Isabella is a character in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy. She is the mother of Horatio and the wife to Hieronimo. Isabella only appears in three scenes and is one of three female characters in the play. She is defined by her inaction and represents Early Modern women at this time period as she is consistently not given a voice or power in society.[1] However, Isabella distances herself from this defined role of motherhood as she decides to avenge her son Horatio by killing herself and simultaneously chopping down the tree of his murder. Isabella's action represents a form of revenge within the greater genre of revenge tragedy: suicide. Her soliloquy is one of the most notable from the play and defines this tragic path of revenge.
- ^ Rebetz, Jonathan S. (2021-12-07). "The Price That Women in Renaissance Drama Pay for Taking Initiative: Isabella's Soliloquy in Act IV of The Spanish Tragedy". Acta Neophilologica. 54 (1–2): 5–14. doi:10.4312/an.54.1-2.5-14. ISSN 2350-417X.