63 pages • 2 hours read
The Spanish Tragedy
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context: ”The Black Legend” in Elizabethan England
Over the course of the 16th century, the rise of Protestantism caused serious ideological divisions and religious conflicts throughout Europe. In England, Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547) broke with the Catholic Church in 1534, declaring himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England, which eventually became known as the Anglican Church. The conflict between Catholic and Protestant countries intensified under the later reign of Henry VIII’s daughter Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603), who was declared a heretic by Pope Pius V in 1570 for her Protestantism and persecution of her Catholic English subjects.
During Elizabeth’s reign, England regarded Spain as its greatest threat, due to both Spain’s powerful empire and firm Catholic orthodoxy. As religious and xenophobic sentiment reached its height, English cultural discourse embraced what later became known as the “Black Legend of Spain,” a term coined by Emilia Pardo Bazan in 1889 to describe the negative propaganda that portrayed Spain as especially brutal and oppressive during the 16th and 17th centuries. The “Black Legend” depicted Spain as cruel, greedy, and religiously intolerant, drawing upon the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition to depict Spaniards as morally corrupt and excessively violent.
While Kyd’s play is set in a fictionalized version of Spain, its themes and portrayals of Spanish characters subtly echo elements of this legend, reflecting the anxieties and prejudices of Elizabethan England. While the date of The Spanish Tragedy is somewhat uncertain, most scholars believe it had to have been written prior to 1588—the year of the failed invasion of England by the Spanish Armada. The fleet of 150 ships and 18,000 men, sent by Philip II to restore Catholicism in England, was defeated by severe storms and the English forces. The English regarded the victory as divine recognition of the legitimacy of Elizabeth’s reign, and it was such an important cultural moment that it is unlikely that Kyd would have failed to mention it in a play set in Spain if he had written The Spanish Tragedy after 1588.
Literary Context: Publication, Authorship, and Additions
Written and performed in the late 1580s (the exact date is uncertain), The Spanish Tragedy was printed in 1592, 1594, and 1599. It was published and produced under a variety of different titles, such as The Spanish Tragedie, Containing the Lamentable End of Don Horatio, and Bel-imperia, before settling on The Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronimo is Mad Again. While The Spanish Tragedy is now attributed to playwright Thomas Kyd, early editions are anonymous, likely due to lax copyright protocol in the Early Modern era. It was not until 1773 that the play was formally attributed to Kyd. Modern scholars agree that Kyd was the original author due to undeniable similarities to Kyd’s other surviving plays.
The Spanish Tragedy is considered derivative of the blood-soaked dramas of the Roman playwright Seneca, with Kyd’s play sharing elements of classical mythology (as opposed to a Christian theological framework) and a chorus (Andrea’s ghost and Revenge), which provides commentary for the action of the play. This use of classical mythology reflects the Elizabethan Era’s fascination for newly discovered and/or translated texts from antiquity.
A 1602 folio publication of The Spanish Tragedy included five additions, the authorship of which is debated. The 1602 additions tend to be written in prose, rather than Kyd’s usual verse form. These additions provide extra foreshadowing, and, most importantly, more instances of the titular hero, Hieronimo, exhibiting signs of “madness.” Since Kyd died in 1594, another contemporary author penned the additions, with various scholars proposing William Shakespeare, Ben Johnson, or John Webster as possible candidates. Several modern scholars now rule out Webster and Jonson. Handwriting on drafts of the additions seem to match Shakespeare’s penmanship, as do the prose style and content of the additions. Consequently, most modern scholars propose that Shakespeare is the author of these additions.
Unlock all 63 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: