The role that madness plays in The Spanish Tragedy and Hamlet, indeed in all revenge tragedies, is vital; this gives the disgruntled person the opportunity to turn into an avenger through the environment. In almost all revenge tragedies, the malcontent takes the form of a Renaissance man or woman confronted with a problem: the act to be avenged. This crime, and the criminals who perpetrated it, affect this environment to such an extent that it is impossible to remain unchanged by them. At this point, discontent is addressed by the question Hamlet poses: To be or not to be, that is the question: Is it nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of scandalous fortune, or to take up arms against a sea of ​​troublesAnd in doing so, put an end to it.Hamlet 3 i 56-60Or as Hieronimo says in The Spanish Tragedy, while holding a noose (this is to symbolize suicide, which is the form ultimate withdrawal from the world) and a dagger (the most appropriate tool for the avenger to interact with the world): This way or that way? Gentle and fair, not so: For if I hang myself, let us know it. Who then will avenge Horatio's murder? The Spanish Tragedy 3 xii 16-19 This question is the central dilemma of revenge tragedy; is it better to face what fate may have in store for you and remain passive and inactive, or to "take up arms" against them and actively put an end to them. It is the process of finding the answer to this question that drives the malcontent mad, and then becoming an avenger. Also important is the fact that the malcontent is a Renaissance figure. This means that they are in possession of a Renaissance mind, a mind constantly seeking knowledge...... middle of paper...... it acts in a very similar way to that of an Avenger, and to some extent is better at it than the main Avengers. The decision to pretend to go mad is a decision by the Avenger to embrace the Machiavellian nature of the villains. It is this decision above which irreparably compromises the avenger. The compromised interaction with the vile and corrupt world is a necessary part of the tragedy of revenge, for without it there could be no dilemma as to the legality and morality of revenge. Furthermore, the avenger's decision to adopt Machiavelli's tools, to go mad, represents the dilemma facing the Renaissance: not everything can be solved through the application of reason alone.