Isabella (The Spanish Tragedy)
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Isabella (The Spanish Tragedy)
Isabella is a character in Thomas Kyd's ''The Spanish Tragedy''. She is the mother of Horatio and the wife to Hieronimo. Isabella only appears in three scenes and is one of three female characters in the play. She is defined by her inaction and represents Early Modern women at this time period as she is consistently not given a voice or power in society. However, Isabella distances herself from this defined role of motherhood as she decides to avenge her son Horatio by killing herself and simultaneously chopping down the tree of his murder. Isabella's action represents a form of revenge within the greater genre of revenge tragedy: suicide. Her soliloquy is one of the most notable from the play and defines this tragic path of revenge. Roles Early modern woman Isabella plays the role of the early modern woman specifically through her strife to publicly revenge her son and silencing nonetheless. During the period of The Spanish Tragedy, women were confined to their roles within ...
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Thomas Kyd
Thomas Kyd (baptised 6 November 1558; buried 15 August 1594) was an English playwright, the author of ''The Spanish Tragedy'', and one of the most important figures in the development of Elizabethan drama. Although well known in his own time, Kyd fell into obscurity until 1773 when Thomas Hawkins, an early editor of ''The Spanish Tragedy'', discovered that Thomas Heywood, in his ''Apologie for Actors'' (1612), attributed the play to Kyd. A hundred years later, scholars in Germany and England began to shed light on his life and work, including the controversial finding that he may have been the author of a ''Hamlet'' play pre-dating Shakespeare's, which is now known as the '' Ur-Hamlet''. Early life Thomas Kyd was the son of Francis and Anna Kyd. There are no records of the day he was born, but he was baptised in the church of St Mary Woolnoth in the Ward of Langborn, Lombard Street, London on 6 November 1558. The baptismal register at St Mary Woolnoth carries this entry: "Th ...
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The Spanish Tragedy
''The Spanish Tragedy'', or ''Hieronimo is Mad Again'' is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, ''The Spanish Tragedy'' established a new genre in English theatre: the revenge play or revenge tragedy. The play contains several violent murders and personification, personifies Revenge as its own character. ''The Spanish Tragedy'' is often considered to be the first mature Elizabethan drama, a claim disputed with Christopher Marlowe's ''Tamburlaine'', and was parodied by many Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights, including Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. 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.'' (Thomas Kyd is frequently proposed as the author of the hypothetical ''Ur-Hamlet'' that may have been one of Shakespeare's primary sources for ''Hamlet''.) Performance Early perfo ...
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Hieronimo
Hieronimo is one of the principal characters in Thomas Kyd's ''The Spanish Tragedy''. He is the knight marshal of Spain and the father of Horatio. In the onset of the play he is a dedicated servant to the King of Spain. However, the difference in social status becomes apparent when his son is wrongfully murdered by Balthazar, the son of the viceroy of Portugal, and Lorenzo, the son of the Duke of Spain, which eventually causes tragic events to unfold. In order to revenge the death of his son, Hieronimo takes on additional roles, a playwright and an actor. He uses his position in the King's court to write and perform a play within a play. This performance mirrors the actual events surrounding Horatio's death, and within this show Hieronimo commits his own acts of revenge against the perpetrators. Many critics see Hieronimo as a dynamic character that by the end of the tragedy has become obsessed with taking revenge against the murderers of his son. Literature of 16th century England w ...
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Revenge Tragedy
Revenge tragedy (sometimes referred to as revenge drama, revenge play, or tragedy of blood) is a theatrical genre, in which the principal theme is revenge and revenge's fatal consequences. Formally established by American educator Ashley H. Thorndike in his 1902 article "The Relations of ''Hamlet'' to Contemporary Revenge Plays," a revenge tragedy documents the progress of the protagonist's revenge plot and often leads to the demise of both the murderers and the avenger himself.Thorndike, A. H. "The Relations of Hamlet to Contemporary Revenge Plays." ''Modern Language Association''. 17.2 (1902): 125-220. Print. The genre first appeared in early modern Britain with the publication of Thomas Kyd's ''The Spanish Tragedy'' during the latter half of the 16th century. Earlier works, such as Jasper Heywood's translations of Seneca (1560s) and Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville's play '' Gorbuduc'' (1561), are also considered revenge tragedies. Other well-known revenge tragedies in ...
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Soliloquy
A soliloquy (, from Latin 'alone' and 'to speak', ) is a speech in drama in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud, typically while alone on stage. It serves to reveal the character's inner feelings, motivations, or plans directly to the audience, providing information that would not otherwise be accessible through dialogue with other characters. They are used as a Plot device, narrative device to deepen character development, advance the plot, and offer the audience a clearer understanding of the psychological or emotional state of the speaker. Soliloquies are distinguished from monologues by their introspective nature and by the absence or disregard of other characters on the stage. The soliloquy became especially prominent during the English Renaissance theatre, Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, when playwrights used it as a means to explore complex human emotions and ethical dilemmas. William Shakespeare employed soliloquies extensively in his plays, using them to ...
