Product Description

The first fully-fledged example of revenge tragedy, the genre that became so influential in later Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, The Spanish Tragedy (1589) occupies a very special place in the history of English Renaissance drama. Hieronimo, Knight-Marshal of Spain during its war with Portugal, fails to obtain justice when his son is murdered for courting Bel-Imperia, the Duke of Castile's daughter, and decides to take justice into his own hands. In a scene replete with meta-theatrical implications, Hieronimo and Bel-Imperia stage a playlet with Portuguese and Spanish nobles as actors, stabbing them with real 'fake' daggers before they kill themselves. This edition, which appends the scenes that were added in 1602, discusses Elizabethan attitudes to revenge, the Senecan features of the play and the significance of the Anglo-Spanish conflict in the 1580s.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #490401 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .37 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review
"Erne's chapter on The First Part of Hieronimo is undoubtedly the most original ... but throughout there are fresh insights, the product of close and intelligent reading of the texts, and the shrewd interpretation of evidence. Erne ... has made an excellent case for going, as his title proclaims "Beyond the Spanish Tragedy," to set Kyd's achievement in a wider context."--David Gunby, "Modern Language Review"

"I hope this excellent monograph, full of fresh research and convincing new arguments, will prompt someone to invite Erne to edit Kyd in order to replace Boas's edition, still the standard in its centenary year."--Paul Dean, "English Studies"

"[Erne's] picture of a playwright preoccupied with the themes of grief and loss radiating outwards from the dramatic epicentre of "The Spanish Tragedy", is appealing."--Emma Smith, "The Times Literary Supplement"