, an unusual tragedy featuring two distinct plotlines, was printed in 1601 in a quarto edition. It consists of two entirely separate murder narratives, one set in London and one in Italy, with the dramatic action alternating between the two locations. The play also makes use of an allegorical framework, enabling the figure of Truth to bridge the movement between the different settings, and to provide didactic commentary.
The English plot of Two Lamentable Tragedies represents a real crime that took place in London on 23 August 1594, when an alehouse keeper named Thomas Merry murdered his neighbour, Robert Beech, as well as Beech’s young servant, Thomas Winchester, in two brutal attacks with a hammer. In an effort to conceal Beech’s murder, Merry dismembered the
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Citation: O'Brien, Emily. "Two Lamentable Tragedies". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 April 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35678, accessed 21 November 2024.]
