The freshly edited and annotated text comes with a full introduction and illustrative materials intended for student readers.
The Spanish Tragedy was well known to sixteenth-century audiences, and its central elements-a play-within-a-play and a ghost bent on revenge-are widely believed to have influenced Shakespeare's Hamlet. This volume includes a generous selection of supporting materials, among them Kyd's likely sources (Virgil, Jacques Yver, and the anonymous "The Earl of Leicester Betrays His Own Servant"), Thomas Nashe's satiric criticism of Kyd, Michel de Montaigne and Francis Bacon on revenge, and "The Ballad of The Spanish Tragedy," which suggests the play's initial reception.
"Criticism" is thematically organized to provide readers with a clear sense of the play's major themes. Contributors include Michael Hattaway, Jonas A. Barish, Donna B. Hamilton, G. K. Hunter, Lorna Hutson, Molly Smith, J. R. Mulryne, T. McAlindon, and Andrew Sofer.
A Selected Bibliography is also included.
- ISBN10 0393905152
- ISBN13 9780393905151
- Publish Date 25 September 2013
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint W. W. Norton & Company
- Edition Annotated edition
- Format eBook
- Pages 336
- Language English