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ns on ' The Spanish Tragedy ' :


What does the scarf symbolize?

- It's a symbol of memory and love. Bell-imperia's love for Horatio motivated by a feeling of revenge but still she did love him.

(starts off as a symbol of love and memory, becomes a symbol of the memory of a lost loved one, and then a symbol for the desire to avenge that loved one. Before Andrea went off to war, Bell-Imperia gave him a scarf, which he wore into battle something by which to remember her. Initially a symbol of love between Andrea and Bell-Imperia, Horatio takes it off his friend's dying body as a memorial, and it then becomes a symbol of Horatio's remembrance of his friend, a symbol of love between Horatio and Bell-Imperia, and of Bell-Imperia's memory of her lost knight. Of course, Bell-Imperia's love for Horatio is itself a form of revenge against Balthazar, so the scarf begins to take on connotations of vengeance.)

Describe the main theme of ' The Spanish Tragedy '.

In my opinion the main theme is revenge which is acted by several characters such as the ghost of Andrea as introduced at the very beginning, when wanting revenge on Balthazar for killing him in battle. Bell-imperia ( who wants revenge from Balthazar for killing her love lord Andrea and then wants revenge from both Lorenzo and Balthazar for killing her second love Horatio) , Balthazar (who wants revenge on Horatio for taking him prisoner in battle and being an obstacle to Balthazar's attempt to win Bell-Imperia ) and the most important is Hieronimo seeking revenge from both Lorenzo and Balthazar for murdering his son.

Write a note on Kyd's contribution to English drama.

Kyd's contribution to drama is basically as well as historically important. His Spanish Tragedy established itself as a lasting genre in the Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre in the form of revenge tragedy. [The central motive in the drama is the revenge of Hieronimo for the murder of his son, Horatio. The play is a well constructed] He wrote forceful and capable dialogue. He also presented in the hero a new type of vacillating tragic hero.


Write a note on the soliloquies in ' The Spanish Tragedy '.

A soliloquy is a speech in a play made by a character to expresses his thoughts or feelings aloud while alone which made it possible for characters to debate with themselves on moral and philosophical matters and made it easier to interact with the audience to show their thoughts and feelings.

For example as in act 1 scene 3 when bell-imperia discusses her mourning for Andrea and her growing love for Horatio and how she is unsure of love if it was because Horatio was a friend of Andrea and helps her for her revenge and also questions her self of the possibility of loving Horatio before revenging her love and that her love for Horatio makes her unsure for her mourning for Andrea but on the other hand she is certain about her thoughts of revenge, so she decides to unit both her love for Horatio and her need for revenge into one
Pg. 13 bell-imperia speech …

Also another good example would be Hieronimo's soliloquies in speeches that look into his difficult situation and his reaction to it, and explore questions of justice and revenge, life and death and also his mourning for his son as in act 3 scene2
Pg. 32 Hieronimo speech .


State whether Hieronemo's madness is real or fake. Give reasons for your answer.

Hieronimo's madness appears genuine which leads to bloody revenge, such as his thoughts of suicide which he eventually does in the end and his attitude when he encounters the two visitors from Portugal in act 3, scene 11 pg. 54 ( quoting the 2nd Portugal visitor : " doubtless this man is passing lunatike…" , however it shows a desire to escape from a horrible reality, the brutal murder of his son.


Give an appreciation of the style of Kyd in ' The Spanish Tragedy '.

- ' The Spanish Tragedy ' style : in many speeches and dialogs of the play there is a declamatory and flamboyant style. It was necessary for the dramatist of The Elizabethan Period to incorporate a little bit of rant and bombast to satisfy his audience. Kyd's style is a mixture of the elevated, the ciceronian and senecan style. The elevated style is dignified and highly rhetorical. Used in the speeches of Hieronemo, Bell-imperia and the king of Spain.
The style is rhetorical. Kyd used artificial, in flatted or exaggerated language with a view to make it effective and impressive. He has used the ornamental language which was favored by the Elizabethan audience.

Give out the importance of the play within the play " Soliman and Perseda " and its theme.

The importance of the play within the play it is to help trap a murderer taking justice and allowing the revenger to carry out his revenge.
In " Soliman and Perseda " the main theme was revenge and justice which takes place by both Hieronimo stabbing Lorenzo and Bell-imperia stabbing Balthazar and by that act revenge and justice is taken for the murdering of both Andrea and Horatio.






Describe in details the positive and negative points of these characters :
Hieronimo – Bell-imperia – Lorenzo.

