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La venganza de Tamar (1621-1624), Tirso de Molina

Titles
English title: Tamar's Revenge
Date written: sometime between 1621 and 1624
First publication date: 1634
Keywords: morality > honour, morality > crime, morality > punishment, morality > justice-revenge, violence > personal, violence > murder, family > brothers/sisters, family > duty, family > parents and children, family > incest
Genre and type: tragedy
Title information

Sometimes translated as 'The Rape of Tamar', the title is perhaps more accurately translated as 'Tamar's Revenge'.

Pitch

The tragedy of Amnon’s rape of his half-sister, Tamar, and her bloody revenge on him, brought to life by a master dramatist in this stirring Biblical drama.

Synopsis

King David’s sons have returned to the royal palace in Jerusalem to rest during a 10-day truce, a brief respite from the war against the Ammonites in Rabah. His favourite son, Amnon, de... (Read more...)

Sources

The play is based on the Biblical story of Tamar’s rape by her half-brother Amnon in 2 Samuel 13, with additional details from Flavius Josephus. The story has appeared in Spanish balla... (Read more...)

Critical response

This is one of Tirso’s most popular tragedies, enjoying large-scale productions in both Spanish and English. Paterson’s 1969 edition still provides the most complete overview of the pla... (Read more...)

Editions
  • Tirso de Molina. 1634. La venganza de Tamar. In Parte Tercera de las comedias del Maestro Tirso de Molina. Tortosa

  • Tirso de Molina. 1969. La venganza de Tamar, ed. A. K. G. Paterson. C... (Read more...)

Useful readings and websites
  • Hesse, Everett W. 1964. ‘The Incest Motif in Tirso’s La venganza de Tamar’, Hispania, 47, 2, 268-76

  • Hesse, Everett W. 1991. Tirso’s art in La venganza de Tamar: Tragedy of Sex and Violence. York, SC: Spanish Literature Publishing Company

  • Paterson, A. K. G. 1968. ‘The Textual History of Tirso’s La venganza de Tamar’, Modern Language Review, 63, 2, 381-91

  • Sloman, A. E. 1958. The Dramatic Craftsmanship of Calderón: His Use of Earlier Plays. Oxford, Dolphin

  • Smith, Dawn L. 1997. ‘Crossing Generic Boundaries: The Case of The Rape of Tamar’, Indiana Journal of Hispanic Literatures, 10-11, 37-44

  • Thacker, Jonathan. 2008. ‘Tirso’s Tamar Untamed: A Lesson of the RSC Production’. In The Comedia in English: Translation and Performance, eds. Susan Paun de García and Donald Larson, pp. 164-76. London, Tamesis

  • Weimer, Christopher. 2005. Review of Tamar’s Revenge, Comedia Performance, 2, 234-7

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Entry written by Kathleen Jeffs. Last updated on 22 February 2011.

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