How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line.)
Quote #7
HIERONIMO:
Wise men will take their opportunity,
Closely and safely fitting things to time;
And therefore all times fit not revenge.
Thus therefore will I rest me in unrest,
Dissembling quiet in unquietness,
Not seeming that I know their villanies […] (3.13.26-31)
Hieronimo says he's not going to just up and start slaughtering his enemies—that would be crude. Instead, "wise men" act in cautious secrecy. So how will he act in secrecy? By acting crazy, that's how. That's what he means when he says he will "rest […] in unrest" and dissemble "quiet in unquietness." To dissemble is to lie, so he will conceal his secretly deliberate plans by acting all kinds of manic.
You're right. It is a strange strategy to act loopy so nobody will suspect you're up to something. But Hieronimo figures that people won't expect an elaborate plan from someone who comes off as mentally incapacitated.
But wait. This is the first time Hieronimo tells the audience that he's going to act crazy on purpose. Hasn't he already been acting crazy? This begs the question: which came first, his mental unraveling or his plan to look unraveled? It's a chicken and the egg kind of conundrum. And since The Spanish Tragedy is a veritable omelet of crazy, it's a tough question to unscramble. Shmoop has provided his craziness (or supposed craziness) quote by quote, so we'll let you play the armchair psychoanalyst.
Quote #8
HIERONIMO:
Thou mayest torment me, as his wretched son
Hath done in murd'ring my Horatio,
But never shalt thou force me to reveal
The thing which I have vowed inviolate;
And therefore, in despite of all thy threats,
Pleases with their deaths and eased with revenge,
First take my tongue and afterwards my heart.
He bites out his tongue.KING:
Oh, monstrous resolution of a wretch!
See Viceroy, he hath bitten forth his tongue
Rather than to reveal what we required.
Maybe this is more curious than crazy, but, we can probably agree that you have to be at least disturbed to bite off your own tongue. The curious part? Well, Hieronimo has already told everything he had to say. In fact, he gives a long and detailed speech (79 lines, to be precise) that retells his entire story. So what's the one thing he "vowed inviolate?" Which is to say, the one thing he would never speak. We never find out. Is there a secret? Is this a heroic gesture of defiance? Or is he just plain crazy at this point? It's hard to say there's a secret without any textual evidence. But the other options are up for debate. So, go to it. Just keep in mind that getting justice in a corrupt realm is maddening. Whether maddening turns to crazy or he bites off his own tongue to spite his enemies, there's definitely a blurry line between insanity and revenge in The Spanish Tragedy.