A comparative and evaluative study of Thomas Kyd?s The Spanish tragedy, Christopher Marlowe?s The Jew of Malta and William Shakespeare?s Titus Andronicus as revenge tragedy

Abstract

This paper examines three of the earliest Elizabethan's revenge tragedies, Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, and William Shakespeare's Titus Andrenicus, in order to determine their significance in the development of Elizabethan drama. After briefly considering classical and contemporary influences, this study attempts to show how Kyd, Marlowe, and Shakespeare, building upon these influences, created dramas of action and variety which helped establish a dramatic style which was peculiarly Elizabethan.