Hieronimo:

Night marshal, protagonist and top judge. He is an honorable, intelligent, sharp minded, great planner and a merciful character.
he wants to Justice and revenge for his son's case so decides to take revenge in a form of justice, but found a problem because he had to take revenge against the prince of Portugal and the prince of Spain so there was a physiological complexity.
In the beginning of the play he was a minor character and doesn't appear until the death of his son then he becomes the center of the play. His character then develops over a series of soliloquies, wrestling with several key questions. These questions include: 1.whether to end his misery by suicide instead of waiting to seek revenge, 2. seek revenge in deceitful means 'is it an evil act of revenge Machiaverian –‘deceitful manners’ element’ 3. leave revenge to God.

Bell-imperia:

"Too cool-too calculated" and that her thoughts focus too much on revenge .A girl of a strong opinion, strong desire, great motivation, headstrong, strong will power and she was an impassionate planner.
The word 'too' is a negative word was used as an objection by some criticizes but she was only cool and calculated. Her transformation into a Machiavellian villain is not as dramatic as Hieronimo's.

Lorenzo:

Villain, manipulated people for his own good and persuade them for his own evil intentions, liar, harsh he was considered as a Machiavellian character and was the opposite of Hieronimo.
He was manipulating people in the beginning but at the end he was manipulated by Hieronimo.
He was loyal to the government, because of the status between Portugal and Spain which needed harmony and his uncle and father both wanted him to manipulate
Bell-imperia so there were external factors for his deeds and acts.


Some Quotes explanation

Pg. 22
"Let dangers go, they war shall be with me, But such a war as breaks no bond of peace. Speak thou fair words, I'll cross them with fair words; Send thou sweet looks, I'll meet them with sweet looks; Write loving lines, I'll answer loving lines; Give me a kiss, I'll countercheck thy kiss: Be this our warring peace, or peaceful war."



Explanation

The speaker is Bel-Imperia and she speaks to Horatio, telling him of how she intends to love him On a formal level, theme is love.

Pg. 32
"O eyes, no eyes, but fountains fraught with tears; O life, no life, but lively form of death; O world, no world, but mass of public wrongs, Confused and filled with murder and misdeeds! O sacred heavens! if this unhallowed deed, If this inhuman and barbarous attempt, If this incomparable murder thus Of mine, but now no more my son, Shall unrevealed and unavenged pass, How should we term your dealings to be just, If you unjustly deal with those that in your justice trust?"

Explanation

Hieronimo is the speaker and is alone on the stage. This is his first soliloquy since he discovered his dead son. In it, he create the central question of the play: how the world be just when there is so much injustice. Hieronimo condemns first his eyes, then life, then the world, then the heavens themselves (and presumably God), moving from body part to goddess in a increase of despair.

Pg. 57
"Vindicta mihi! Ay, heaven will be revenged of every ill, Nor will they suffer murder unrepaid: Then stay, Hieronimo, attend their will, For mortal men may not appoint their time. 'Per scelus semper tutum est sceleribus iter.' Strike, and strike home, where wrong is offered thee; For evils unto ills conductors be, And death's the worst of resolution. For he that thinks with patience to contend To quiet life, his life shall easily end. Fata si miseros juvant, habes salutem; Fata si vitam negant, habes sepulchrum.' If destiny thy miseries do ease, Then hast thou health, and happy shalt thou be; If destiny deny thee life, Hieronimo, Yet shalt thou be assured of a tomb; If neither, yet let this thy comfort be, Heaven covereth him that hath no burial. And to conclude, I will revenge his death!"

Explanation

Hieronimo is the speaker, and in this soliloquy he decides that he will personally revenge the death of his son (the "his" referred to in line twenty). This decision comes after he has failed to draw the King's attention to his case, thanks in part to the tactics of Lorenzo. He begins his deliberation by quoting the biblical injunction against revenge: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, sayeth the lord" (Romans.xii.19). But he rejects this religious attitude, drawing on several quotations from the Roman playwright Senenca. He holds a copy of Seneca in his hand, and reads several quotations; the first is an observation that the safest way to cover up a crime is through more crime, the second an observation that the worst that can await a bold man is death. And that with death comes Heavenly reward-if one's cause is just. These seem to be the reasons Hieronimo decides that he must revenge his son. To do this, he will pursue Machiavellian tactics reminiscent of Lorenzo. Some critics have interpreted this as Hieronimo's shift from hero to villain. But others have seen it as consistent with his quest to dispense justice, especially since his two son's murderers are both in positions of extreme power and influence in Spanish society. This makes them both impervious to other forms of justice and liable to use their power to spread further evil.