The Spanish Tragedie (Manhattan)

“Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.
The Heavens will be revenged of every ill,
Nor will they suffer murder unrepaid!
For evils to evils conductors be,
And death’s the worst resolution.”

Written by Thomas Kyd in or around 1588, The Spanish Tragedie, along with Kyd’s lost Ur Hamlet, is said to be one of Shakespeare’s primary influences for Hamlet. Many elements of Shakespeare’s revenge play were first used in Tragedie, including the play within a play used to trap a murderer, a ghost intent on vengeance, and a hero driven to madness. Tragedie also contains several violent murders and a personification of Revenge. The play was often referenced in other Elizabethan works, including those of Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe.