Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : None
The Spanish Tragedy is like a total rebel, dude. It's like, "I don't know who this Booker guy is, but he's not the boss of me." Which is to say, the play does not neatly conform to any of Booker's seven basic plots.
While the play shares some traits with Booker's "Tragedy" plot, Hieronimo really isn't a tragic hero in the classic sense. Booker's tragic hero has character flaws that pretty much drive him to destruction—you know, Darth Vader type stuff. Hieronimo, on the other hand, is just a poor sap in a bad situation. Bad dudes above the reach of the law murder his son, and it's his sad job to set things right.
In the simplest sense, the plot is as follows: you killed my son, prepare to die. That Hieronimo's tale escapes Booker's seven basic plots probably speaks to the ancient simplicity and novelty of this very old play.