Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Spanish Tragedy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Revenge and Justice
Class, Gender, and Society
Love and Madness
Betrayal
Summary
Analysis
Hieronimo enters, lamenting the injustice of Horatio’s murder. He says again that he must seek revenge, and the hangman enters with a letter taken from Pedringano’s dead body. He hands Hieronimo the paper and exits. The letter is written by Pedringano to Lorenzo, and it implicates Lorenzo and Balthazar in Horatio’s murder. Hieronimo knows now that Bel-Imperia’s letter is true after all. He says again that only blood can right the wrong of Horatio’s murder, and he promises to go to the King of Spain “[a]nd cry aloud for justice through the court.”
Again, Hieronimo makes it clear that his idea of justice is death, which reflects his “blood with blood” policy. The fact that Hieronimo needs additional proof to believe Bel-Imperia’s letter again reflects how difficult it can be for women to seek justice through normal legal channels. Bel-Imperia was an eye-witness to Horatio’s murder, yet Hieronimo does not accept her word alone.
Themes
Literary Devices
