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Senecan Elements in “The Spanish Tragedy”

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‘The Spanish Tragedy’ or ‘Hieronimo is Mad Again’, a popular Elizabethan revenge tragedy by Tomas Kid is highly is highly influenced by Seneca, a Roman dramatist. It is actually a play on a father who avenges the murder of his son. Now we are going to find out the Senecan elements in the play.
Before entering into our discussion we are to know something about Seneca and the main features of his play. Lucius Annaneus Seneca, a Roman philosopher and playwright who sets all the ideas and the norms of the revenge play writers in Renaissance era. Senecan tragedy is a form of tragedy modelled on the drama of Seneca. Generally, the subject of a Senecan tragedy is the murder and the quest for vengeance (প্রতিহিংসা). It usually includes a ghost, insanity, suicide, a play within a play sensational incidents and finally a gruesomely (ভয়াবহ) bloody ending. Christopher Marlowe’s “The Jew of Malta”, Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, John Webster’s “The Duchess of Malfi” and “The White Devil” are the best example of the Senecan tragedy.

Brutal murder is the one of the important elements of Senecan Play
The presence of super natural object like Ghost is a part of Senecan tragedy
The quest of revenge is one of the typical Senecan qualities which we meet in the play ‘The Spanish Tragedy’. 
Suicide is also a vital element of Senecan tragedy. 
The most important element of the Senecan tragedy is “a play within a play”.…


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