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This essay discusses how in the Renaissance period, when revenge tragedies were considered the trend in terms of artistic composition and entertainment, Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy becomes a more complex and developed notion of this genre. Kyd introduces a plot of male violence and political chaos but above all, a psychological developed female character. Bel-Imperia is the focus of my analysis. At a time of social and political unrest, why is she the one to restore social order through a relative successful act of revenge? What are the reasons motivating her deeds? This paper shows the importance of Bel-Imperia's love in the success of revenge. By analyzing Bel-Imperia's deeds and language, and in contrast with the main male character, Hieronimo, the argument of love as a purveyor of social order gains force and becomes the embodiment of a notion of spiritual love that imposes itself over patriarchy, violence and madness. ; Aquest treball analitza en profunditat l'obra clau de Thomas Kyd The Spanish Tragedy per a mostrar que és molt més complexa que una típica tragèdia Senequista. Més específicament, la intenció d'aquest treball és mostrar com la venjança més exitosa és aquella que es basa no en instints, violència i passions desenfrenades, però en amor espiritual. Centrant-nos en el personatge femení, Bel-Imperia, és possible desestabilitzar les visions d'acadèmics per mostrar que la relevància d'aquest personatge ve donada per la motivació de la seva venjança, una motivació honorable que posa èmfasi en els sentiments profunds i lleials d'una amant, l'amor espiritual. De fet, és gràcies a l'amor que la venjança s'acompleix deixant una sensación de pau i ordre social. De fet, només l'amor és capaç de fer justícia on la llei mateixa no n'és capaç.

This article argues that The Spanish Tragedy as we know it is the second part of a two-part play; that The First Part of Ieronimo is a post-1600 revision of Kyd's genuine first part; and that one can distinguish two 'textual layers' within the later text, corresponding to different sections of the plot. The 'political' strand of the plot of The First Part of Ieronimo, argues Erne, has largely preserved sections of Kyd's original play. Erne reads The Spanish Tragedy as a sequel to these sections, and argues that what is generally perceived as a stand-alone masterpiece needs to be thought of—like 2 Henry IV, 2 Tamburlaine, and perhaps even Hoffman—as the second part of a two-part structure. Erne suggests that we may need to reconsider Kyd's 'singular dramatic architecture' and his interest in complex causality.

When the protagonist Hieronimo bites out his own tongue in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, his actions seem to make little sense. After all, he has already explained the very plot which he claims to be keeping a secret through his self‐injury. However this article argues that Hieronimo's tongue‐biting taps into rich discourses about self‐injury, personal agency, stoicism and madness. I argue that self‐injury was related to suicide in its assertion of control over the individual body, and could therefore operate as a type of protest. Moreover, stories of tongue‐biting from classical sources functioned as stoic exemplars of resistance to political tyranny. Revisions of The Spanish Tragedy shifted the meaning of this scene by placing increasing emphasis on Hieronimo's madness and the role of the supernatural forces in determining the play's events. overall, however, I argue that Hieronimo's tongue‐biting should be read as bringing together a number of cultural scripts, which interact and overlap to produce a morally ambiguous and richly allusive scene.