SOURCE: Forker, Charles R. Introduction to The Cardinal, edited by Charles R. Forker, pp. xvii-lxxi. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1964.

In the following excerpt, Forker maintains that The Cardinal shows brilliant plotting and complex manipulation of the conventions of the revenge tragedy, yet fails to resolve the moral and ethical problems posed in the play.

Shirley's The Cardinal occupies a secure place in dramatic history as the last of a long line of Elizabethan tragedies of revenge. The genre which began with Kyd's Spanish Tragedy had its limitations as an art form, not the least of which were the moral confusions which the pagan theme was sure to encounter in a Christian context. Yet many fine plays emerged from the tradition and, among them, one masterpiece—Shakespeare's most popular tragedy. It is reassuring to notice that the movement ended, as it had begun, with an impressive play and the...