La vengenza de Tamar was first published in 1968 and is one of the outstanding plays of the Spanish Golden Age dramatist Tirso de Molina (1580?-1648). The name was the pseudonym of a Mercedarian friar, Fray Gabriel Téllez. Tirso was greatly influenced by Lope de Vega and in turn influenced the master of the Spanish comedia, Calderón. He was a prolific writer whose most famous plays are El burlador de Sevilla and El contenado por desconfiado. The plot of La venfanza de Tamar comes from the biblical story in II Samuel xiii: Amnon, the eldest son of King David falls in love with his beautiful half-sister Tamar; feigning illness he entices her into his house and rapes her; he is later put to death at a banquet by his half-brother Absalom. Tirso uses this violent and passionate story to develop a play that is rich in dramatic purpose and tragic content.
