Apocalypse & Armada in Kyd's Spanish Tragedy (Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies, V. 29)

Often English commentators of the late sixteenth century viewed the Spanish Armada as a revenge tragedy in which God, through England, exacted vengeance on Babylon-Spain. Kyd, the famous playwright, created a nationalistic revenge tragedy in which the hero, Hieronimo, serves as the divinely appointed avenger whose marriage playlet destroys Babylon-Spain. Thus Kyd's play becomes a Reformation play of Daniel, full of apocalyptic symbolism showing the final triumph of Elizabeth as Astrea.