The Spanish Tragedy Revenge Quotes

First things first: this passage can be a little confusing, so let's Shmoop it up a bit. The first word of the speech, "that," refers to a dagger Hieronimo is holding. And the "this" in the fifth line is a hangman's noose (or a halter, as it's called in the stage direction). So Hieronimo is standing here with a dagger and a noose trying to figure out which way to kill himself. Ultimately, he decides to live and follow the path of revenge in the line, "This way I'll take."

Okay, now that we've cleared that up, we see that self-sacrifice and revenge isn't just for the women of the play. There's just something about revenge that makes people want to off themselves. Many critics believe Hieronimo's choice between suicide and revenge is the inspiration for Hamlet's "to be, or not to be" speech. Whether it be or it not be, we should wonder why suicide and revenge are getting linked in these plays.

This is Hieronimo's Breaking Bad moment—which means, like Walter from the aforementioned hit series, Hieronimo is finally giving in to the idea that crime is the only option for him. He acknowledges that revenge is a criminal act, and since the "safe way for crime is always through crime," (at least that's what the fancy Latin says) he also commits himself to cunningly and deceitfully achieving his goals. He still believes that heaven calls for murder to be repaid, it's just that he needs to break bad because his well-placed enemies have blocked all of his legal avenues.

His last resolution in the passage is that evil deeds bring more evil deeds ("for evil unto ills conductors be"), but the worst thing that can happen to him is death ("And death's the worst of resolution")—he's apparently cool with death, no doubt fired up by reciting some butt kicking Latin. The cruel irony is that the only way to get justice within an unjust system is to become a criminal. Recall that Hieronimo's job is to bring criminals to justice, making the irony almost overwhelming.

The theme that revenge is a slow process culminates with Revenge literally falling asleep on the stage. Make no doubt, this is a moment of dark comedy. It's just plain fun to laugh at the bored guy who falls asleep during a play. Especially if that guy should be the main driving force of the action.

But sleepy Revenge does wake up enough to defend himself. He basically says, "human time and supernatural time are two different things; what seems like forever to you is just a good time for me to take a nap." This is an important moment in the play because it teaches a moral. And the moral speaks to two groups: good guys and bad guys. It tells good guys to be patient while waiting for justice while simultaneously teaching the bad guys that they will eventually get their just deserts. In a play where only the powerful seem to have access to justice, we at least get the idea that there is a higher force at play. But since Revenge is never directly involved, we're left to wonder if it matters whether Revenge sleeps or not? You'll have to decide: is Revenge sleeping on the job or an appropriately patient form of justice?