The Spanish Tragedy [1592 Edition]

2014 Reprint of 1948 Edition, which reprints the Rare 1592 Edition in the British Library. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "The Spanish Tragedy," is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, it established a new genre in English theatre, the revenge play or revenge tragedy. Its plot contains several violent murders and includes as one of its characters a personification of Revenge. ANDREA, a Spanish courtier, has been killed in battle by Balthazar, Prince of Portugal. During his lifetime he was the lover of the daughter of the Duke of Castile. Now when Andrea's ghost appears before Pluto to be apportioned its proper place in the world of shadows, Pluto permits the ghost, accompanied by the spirit of Revenge, to return to earth to see vengeance wrecked on his slayer. "The Spanish Tragedy" was often referred to (or parodied) in works written by other Elizabethan playwrights, including William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Christopher Marlowe. Many elements of "The Spanish Tragedy," such as the play-within-a-play used to trap a murderer and a ghost intent on vengeance, appear in Shakespeare's Hamlet. This edition is reprinted by the British Museum from the earliest surviving edition known as of 1948.