One of the first two characters introduced in The Spanish Tragedy is Revenge, a personified figure who represents, as his name suggests, revenge or vengeance. In the first scene of the play, he explains his role to Andrea:
Then know, Andrea, that thou art arrived
Where thou shalt see the author of thy death,
Don Balthazar, the Prince of Portingale,
Deprived of life by Bel-imperia.
Here sit we down to see the mystery,
And serve for Chorus in this tragedy.
Revenge lives in the underworld alongside Pluto and Prosperina (the Roman equivalents of the Greek figures of Hades and Persephone.) He has been sent to earth in order to accompany Andrea as they observe the punishment of Don Balthazar, the “author” of Andrea’s death. Revenge, as a character, is dominated by his symbolic role: his job is to oversee the fulfillment of revenge, and he has few other traits. Personified and allegorical characters such as Revenge were common in medieval theater.
Commenting on his own role within the narrative, Revenge states that he and Andrea must “serve for Chorus in this tragedy.” Much like the chorus in Greek drama, which observed and commented upon the events of the play, Revenge and Andrea are outside the action of the play but are able to provide commentary for the audience.
Isabella personifies the concept of time, imagining it as a benevolent and godlike figure who determines the fates of men and women. After she and Hieronimo discover the body of their son, Horatio, hanging from a tree in their garden, Isabella states:
The heavens are just; murder cannot be hid:
Time is the author both of truth and right,
And time will bring this treachery to light
In the immediate aftermath of their son’s murder, Hieronimo and Isabella share their grief but disagree on the topic of revenge. The enraged Hieronimo immediately begins to plot his revenge, vowing not to entomb his son’s corpse until he has “revenged” his son. Isabella, however, attempts to calm her husband down, arguing that the truth will prevail whether or not they act upon their sorrow. “Time,” she states, “is the author both of truth and right.”
In imagining time as an “author,” she suggests that the truth will be revealed eventually, as “time will bring this treachery to light.” Isabella’s personification of time reflects a relatively optimistic worldview in which truth and reason will invariably triumph, as “the heavens are just.” Throughout the course of the play, as political corruption blocks Hieronimo’s attempts to use the law as an instrument of justice, Isabella’s worldview shifts.
