ABSTRACT
The Spanish Tragedy was one of the most popular and influential Elizabethan plays. It created a vogue for a ghoulish form of melodrama and its impact can be seen in other famous revenge tragedies, most notably Shakespeare's Hamlet. An extremely political plot, involving the rivalry between Spain and Portugal, is thrown aside after Don Horatio, Hieronimos son, is murdered by Don Balthazar, a violent Portuguese prince, and a rival for the hand of Bel-Imperia. Isabella, a very minor character in the play, suddenly comes to dramatic life in this very late scene. She is one of the first in a long line of Elizabethan and Jacobean madwomen who usually play scenes of madness with their hair loose to indicate the venting of emotion and lack of constraint. The most surprising aspect of the speech is her abrupt suicide at the end, unprepared for and very swift.
