Kyd, Thomas

Kyd, Thomas (1558-1594), English dramatist, born in London and educated at the Merchant Taylors' School, London. Kyd (or Kid) was one of the most important dramatists of the early Elizabethan period. His Spanish Tragedy (c. 1590) was one of the most popular plays of his day. His use of shocking and horrifying melodramatic situations was imitated by subsequent English dramatists, such as Shakespeare in his Titus Andronicus. Many experts believe that Shakespeare used a play (now lost) attributed to Kyd as a source for Hamlet; other plays sometimes attributed to Kyd are The Tragedy of Solyman and Perseda (c. 1588) and The First Part of Jeronimo (1605). Kyd was a close friend of Christopher Marlowe, with whom he was implicated in charges of heresy and atheism. Kyd was imprisoned and released shortly thereafter, but died in disgrace and poverty a year later.