In the thirteenth scene of Act III in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, the character Hieronimo finally emerged as a major character and transformed significantly. He went from being a commendable subordinate of the king, to a grieving father, to a man on the verge of losing his mind. Yet it is only in Act III, scene XIII that his definitive and determined character emerges. Until this soliloquy, it is unclear who will take up revenge in a play that has been framed from the opening scene as revenge for the restless ghost of Don Andrea. But by the end of the speech, and despite the resulting delays that occur before the show concludes, it is certain that Hieronimo will become the agent of vengeance. This scene can variously be seen as Hieronimo's transformation from victim to protagonist, from knight marshal of the king to incarnate scythe of God's judgment, or even from hero to villain. What is unmistakable is that from Act III, Scene XIII onwards, Hieronimo's mind is set, his role is active, and revenge is inevitable. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayHieronimo begins his soliloquy with the Vulgate phrase, "Vindicta mihi!" (3.13.1), which means “Vengeance is mine”, quoting the passage from the Letter to the Romans which continues: “'I will repay,' says the Lord”. This is his essential problem since Hieronimo is aware of this explicit New Testament decree against personal vengeance, as would have been the Elizabethan audience for whom this play was written. It was intended that God would avenge all wrongs, either directly or through his representative on earth, who was believed to be the King. However, it is interesting to note that he chooses to quote a phrase that is supposed to be spoken by the voice of God, perhaps alluding to his personal and definitive appropriation of the role of final judge in the work. However, with this knowledge that he might “come for justice to the heavens” (3.6.6) since “they [Lorenzo and Balthazar] have done what Heaven would not leave unpunished” (3.7.56) Hieronimo attempted to inform his “Lord the King/And cry aloud for justice through the Court” (3.7.69-70), However, he is repeatedly denied access to the king from Act II, scene XIII. Then the first five lines of the soliloquy in Scene XIII, which consist of Hieronimo stating that he "awaits [the] will" (3.13.4) of Heaven, lack the connotation of the monarch replacing God and, in fact, literally mean that he must wait for the Heavens to bring about term revenge.The idea of waiting for the Heavens is only played with though and in line 6 Hieronimo has pulled his head out of the clouds and into the pagan or Old Testament world of personal revenge and action fact that line 6, like line 1, is pronounced in Latin, but this time it does not quote the New Testament. Instead he refers to a verse from the book he holds in his hand containing Seneca's works. The quote, loosely translated two lines later as "For evils to be conductors of evils" (3.13.8), is uttered by Clytemnestra in the play Agamemnon as she plans to prevent the violence she expects from her husband. Given this context, it would appear that Hieronimo expects more violence from his son's killers (which is not unreasonable given his knowledge of Pedringano's execution) and may even fear his own life. So it is out of necessity for prevention, or to prevent the prevention of his enemies, that he abandons the will of the Heavens to prevent further evil and ensure vengeance. However, while Hieronimo has.
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