The Spanish Tragedy Summary

Revenge and the Ghost of Andrea enter. In life, Don Andrea was a Spanish courtier, but he was killed in battle by Balthazar, the son of the Viceroy of Portugal. Once Andrea was finally allowed to cross the river Acheron into the afterlife, Proserpine—the goddess of fertility and agriculture and the queen of the underworld—ordered Andrea’s ghost to return with Revenge and observe the upcoming death of Balthazar at the hands of Bel-Imperia, Andrea’s grieving lover and the niece of the King of Spain. As the play begins, Balthazar is brought to the Spanish court as a prisoner by Lorenzo, Bel-Imperia’s brother and the son of the Duke of Castile, and Horatio, the son of Hieronimo, the Knight Marshall (or official judge) of Spain. Horatio was the one to capture Balthazar; however, Lorenzo insists on recognition for taking Balthazar’s horse and weapons. The king rewards them both—Horatio is promised Balthazar’s ransom and Lorenzo is given his horse and weapons—and orders Balthazar to be held at Castile’s estate.

Later, Bel-Imperia asks Horatio to tell her about Andrea’s death, and he relays the fight between Andrea and Balthazar, saying that Andrea was brave and courageous. After capturing Balthazar, Horatio administered Andrea’s funeral rites and removed a scarf from his friend’s body, which he has vowed to wear in Andrea’s honor. Bel-Imperia knows the scarf well, as she gave it to Andrea before the war, and she asks Horatio to wear it in both her honor and Andrea’s. Bel-Imperia has fallen in love with Horatio, whom she calls her “second love,” and she considers loving him a sort of revenge against Balthazar, who has also professed his love for Bel-Imperia. While Castile and the king are already considering a marriage between Bel-Imperia and Balthazar to unite Spain and Portugal, Bel-Imperia tells Balthazar in no uncertain terms that she is not interested in his advances. Lorenzo, however, encourages Balthazar, telling him Bel-Imperia will eventually come around and accept him.

One evening, Bel-Imperia has her servant, Pedringano, guard the garden gates while she visits with Horatio, but Pedringano betrays her and alerts Lorenzo and Balthazar to the secret meeting. Lorenzo and Balthazar enter the garden, along with a disguised Pedringano and Balthazar’s servant, Serberine. The men hang Horatio from an arbour and stab him to death. Bel-Imperia yells for Hieronimo, and the four attackers carry her away, leaving Horatio’s body hanging in the garden. Hieronimo and his wife, Isabella, find their son dead in the garden and grieve their loss. Hieronimo removes Horatio’s scarf and, drenching it in his son’s blood, vows to keep it until Horatio’s death is avenged. Isabella warns Hieronimo to be patient—revenge is ultimately heaven’s responsibility, she says. Andrea’s ghost looks on furiously. He is waiting for Balthazar’s death, but instead he has witnessed the death of his best friend and the abuse of the love of his life. Revenge, too, tells Andrea to be patient. Balthazar’s death will come soon enough.

As the Spanish plot unfolds, there is drama in the Portuguese court as well. After Balthazar is taken prisoner by Horatio, the Portuguese don’t know what has come of Balthazar, and they fear he may be dead. Villuppo, a nobleman, tells Balthazar’s father, the Viceroy of Portugal, that Balthazar has been shot in the back by Alexandro, another Portuguese nobleman. The viceroy immediately arrests Alexandro and sentences him to death upon the confirmation of Balthazar’s death. When the Portuguese Ambassador returns from Spain with news that Balthazar lives, Villuppo confesses that he lied to earn glory and recognition. The viceroy releases Alexandro with an apology and a public reward, and Villuppo is tortured and executed for his betrayal.

Hieronimo enters, crying and lamenting Horatio’s death, when a letter from Bel-Imperia falls from above. The letter, written in blood, claims that Horatio has been murdered by Lorenzo and Balthazar, and Bel-Imperia begs Hieronimo to seek revenge. Hieronimo sets out to prove that Lorenzo and Balthazar killed his son, and when he runs into Pedringano and asks where he can find Bel-Imperia, Lorenzo tells Hieronimo that Bel-Imperia has been sent away on account of a “disgrace.” Hieronimo exits, but Lorenzo is suspicious, and he is convinced Serberine has betrayed them to Hieronimo. Lorenzo pays Pedringano to kill Serberine, but arranges for the authorities to catch Pedringano in the act. After Pedringano is imprisoned for Serberine’s murder, Lorenzo refuses to obtain his pardon from the king and allows Pedringano to hang, thereby eliminating everyone who knows about Lorenzo and Balthazar’s murder of Horatio—except, of course, for Bel-Imperia. Isabella begins to spiral into insanity after Horatio’s death, and once she commits suicide in the garden where Horatio was murdered, it seems as though Hieronimo is going mad, too. He vows to take the case of Horatio’s murder to the king and seek justice through the appropriate legal channels, but Lorenzo blocks him at every turn. Lorenzo tells the king that Hieronimo is going insane and is only looking to take Balthazar’s ransom money, which rightly belongs to Horatio. The king knows nothing of Horatio’s murder and dismisses Hieronimo’s complaints as the ramblings of a madman.

The Viceroy of Portugal comes to Spain for the upcoming wedding of Balthazar and Bel-Imperia, and the King of Spain asks Hieronimo—a known poet and playwright—to stage a play as entertainment. Hieronimo agrees, and after enlisting the help of Bel-Imperia, they convince both Lorenzo and Balthazar to act with them in the play. The play, Hieronimo says, tells the story of a wedding between a Spanish knight and a beautiful Italian woman, and it ends in murder and suicide. During the play, Bel-Imperia stabs and kills Balthazar before stabbing herself. Hieronimo similarly kills Lorenzo, confesses that the deaths are real, and runs offstage to hang himself. Hieronimo is apprehended and told to confess again under the threat of torture, and he bites off his own tongue so he can’t be compelled to talk. When the Duke of Castile gives Hieronimo a pen and orders him to write his confession, Hieronimo stabs Castile to death with the pen and then stabs himself. The Ghost of Andrea and Revenge look on, pleased with the destruction of Lorenzo, Balthazar, and Castile, in addition to Pedringano and Serberine, who will now all live in eternal agony in the “deepest hell.” Andrea goes on happily to the afterlife, where he will meet Bel-Imperia, Horatio, Hieronimo, and Isabella.