The Spanish Tragedy

Describe the story of the " play within the play " ?

It is taken from the "Spanish Tragedy" by Thomas Kyd.

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Of the nine deaths that occur on stage (not including Villuppo's and Andrea's), three of them are suicides. Of the three, Isabella and Hieronimo's suicides are the realization of a death wish expressed throughout the play: they desire to join Horatio in death. But this wish is not repeated by the Viceroy, an equally loving father. This difference is intriguing, as Hieronimo and his wife have a reason to delay their deaths (they must exact revenge), whereas nothing holds back the Viceroy-or so it seems. The lack of a real death wish may reflect a politically-oriented part of his character that complicates his desire to live in solitude after he discovers that Balthazar is still alive. Finally, Bellimperia's suicide remains an unexplained aspect of the play. Why does she unnecessarily keep to her role in Hieronimo's play-within-a-play? Hieronimo's explanation that she loved Andrea too much is unsatisfactory at best. Her death thus shows a vague but strong link between the fulfillment of revenge and the death wish.

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-spanish-tragedy/study-guide/major-themes/

The Spanish Tragedy is a revenge tragedy. Its very premise is put forth by the character from the underworld named Revenge. But what exactly is revenge? A principle, an act, a desire for satisfaction, or something else altogether? The premise of the play may suggest that revenge is indeed an arbitrary matter. Andrea, after all, was slain in battle by Balthazar, and this does not seem reason enough for the large-scale revenge tragedy that follows. In any case, Hieronimo, Bellamira-and to an extent Balthazar-all act out of the desire for revenge. The play-within-a-play in the fourth act marks the culmination of this desire. The acting of revenge resolves all the tensions of the play in one blow. Incidentally, the term "avenge" did not carry the modern-day connotation of the act of inflicting punishment as retributive justice; like the connotation of "revenge" today, it also pointed to the infliction of pain in retaliation for a real or imaginary wrong.

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-spanish-tragedy/study-guide/major-themes/

Two dumb shows occur in the play: the first, one that Hieronimo stages for the King, and the second, one that Revenge stages for the Ghost. Dumb shows, at least in The Spanish Tragedy, are marked by their relative obscurity. They must be explained verbally to be understood. In this sense, both Hieronimo's frantic act of digging in Act 3 Scene and the play-within-a-play that he stages in Act 4 Scene 4 are like dumb shows. Accompanied by disjointed or foreign dialogue, they cannot be comprehended without further explanation. What is the purpose, then, of staging such shows? The first masque, at least, has entertainment value. The second could have just as easily been put into words by Revenge. In the third Hieronimo undermines his appeal to the King. And the play-within-a-play, though ostensibly logical in the plot, remains a decidedly strange way to exact revenge. However, it is precisely because of their strangeness and ambiguity that the four shows are central to the tragedy. They show that many events can be baffling - and so can words, as the royal audience's incomprehension of Hieronimo in the last act shows. Reality, perhaps, is not merely represented but presented on stage: it is something incomprehensible to the players, yet sensible from the vantage point of the chorus.

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-spanish-tragedy/study-guide/major-themes/

yes

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-spanish-tragedy/study-guide/major-themes/

Describe the story of the " play within the play " ?

Source(s)

http://www.gradesaver.com/the-spanish-tragedy/study-guide/major-themes/