This paper is concerned with the theme of divine
justice in The Spanish Tragedy (1592) by Thomas Kyd
(1558-1594), a famous English Elizabethan dramatist. It
first defines the term "didactic", and then moves to
discuss the Portuguese playlet in Th
e Spanish Tragedy
as a miniature play-within-the-play which reveals the
issue of divine judgment. This paper concludes by
asserting that this play is a tragedy of divine justice and
punishment.
This paper seeks to stress that Marlowe's Edward II is, at bottom, a tragic
story or a personal history of its hero's agonies. Therefore, it starts by
considering the dramatic genre of the chronicle play, and shows that
studying Edward II as a tra
ditional history play does not penetrate into its
design and operation. Then the paper moves to emphasize that Mortimer's
rebellion and punishment fit didactic history drama. This leads us to
explore Edward's continual endeavors to write his agonies in the form of
a tale or tragedy.
This dissertation-intends to explore the didactic impact that two great plays of the Elizabethan era have : Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy and Ben Jonson's Volpone