User:715short/The Spanish Tragedy

Additions - Ari Friend

Spectacle

As a result of the structure of the play, and the popular entertainment during the era in which it was written, two different modes of spectacle exist: the spectacle of the hanged corpse, and the spectacle of the theater. Both the physical viewers and the characters within the play derive voyeuristic pleasure from these spectacles. These two forms of spectacle are irrevocably intertwined, as The Spanish Tragedy features an inner show from both the hangings, and in Hieronimo's physical play that he puts on. (Maybe dont need this paragraph)

The Spanish Tragedy was penned and first performed at the relative height of the Elizabethan era, during which it was a common cultural practice to attend public hangings or executions at sites such as Tyburn - the theater of 6160 hangings over this time. The site included a variety of viewing options including seats, boxes, rooms, houses, and standing room sections. This made them accessible to the upper and lower classes alike. Thus, executions became a performance, not unlike what one could find in a legitimate theater. This contextualizes Kyd's graphic description of death and propensity to end his characters through execution. In this writing, Kyd was appealing to the likes and familiarities of his attending audience. Within the play, Horatio, Pedringano, and Villuppo are all hung. Their hangings and the additional murders and violence are described graphically throughout. In this respect, Kyd aimed to create a violent spectacle out of the actions within the play itself - furthering this notion of a show within a show.

At the centerpiece of this spectacle is Horatio's hanging. Hieronimo continuously returns to it, not only as he attempts to gain his revenge, but to appease the voyeuristic needs of the audience as a result of Kyd's recognition of their enjoyment of mutilation and public violence. In the violence of his hanging and that which follows throughout the rest of the play, the audience gains voyeuristic pleasure watching the characters witness it and watching it with them. This phenomenon can be specifically observed in the stabbing which Bel-Imperia and Balthazar witness. In this stabbing, Bel-Imperia's immediate response confirms her shared viewership of the event, and highlights Kyd's use of the public viewership to create spectacle. In Kyd's graphic descriptions, the notion of spectacle is present everywhere, as even in the plays themselves the characters note their enjoyment in watching this violence (IV.V.1-12).

Similarly, in Hieronimo's play, voyeuristic pleasure is derived from the audience as they watch the characters watch. Thus, the second spectacle comes from the theater itself and the position of Heronimo's play within the play of The Spanish Tragedy. One of the most common forms of entertainment during this era included watching a play. Therefore, both the audience and the characters mire in its spectacle and entertainment value. Kyd's uses this inner play to manipulate the boundaries of what can appear within tragedy at the time. This allows him to criticize both the legitimate and imaginary structures of the society that he had interpreted and created. As the audience of Hieronimo's play is the royal houses of Spain and Portugal, Kyd invites his own audience to question the purpose of the realistic violence and what the role of pleasure is in observing its spectacle. Thus, pleasure is derived from watching the audience of the play and the violence of play itself.

References:

Setting

The Spanish Tragedy primarily takes place primarily in Spain.

Due to many unknowns surrounding the authorship of The Spanish Tragedy, it is currently unknown whether the play was written before or after the armada in 1588. Scholars believe the play was written before 1588, due to the lack of any mention of the armada.

The play is set against the backdrop of the unification of Spain and Portugal, which was carried out as Phillip II ascended to the throne in Portugal. The battle in which Balthazar is captured before the play starts is one which occurred in the fallout of the annexation.

Interestingly, despite intense anti-Spain sentiment in England, Kyd's play does not portray Spain as a society particularly bereft of morals or laws. This is exemplified by the Spanish King's treatment of Balthazar as his prisoner: "yet free from bearing any servile yoke, for in our hearing they deserts were great, and in our sight thyself art gracious" (I.ii.148-150).

While the setting of the play is a result of a notable political conflict, strangely, it does not contribute to the violence and revenge that actually takes place directly within the play.

Politics and Politicians

Numerous interpretations of The Spanish Tragedy have argued that Kyd intends for Hieronimo to be viewed as the hero throughout the play (rather than a man who transitions from good to evil), and that his revenge was necessary to due a failure of human justice.

