The Spanish Tragedy Tone

Highfalutin, High-Flown, and Inflated Talk: Or, Bombastic Fantastic

If you like big talk, you'll love The Spanish Tragedy. When characters speak, they don't mess around. For example, check out the first line of the play: "When this eternal substance of my soul/ Did live imprisoned in my wanton flesh, each in their function serving other's need, I was a courtier in the Spanish court (1.1.1-4).

Sure, the ghost of Andrea could've simply said, "When I was alive, I was a member of the Spanish court." But what kind of tone would that set? For one thing, we here at Shmoop would have little to say about it. It would just be… there. But the language of The Spanish Tragedy is elevated to constantly remind you that the stakes are high and that you need to pay attention to detail.

Remember, this is a tragedy, which means that the consequences extend far past the individuals in the play. Kings will die, the course of nations will change, and speech is just as important as action.

Also, Elizabethan drama was all about indulging in high-flown language. People wanted to hear elevated speech that sounded different and meant more than everyday talk at the fish market or tavern. Wouldst thou toss me yon mackerel, sirrah!

Let's Get Emo

Okay, but not exactly the emo you're thinking. On that note, want to see some out-of-touch news reporters fretting over emo kids? Watch this.

While emo kids also focus on the negative side of life, over-contemplate death, and love at the highest emotional pitch, 16th-century emo is much more than style. Because when Renaissance characters go emo there are severe actions and consequences.

In The Spanish Tragedy, heightened emotions directly lead to three suicides and four murders. This tally doesn't even account for the peeps who get killed off as characters try to clean up after their emotionally driven violence. Let's try and remain calm, people.

But there is zero calm language in this tragedy. As you read, notice how language literally fuels violent action. Characters use emotionally strained language to psych themselves up to commit suicide and murder. Think of a high school football team psyching themselves up with some well-chosen words and you'll get an idea about how language inspires action. Never been in a locker room before a high school football game? Friday Night Lights to the rescue. See how these emotional words get Coach Taylor's players ready to knock heads? The same effect is almost continuously in play throughout The Spanish Tragedy.

But sadly, we're not dealing with high school football here. Words lead to tragic consequences, and none more so than in Isabella's final speech before killing herself. She returns to the place where her son was hanged, where she curses and cuts down the trees that shaded the crime:

Down with these branches and these loathsome boughs
Of this unfortunate and fatal pine!
Down with them, Isabella, rend them up,
And burn the roots from whence the rest is sprung!
I will not leave a root, a stalk, a tree,
A bough, a branch, a blossom, nor a leaf,
No, not an herb of this garden plot. (4.2.6-12)

And after she verbally whips up her frenzy against the garden, Isabella turns her words and knife against herself:

And as I curse this tree from further fruit,
So shall my womb be cursed for his sake,
And with this weapon will I wound the breast,
The hapless breast that gave Horatio suck. (4.2.35-38)

The connection she makes between the garden and her body enables her to take her own life in a misdirected act of vengeance. And the play abounds with moments where emotional language spurs action, so watch carefully as Kyd connects emotive language with destructive behavior.

One of the big quotes of the play is "where words prevail not, violence prevails" (2.1.110). The idea is that words can only take you so far before you have to act. Time and time again, words are a bridge to violence. Maybe we should all think more about how language inspires both good and bad in our lives.

And then talk nice.

Darkly Tragic, Darkly Humorous

Ever see the movie Donnie Darko? Well, it's dark—hence, the name "Darko." Did you notice how the music, the lighting, the language, and the actions of the actors come together to create a dark tone? That's precisely the effect Kyd goes for in The Spanish Tragedy, but he accomplishes darkness with words alone.

In addition to being dark in the Donnie Darko sense, Kyd employs dark humor to set a darkly cynical tone. This dark cynicism tells us that funny isn't even very funny in the play. Let's shed some light on all this darkness. And in the process, you'll also see how many more times we can use the word "dark."

What better way to establish a dark tone than by beginning the play in Hell? Check out this darkness:

In keeping on my way to Pluto's court,
Through dreadful shades of ever-glooming night,
I saw more sights than thousand tongues can tell,
Or pens can write, or mortal hearts can think. (1.1.55-58)

Even though "ever-glooming" night means absolute darkness, the ghost of Andrea still "saw more sights" than could ever be expressed—night vision, indeed. But despite the inexpressible darkness, the ghost expresses that his "downfall to the deepest hell" was full of souls "choked with melting gold," lovers "embraced with ugly snakes," murderers groaning "with never-killing wounds," and liars "scalded in boiling lead" (1.1.64-70).

So yeah, pretty dark stuff. And this dark beginning of the play is just a setup for the darkness to come. In a way, Kyd puts us in the same position of Andrea's ghost. Because as we continue reading, we commit ourselves to explore the darkest thoughts of human kind. Good luck seeing through all the darkness.

And while even the darkest plays give some comic relief, The Spanish Tragedy gives comedy but no relief. A great example of dark humor happens while a hangman banters wittily with a murderer he's about to hang. Oh, so funny. The setup is that the murderer, Pedringano, thinks he's about to be saved by a written pardon placed in a box within his view. The funny part? The box is empty. As they yuck it up, Pedringano is convinced he won't hang. Spoiler alert: he hangs. The scene is gallows humor at its literal best. But if hanging scenes don't tickle your funny bone, maybe you'll enjoy all the cynically dark irony in the play.

In the end, there's no place for joyful humor in the play. This dark world isn't safe or comfortable for anyone, and when there is laughter it's disturbing. You might want a palette cleanser to cheer you up when you finish the play.