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Early Modern Period
The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There is no exact date that marks the beginning or end of the period and its extent may vary depending on the area of history being studied. In general, the early modern period is considered to have lasted from around the start of the 16th century to the start of the 19th century (about 1500–1800). In a European context, it is defined as the period following the Middle Ages and preceding the advent of modernity; but the dates of these boundaries are far from universally agreed. In the context of World history (field), global history, the early modern period is often used even in contexts where there is no equivalent "medieval" period. Various events and historical transitions have been proposed as the start of the early modern period, including ...
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Senecan Tragedy
Senecan tragedy refers to a set of ten ancient Roman tragedies, eight of which were probably written by the Stoic philosopher and politician Lucius Annaeus Seneca. Senecan tragedy, much like any particular type of tragedy, had specific characteristics to help classify it. The three characteristics of Senecan tragedy were: five separate acts, each with a Chorus; recounting of ‘horrors’ and violent acts, which are usually done off-stage; and some sort of parallel of the violence that occurred. Only the Phoenissae departs from the five act structure. In the English literary canon, Seneca appears as a major influence on later texts about revenge, such as Titus Andronicus and The Crying of Lot 49. History Precise dating of when the tragedies were written is difficult to determine, but scholars estimate that they were produced sometime in the 50s CE.Kohn, Thomas D. ''The Dramaturgy of Senecan Tragedy''. University of Michigan Press, 2012. Seneca's extant tragedies were foun ...
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Revenge
Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more formal and refined forms of justice such as distributive justice or restorative justice. Function in society Social psychologist Ian Mckee states that the desire for the sustenance of power motivates vengeful behavior as a means of impression management: "People who are more vengeful tend to be those who are motivated by power, by authority and by the desire for status. They don't want to lose face". Vengeful behavior has been found across a majority of human societies throughout history. Some societies encourage vengeful behavior, which is then called a feud. These societies usually regard the honor of individuals and groups as of central importance. Thus, while protecting their reputation, an avenger feels as if they restore the pre ...
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Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient philosophy, Stoicism made the greatest claim to being utterly systematic. The Stoics provided a unified account of the world, constructed from ideals of logic, monistic physics, and naturalistic ethics. These three ideals constitute virtue which is necessary for 'living a well reasoned life', seeing as they are all parts of a logos, or philosophical discourse, which includes the mind's rational dialogue with itself. Stoicism was founded in the ancient Agora of Athens by Zeno of Citium around 300 BC, and flourished throughout the Greco-Roman world until the 3rd century AD, and among its adherents was Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Along with Aristotelian term logic, the system of propositional logic developed by the Stoics was one of th ...
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Bel-imperia
Bel-imperia is a character in Thomas Kyd's ''The Spanish Tragedy''. She is the daughter of the Duke of Castile, the sister of Lorenzo, and the lover of the dead Don Andrea. Throughout the play, Bel-imperia attempts to avenge the death of Don Andrea. She begins by feigning a relationship with Horatio to "spite the prince that wrought his end", then joins forces with Hieronimo to eventually murder Balthazar and complete her revenge mission. However, critics view Bel-imperia in various roles based on her actions throughout the play. Roles Bel-imperia as the revenger Bel-imperia in Thomas Kyd's ''Spanish Tragedy'' has been viewed in numerous ways. As one can see in Richard Madelaines' article on the transgression and its punishment on the modern English stage, one can see Bel-imperia as a sexual temptress. His essay discusses how Bel-imperia breaks free of traditional feminine roles to exact her revenge. Early dialogue in this essay suggests that Bel-imperia exemplifies the ancient ...
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Triple Tree
A motorcycle fork connects a motorcycle's front wheel and axle to its frame, typically via a yoke, also known as a triple clamp, or triple tree, which consists of an upper yoke joined to a lower yoke via a steering stem, a shaft that runs through the steering head, creating the steering axis. Most forks incorporate the front suspension and front brake, and allow the front wheel to rotate about the steering axis so that the motorcycle may be steered. Most handlebars attach to the top clamp in various ways, while clip-on handlebars clamp to the fork tubes, either just above or just below the upper triple clamp. The fork and its attachment points on the frame establish the critical geometric parameters of rake and trail, which play a major role in defining how a motorcycle handles and dives during braking. While the standard telescopic fork arrangement is found with few major differences among mainstream street motorcycles since the 1970s, historically there have been many variati ...
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Tyburn
Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne (stream), Bourne, means 'boundary stream'.Gover, J. E. B., Allen Mawer and F. M. Stenton ''The Place-Names of Middlesex''. Nottingham: English Place-Name Society, The, 1942: 6. The parish, and probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern Oxford Street). The junction of these was the site of the famous Tyburn Gallows (known colloquially as the "Tyburn Tree"), now occupied by Marble Arch. For many centuries the name Tyburn was synonymous with capital punishment: it was the principal place for execution for London and Middlesex criminals and convicted Treason, traitors, including many religious martyrs. In the 18th century it was also known as "God's Tribunal". Hangings at ...
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