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
Bel-Imperia sits alone at a window. She is furious that she has been taken from court and locked away by Lorenzo. She doesn’t know why Hieronimo has not yet avenged Horatio’s death. As Bel-Imperia cries to Andrea, one of Lorenzo’s servants enters and tells Bel-Imperia to come with him.
Bel-Imperia wrongly believes that Hieronimo has not yet avenged Horatio’s death because he doesn’t want to. Bel-Imperia’s forced imprisonment again underscores the struggles of women in 16th-century society. Not only is Bel-Imperia unable to seek justice or revenge on her own, she is held against her will and forced to marry a man she doesn’t love.
Themes
