The Justuality Of Hieronimo In The Spanish Tragedy

Thomas Kyd’s immense contribution to English literature contribution to English literature is undeniable. He was one of the prominent figures of drama during the Elizabethan era and wrote many works. However, his most important work is The Spanish Tragedy which undoubtedly laid the groundwork for subsequent revenge tragedies. The play’s main plot counts the story of a man who, after having his son killed, decides to take revenge on his son’s murderers and kills them. Some scholars accuse Hieronimo of betraying the Elizabethan belief that revenge should only be enacted by God, and hence, his actions were unjustifiable. However, these scholars fail to see that Hieronimo’s actions were in fact justifiable to a sixteenth-century reader since they were part of a larger plan as witnessed by Hieronimo’s difficult decision (it’s not a decision. It’s an ultimatum) which led to his fragile state of mind, the role of the chorus (should it be “the role of revenge”?), and the protestant and catholic debate inherent in the play.

(alternative thesis) he was put under immense pressure to make a decision which led to a state of mind where killing is considerable, an immense pressure whose source was God.

1. Also, he was fucking crazy. I’m not saying that because of this his actions were justifiable but…(insanity defense) He has to choose between two major decisions: “either to ignore God's justice that cries out for a revenger, or to assume that role and become part of the very evil he is called upon to destroy.” (Divine Justice and Private Revenge in "The Spanish Tragedy" Pag. 232) He was led to believe, after realizing that the king could not fulfill his role of the enactor of God’s revenge, that he was next in line for fulfilling that duty. He...

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... makes the decisions taken by his characters during their lives of a fatalist nature, he also gives that nature to their eternal resting places. In the world of The Spanish Tragedy, the destiny of every single character is predetermined. It gives a reader a certain chill down his spine and makes him feel pity for those characters. The personages inside the play have no free will, and they don’t know they have no free will. The Spanish Tragedy presents a violent and bloody sequence of events that make a reader feel as if the entire play and the actions are pointless.

Apart from the idea that every play and written work is by nature predeterminist once published since once a book is published what was written cannot be taken back and it will always happen the same way. But the point is that inside the play, the actions are predetermined not by the author but by God.