Previous
Act 4, Scene 1
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
Isabella enters the garden with a knife. “I will revenge myself upon this place / Where thus they murdered my beloved son,” she says and begins to cut down the arbour where Horatio’s body was found hanging. She curses the tree, so it will no longer bear fruit, and then she stabs herself to death.
Isabella’s suicide is further evidence of her mental and emotional suffering after Horatio’s death. She must “revenge herself” as she can’t find justice any other way. The cursed tree that will no longer bear fruit harkens to Isabella’s own womb, which is metaphorically killed when her son is murdered.
Themes
