The Spanish Tragedy

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

“Here finding Pluto with his Proserpine,

I showed my passport humbled on my knee;

Whereat fair Proserpine began to smile,

And begged that only she might give my doom.

Pluto was pleased, and sealed it with a kiss. 

Forthwith, Revenge, she rounded thee in th’ ear,

And bade thee lead me through the gates of Horn,

Where dreams have passage in the silent night.

No sooner had she spoke but we were here,

(I wot not how) in twinkling of an eye.”

The judges of the afterlife (Minos, Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus) defaulted to the judgement of the gods of the underworld to determine what should happen to the soul of Don Andrea. Since he died violently but lived his life for love, Proserpine allows him to return as a revenant spirit to judge the living and witness his death avenged. Kyd draws on classical mythology in The Spanish Tragedy, depicting the Spanish as driven more by classical values than Christian virtues.

“KING. Then by my judgment, thus your strife shall end:

You both deserve, and both shall have reward.

Nephew, thou tookst his weapon and his horse: 

His weapons and his horse are thy reward.

Horatio, thou didst force him first to yield;

His ransom therefore is thy valor’s fee;

Appoint the sum, as you shall both agree.”

From the beginning, Lorenzo presents himself as an untrustworthy figure. Unlike Horatio, who defeated Balthazar in fair combat, Lorenzo is an opportunist, who used Horatio’s victory to seize Balthazar’s horse and possessions and thus claim a part in the victory. The king judiciously divides the spoils among the two young men, with Horatio receiving the prince’s ransom, and Lorenzo being rewarded with Balthazar’s possessions and the opportunity to host the prince in his home.

“BEL-IMPERIA. Yes, second love shall further my revenge:

I’ll love Horatio, my Andrea’s friend,

The more to spite the Prince that wrought his end.

And where Don Balthazar, that slew my love,

Himself now pleads for favor at my hands, 

He shall, in rigor of my just disdain,

Reap long repentance for his murderous deed”

While Bel-Imperia does begin to fall in love with Horatio, Andrea’s death still weighs heavily on her mind. Ultimately, she decides to use her love for Horatio as a means of getting