The first moment of politics appears in the play when both Lorenzo and Horatio claim the captured Balthazar as their prisoner. Ultimately the king awards Horatio with the prince's ransom, and Lorenzo takes Balthazar as captive (which the king partially attributed to Lorenzo's estate being more befitting for such a high class prisoner).

Politics play a major role within the plot, as the king plans to marry Bel-Imperia to Balthazar in a move to establish peace between Spain and Portugal.

Revenge[edit]

Revenge bookends the entire play. The embodied Revenge promises Don Andrea that his killer, Balthazar, will be killed, which is not resolved until the end of the play. The play almost seems to acknowledge the slow burn of Andrea's revenge, as the embodied Revenge falls asleep before the end of the play.

The morality of revenge has been a source of discourse for years, and as revenge is one of the key themes of the play, a lot of debate has been made over it in the context of the Spanish Tragedy specifically. Hieronimo's pursuit for revenge and subsequent scheme is open to moral-based judgement, but the question many scholars face is whether the responsibility and fault of Hieronimo's desire for revenge belongs solely to him. In one theory, Steven Justice proposes that the fault lies not in Hieronimo, but rather in the society at the time. It is argued that Kyd used the revenge tragedy to give body to popular images of Catholic Spain. Kyd tries to make Spain the villain in that he shows how the Spanish court gives Hieronimo no acceptable choice. The court turns Hieronimo to revenge in pursuit of justice, when in reality it is quite different.^{[clarification needed]}

The failure or circumvention of institutions of law surrounds the revenge which takes place in The Spanish Tragedy. Beyond Hieronimo not being able to find justice within the courts of Spain, a subplot shows the Viceroy threatening to kill Alexandro after Villuppo lies about the murder of the Viceroy's son Balthazar, with the angered Viceroy ignoring any sort of trial.

Some critics claim that Hieronimo's attitude is what central Christian tradition calls the Old Law, the Biblical notion of an "eye for an eye". Hieronimo's passion for justice in society is revealed when he says, "For blood with blood shall, while I sit as judge, / Be satisfied, and the law discharg'd" (III.vi.35–36).

Expanding on the influences section

Many writers influenced The Spanish Tragedy, notably Seneca and those from the Medieval tradition. The play is ostensibly Senecan with its bloody tragedy, rhetoric of the horrible, the character of the Ghost and typical revenge themes. The characters of the Ghost of Andrea and Revenge form a chorus similar to that of Tantalus and Fury in Seneca's Thyestes. The Ghost describes his journey into the underworld and calls for punishment at the end of the play that has influences from Thyestes, Agamemnon and Phaedra. The use of onomastic rhetoric is also Senecan, with characters playing upon their names, as Hieronimo does repeatedly. Hieronimo also references the Senecan plays, Agamemnon and Troades, in his monologue in Act 3, scene 13. The character of the Old Man, Senex, is seen as a direct reference to Seneca.

The play also subverts typically Senecan qualities such as the use of a ghost character. For Kyd, the Ghost is part of the chorus, unlike in Thyestes where the Ghost leaves after the prologue. Also, the Ghost is not a functioning prologue as he does not give the audience information about the major action on stage nor its conclusion. The Ghost is similar to those in metrical medieval plays who return from the dead to talk about their downfall and offer commentary on the action. Revenge is akin to a medieval character that acts as a guide for those on a journey.

Additionally, Don Andrea himself subverts the Senecan tradition. Andrea lacks the history of family violence which Tantalus has in Thyestes. Their introductions are also different, with Andrea being notably excited and curious to watch revenge play out.

