The Dramatic Significance of Language

Language can be as significant as or even more significant than action on stage by creating dramatic impact through the use of specific technical aspects such as metaphor, personification and imagery. The Spanish Tragedy relies heavily on technical aspects of language to create atmosphere and relationships between characters. The following essay will consider the importance of language in Act 2 Scene 4 lines 1 to 49. This is the critical turning point in the play as it introduces the theme of Revenge through Bel-imperia and Horatio's actions which cause upheaval and destruction throughout the rest of the play.

Seneca is a classical allusion that Kyd used in The Spanish Tragedy through its structure and language. The reason for Kyd's huge canonical success was due to him adapting Seneca to Elizabethan stage and by using a lot of the language elements that Seneca used. Horatio and Bel-imperia use hyperbolic and exaggerated language in this passage through their passionate exchange. An example of this would be on line sixteen when Horatio utters: 'Sweet, say not so; fair Fortune is our friend,' this personification of 'Fortune' is a Senecan technicality and it adds to the irony of the fact that their 'Fortune' is already fated. In this line Horatio uses alliteration in order to try and woo Bel-imperia. The fricative "f" consonant is used because it is soft sounding and it is alluring to the ear. Also by using this technique Kyd is foregrounding the importance of "Fortune" and that this causes the audience to understand that "fortune" is not their friend because at this point they know that Pedringano has betrayed the lovers.

The name Bel-imperia means "beautiful power" in Spanish. Bella means beautiful and imperia means powerful and this name is chosen wisely as it is part of her personality. Bel-imperia comes across to the audience as being powerful and this is expressed through her language, in particular lines 10-11 when she says: 'Go, Pedringano, watch without the gate,/and let us know if any make approach'. She shows her authority and power through the use of imperative sentences to give orders to Pedringano. Pedringano then betrays Bel-imperia through an aside: 'Instead of watching I'll deserve more gold/ by fetching Don Lorenzo to this match.' This creates a sense of dishonesty and betrayal because Pedringano is betraying Bel-imperia's trust. Pedringano is Bel-imperia's ambitious servant who thinks he 'deserves more gold', so he is willing to betray his mistress in order to get this. Smith observes: 'Dramatic irony is employed as characters are frequently unaware of the context of their remarks. Horatio and Bel-imperia do not know that their intimacy is observed.' This makes this scene more dramatic and tragic.

The character of Bel-imperia closely foreshadows Shakespeare's character of Ophelia in Hamlet . Both characters are of high status and are driven to suicide at some point in both plays. Bel-imperia stabs herself to avenge the death of her two lovers and because she cannot control her own fate. Ophelia is driven mad through Hamlet's actions and eventually drowns herself in the river. Both women are powerful in their own right but end up dead as many Elizabethan heroine's doing because the men are scared of women with power.

Bel-imperia is an authoritative figure in a patriarchal society, which is frowned upon by many of the other characters in the play, especially her brother Lorenzo. Ekici talks of women in the Elizabethan era and considers that: 'Women in the Elizabethan era were supposed to represent virtues like obedience, silence, sexual chastity, piety, humility, constancy and patience.' Bel-imperia is the opposite of what Ekici describes as the typical Elizabethan woman. This can be seen through her disobedience to marrying Balthazar. In this scene she is defying her father and brothers' needs by preparing to make love to Horatio, who is a knight guards' son. Her language is presumptuous and promiscuous which was frowned upon by men of the era. An example of this would be on line 22-23 when Bel-imperia says: 'I fear no more; love now is all my thoughts./Why sit we not? For pleasure asketh ease.' The abstract noun 'pleasure' foregrounds that Bel-imperia and Horatio have met up to make love. Also through Bel-imperia using an interrogative sentence 'Why sit we not?' shows that the couple are uneasy about this exchange. This can also be seen as a stage direction which shows the power barrier between Bel-imperia in comparison to Horatio.

The repetition of the abstract noun 'pleasure' creates a sense of knowledge for the audience as they are made aware that Bel-imperia and Horatio have meet up to make love. Bel-imperia's main ambition throughout the play is to avenge her previous lover Don Andreas' death and by luring Horatio to make love to her against her family's wishes she is going against what she is meant to do. Bel-imperia's confidence about her rendezvous with Horatio is confused slightly in this passage on lines 22-21 when she says: 'And in thy love and counsel drown my fear./I fear no more. In these two lines she is using anadiplosis which by repetition of the word 'fear' she is showing doubt about whether this is a good idea. She is also trying to encourage herself and although she is speaking to Horatio it could be argued that she is speaking to herself. This is foreshadowing the danger later on in the scene through Pedringano's betrayal.

The first part of the scene is written in free verse but at line twenty three this changes to iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets.