Author Archives: tomasza

In Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, revenge is constantly visible on stage, both as a motif and a character. Kyd attempts to draw the line between justice and revenge in the various subplots that he introduces throughout the play. Revenge is simply the act of getting back at someone for wronging you whereas justice introduces the moral reasoning behind this act. Are all of the characters justified in their pursuit of vengeance? Are some more justified than others?

From the beginning of the play, Andrea seeks revenge against Balthazar, even in death. The audience never sees the actual fight between the two but discovers what happened through various accounts of the event. However, with deception being another prominent theme in this play, it is difficult to trust anyone’s word. It is never made clear if Andrea was in fact unjustly killed by Balthazar making it difficult to determine whether or not seeking revenge against him is justified.

After Horatio is murdered in his own garden, Hieronimo goes out of his way to make sure his pursuit of vengeance against Lorenzo is justified. He even distrusts a letter written in Bel-imperia’s blood and seeks more confirmation. Only after contemplating suicide and learning that the law will not help him does he decide to take matters into his own hands. Through the dialogue and action in the play, Kyd makes it a point that Hieronimo is justified in killing Lorenzo.

In the end it is evident that revenge is God’s job and people who decide to take it upon themselves must pay the ultimate price in doing so.