The Spanish Tragedy. The first of it's kind and known to have inspired the likes of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe. The starting point for tragedies to come and one of the first to use blank verse.

Once again, I'm kicking myself at how accessible this was. I read this because I am studying it for university, and for me this has now opened up the door for 16th century plays other than those of Shakespeare's. 

I just can't believe how much I enjoyed this. The language was BEAUTIFUL and simultaneously heart-breaking. Though the extreme desire for revenge drove this play, it was laced with love and sadness and shame and guilt. I thought the inclusion of the Ghost of Andrea and Revenge watching from the after-life was great because it provided little breaks amidst the chaos, and they also helped to round off the end of the play.

I also think that the alternate, or rather extended, title of this play being 'Hieronimo is mad againe' is interesting because instead of our first thought about the play being 'tragedy', it brings it back to Hieronimo who went through this multitude of extreme emotions, not only for the need of revenge but also the temptation to just give up and die and be with his son again. His grief mixed with lust for revenge was labelled by Lorenzo as fits of insanity in order to hide his own sins - which was ultimately Lorenzo's downfall because he underestimated Hieronimo.

2 deaths by hanging, 6 murders (7 if you include Horatio's hanging) and 3 suicides - wow.

Having studied ancient Roman epitaphs last year, I'm not surprised to see that this quote is noted as being inspired by lines from the works of Lucretius, Virgil and Ovid.