ABSTRACT
The literary trope of authorship recurs as a distinctive plot device in dramatic texts, namely as the definitive motif of the blood letter written by women characters. Blood letters are document's literally written in the bodily liquid, and we must note that naturally plethoric blood, just like seed, is no neutral fluid. In calling attention to the distinctly gendered act of authoring of blood letters and going so far as to identify this authorship as a blatantly manifest motif anticipate exceptions to my claim that women are the most important writers of blood letters. Thomas Kyd thus suggests the following: in authoring her revenge through suicide, Bel-imperia thwarts Hieronimo, and, like Titus, he emerges as the figure for the real writing/righting. Even when Bel-imperia commits what might be seen as the supreme act of self-willing, it is enfolded within the wrong version of the revenge tragedy to be played out according to Hieronimo's intentions.
