserates with him, finally able to express his grief and torment with someone who can understand. 

Lorenzo releases Bel-Imperia from captivity because Cyprian has summoned her. Lorenzo defends his actions, saying that her relationship with Horatio was inappropriate; it risked igniting the same anger their father felt about her relationship with Andrea. Recognizing the precarity of her situation, Bel-Imperia responds with caution, pretending to be receptive to Balthazar’s advances. 

Like Bel-Imperia, Hieronimo decides to keep his plans concealed and act friendly toward his enemies. Witnessing Hieronimo flatter Lorenzo and Balthazar, Bel-Imperia corners him and chastises him for failing to avenge Horatio. Hieronimo promises her that he is concealing his true plans, and asks her forgiveness for not believing her letter right away. She agrees to go along with his revenge plan. 

Lorenzo, too, tries to humor Hieronimo, still unsure as to whether the knight marshal suspects him. Due to the success of Hieronimo’s dumb show for the ambassador, the court wants him to put on a production as entertainment for the viceroy’s arrival and Bel-Imperia and Balthazar’s wedding. It just so happens that Hieronimo has the perfect play for the occasion, The Tragedy of Soliman and Perseda, which he wrote in his youth. He enlists Lorenzo, Balthazar, and Bel-Imperia to act in the production. Lorenzo will play the Rhodian Knight Erastus, Bel-Imperia will play the beautiful Perseda, Balthazar will play the jealous Soliman, and Hieronimo will play the devious bashaw (pacha). Each of their roles will be spoken in a different language (Italian, French, Latin, and Greek), and Hieronimo will explain the argument of the plot at the end. The youth leave to practice their roles, and Hieronimo sets the stage for his revenge. 

On the day of the production, the audience assembles, including the king, the viceroy, Cyprian, and the ambassador. In the play, Soliman, the Turkish Emperor, falls in love with Perseda, the beloved of his dear friend, Erastus. He asks the Bashaw for advice; he convinces Soliman to have Erastus killed so Perseda will be free. Perseda stabs Soliman to death in revenge, then dies by suicide. Ashamed of his actions, Soliman hangs himself. 

The audience applauds the production, and they ask Hieronimo to explain the argument of his play. Hieronimo explains that the other actors are dead: He and Bel-Imperia used real daggers instead of props. He murdered Lorenzo, and Bel-Imperia killed Balthazar, and then herself—though that was her own choice, as Hieronimo wanted her to live. He explains that the production was his revenge against Lorenzo and Balthazar for killing Horatio. He excuses himself to finish his part as the Bashaw, rushing out and barricading himself in a room to hang himself. 

The audience rises in a fury to stop him. They prevent him from hanging himself and restrain him. The king threatens to torture him if he does not explain himself. Hieronimo scoffs at torture and death, mocking Cyprian and the viceroy in their grief. When they threaten him again, Hieronimo will say no more. He bites out his own tongue so that even torture cannot draw a confession from him. He can still write, so they give him a quill to write a confession. He motions that he needs a knife to mend his quill; when Cyprian obliges, Hieronimo stabs him, and then dies by suicide. The king and the viceroy mourn for their dead, reeling from the shock of their sudden and violent loss.