The Spanish Tragedy Revenge Quotes

Notice that Revenge treats the ghost of Andrea like he's about to watch a movie. He's like, "Hey, sit back, have some popcorn, and we'll watch the dude who killed you get dissed by your ex and then die." We of course already know that he'll die because of the word "tragedy." All of this sounds like a good time (if you're the ghost of a murdered guy).

To Elizabethans, the word "mystery" meant both "secret truth" and "play." So the idea is that by watching plays we all learn secret truths. This means that the audience (us) and Andrea have special information that the rest of the cast doesn't. It also means that we become aware that someone beside ourselves is always watching what happens—kinda creepy. But for Elizabethans this would be motivation not to do evil stuff—kind of like Big Brother watching you.

Interestingly enough, the first confirmed avenger in the play is a woman. She decides that the best way to get back at the guy who killed her first lover, Andrea, is to now give her love to his best friend, Horatio. She's right. Because after Prince Balthazar kills Andrea, he's all over Bel-Imperia like a crazed frat boy. And when he finds out about Bel-Imperia and Horatio, the trouble begins. The real question here is whether she truly loves Horatio, or merely sees him as a practical means to get revenge on Balthazar. The quote leaves both possibilities open, which leaves the choice up to you. Whatever the case, romantic love is part of her plan for revenge, a tactic we will not see in Hieronimo's revenge plans to come.

We get it, Revenge. You're going to jack those dudes up. But Andrea is getting impatient. All he's been seeing is his enemies having an awesome party. This is the first of a few times in which Andrea grows impatient while Revenge tells him to wait till the last act. And this impatience is a micro-theme under the larger theme of revenge. Because all the wronged characters feel like justice is moving agonizingly slow. Part of this is about saying Spain is a corrupt, lawless place (England saw Spain as its rival). But there's also something about the emotions of revenge. You know how when you want something really, really bad the clock seems to stop moving? Like, maybe waiting for class to end?