Broken, Justly Revenged'. Although this title is likely to have been
added by the printers, it does succinctly sum up one aspect the play,
the theme of revenge which is reminiscent of Elizabethan revenge
plays such as Thomas Kidd's 'The Spanish Tragedy'. Revenge plays
however, are generally patterned around a revenger and what may be
termed a 'revengee', while the action of NSS revolves around a power
struggle between two factions both of whom are concerned with violent
intent. In reality, the play reflects the seventeenth century fashion
for mixing elements of tragedy and comedy in a style first identified
by Sir Philip Sydney in 1579 as being 'mongrel tragicomedy'<4>; thus
while death intrudes on the final act, it only strikes unsympathetic
characters. There is also regular light relief provided by two comic
characters, Cornego and Cockadillio, as well the cameo appearances of
Signor No and Medina as a French Doctor.

The two groups of characters at the centre of the play are on one
hand, the ruling cabal, that is the King, his Italian Queen and their
supporters, including the Italian Malateste and on the other a number
of disenchanted Spanish noblemen who are in sympathy with the King's
former betrothed lover, Onaelia. This later faction, led by the Duke
of Medina, eventually includes the key figure of the patriotic
soldier Balthazar, a man who has earned respect for his martial
exploits and whose 'nobility', as celebrated in the title to the
play, is a tribute earned by action rather than by birth or
inheritance. He is thus differentiated from the King, whose nobility
of birth is cancelled out by the dishonesty of his character.

Nevertheless, Balthazar is something of a problematic figure and in
many ways an unconvincing hero for a play with ostensibly, a strong
moral theme. His basic character is presented as that of an honest