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Act 3, Scene 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Spanish Tragedy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Revenge and Justice
Class, Gender, and Society
Love and Madness
Betrayal
Summary
Analysis
Pedringano arrives at the park with a pistol. Lorenzo has given him more gold, and Pedringano plans to kill Serberine just as Lorenzo has ordered him to. Pedringano is not afraid of being arrested for Serberine’s murder, since he knows that Lorenzo will make sure that he is given a pardon. Three watchmen enter, followed by Serberine, who wonders why Lorenzo wanted to meet in the park so late.
Just like Bel-Imperia assumes that Pedringano will never betray her, Pedringano assumes that Lorenzo will never betray him, and they are both wrong. Pedringano easily betrays Bel-Imperia, and Lorenzo easily betrays Pedringano, which again implies that betrayal is widespread in 16th-century society.
Themes
Pedringano fires the pistol, shooting Serberine dead, and he is immediately apprehended by the watchmen. They ask why Pedringano has killed Serberine, and Pedringano says he did it because Serberine was out walking so late at night. The watchmen tell Pedringano that they must take him before Hieronimo, the marshal, but Pedringano is not concerned.
Presumably, Lorenzo sends the watchmen to the park so that Pedringano will be caught red-handed murdering Serberine. Lorenzo knows that Pedringano will be hanged for his crime, which effectively gets rid of Pedringano, too, moving Lorenzo closer to the realization of his plan.
Themes