Torture and Summary Justice

Torture also comes up within the play, most notably at the end of Act IV, when the King of Spain threatens to torture Hieronimo after he reveals that the murders in the play were real. Hieronimo's response, biting off his own tongue, has been interpreted in a multitude of ways. Scholar Timothy Turner notes that this biting off of the tongue has been interpreted as "a rejection of the fatuities of language, a radical gesture demonstrating Hieronimo's sense of 'inwardness,' or an indictment of the Spanish Court." However, while this torture is threatened by the Spanish King, it also mirrors time period in which it is believe Kyd authored the play within England, as torture was increasingly used by the privy council. The growing presence of Jesuit missionaries within England, as a result of the Regnans in Excelsis (which excommunicated Elizabeth I), inspired a belief that Spain and France were preparing an invasion. As such, these missionaries were the most frequent victims of England's growing use of torture.

Within the context of The Spanish Tragedy, Hieronimo himself has the title of Knight Marshal, a position which contemporary viewers would have associated with torture and martial law. Hieronimo also describes a need for summary justice (justice enacted without typical due process of the law) in his revenge plot, despite his own position as a judge.

Torture is threatened within the play multiple times. When attempting to discern the identity of Bel-Imperia's lover, Lorenzo threatens her servant Pedringano: "and fear shall force what friendship cannot win," and once Lorenzo learns it is Horatio, he remarks "where words prevail not, violence prevails" (II.i.68 and 107-108). Turner proposes by connecting torture to the acquisition of information, Kyd draws further comparisons to contemporary England.

Similarly, within the Portuguese subplot of the play (with the Viceroy, Alexandro and Villuppo), martial law and summary justice appear. Villuppo, in an attempt to climb ranks, accuses Alexandro of murdering the Viceroy's son, Balthazar in battle. Without trials or witnesses, the Viceroy orders Alexendro imprisoned, and to be executed if Balthazar is found dead. Once Villuppo duplicity is revealed, the Viceroy orders the painful execution of Villuppo, yet again circumventing due process of the law.

Sex and Marriage

Sex and marriage play a central role in The Spanish Tragedy. The King of Spain arranges Balthazar and Bel-Imperia to be married in order to strengthen the unification of Spain and Portugal. Balthazar falls deeply in love with Bel-Imperia, and once he and Lorenzo discover that she is in love with Horatio, the two murder him.

Bel-Imperia and Horatio, moments before the latter's murder, make-love, and exchange coy lines rife with war imagery, though scholar David Willbern notes it is unknown whether the act is actually consummated, as Lorenzo and Balthazar rush in and murder Horatio. He notes that violence is used to provide the relief of the sexual tension built up in the scene, replacing sexual, physical contact.

Willbern describes that there is a sort of Oedipal reversal within the play. Both Hieronimo and the Viceroy deal with the deaths of their respective sons, Horatio and Balthazar, respectively. Earlier in the play, when Alexendro lies about the death of Balthazar, the Viceroy has no reason to believe him over Villuppo, yet chooses to believe the former.

Additions - Fiona Byrne

(Expanding on Allusions)

The Spanish Tragedy was enormously influential, and references and allusions to it abound in the literature of its era. Ben Jonson mentions "Hieronimo" in the Induction to his Cynthia's Revels (1600), has a character disguise himself in "Hieronimo's old cloak, ruff, and hat" in The Alchemist (1610), and quotes from the play in Every Man in His Humour (1598), Act I, scene iv. In Satiromastix (1601), Thomas Dekker suggests that Jonson, in his early days as an actor, himself played Hieronimo.

A companion play to The Spanish Tragedy was anonymously published in 1605 entitled The Spanish Comedy or The First Part of Hieronimo. In the play spans from Don Andrea's departure to Portugal to his untimely murder. Only parts of the text have been preserved.The play takes place before The Spanish Tragedy chronologically, although it was published more than a decade later. Due to the author’s anonymity,there is debate between scholars about whether this was a companion piece also written by Kyd or another writer’s attempt to contribute to the story themselves.

Allusions continue for decades after the play's origin, including references in Thomas Tomkis's Albumazar (1615), Thomas May's The Heir (1620), and as late as Thomas Rawlins's The Rebellion (c. 1638).

In modern times, T. S. Eliot quoted the title and the play in his poem The Waste Land. The play also appears in Orhan Pamuk's 2002 novel Snow.