Queen Mother of Spain, Eugenia, is in love with Eleazar; King Ferdinando loves the Moor's wife, Maria. Cardinal Mendoza, bishop of Salamanca, loves the Queen. All of these characters are consumed by ungovernable passions — except for the cold and Machiavellian Eleazar. The Moor pretends to love the Queen Mother, but manipulates her into murdering her son Philip; then he kills her as well. To strike at the Cardinal, he betrays his chaste young wife. And he stabs King Ferdinando as the culmination of his evil plans. Despite all of his stratagems, however, Eleazar is defeated in the end; he goes to his death unrepentant. Abd-el-Oahed ben Massood If Lust's Dominion is The Spanish Moor's Tragedy by another name, it may have been influenced by the August 1600 arrival in London of Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud, Ambassador of Muley Ahmad al-Mansur, King of Barbary or Morocco. The embassy had the goal of building an Anglo-Moroccan alliance against Spain. The visit, which ended in February 1601, was inconclusive. Adaptations In the Restoration era, Aphra Behn adapted the play into Abdelazar, or The Moor's Revenge (1676), her sole venture into Restoration tragedy. The play, under the title of "Lust's Dominion", has also been adapted in the 21st century. Notes References Bullough, Geoffrey. Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. 8 Volumes, New York, Columbia University Press, 1973. Chambers, E. K. The Elizabethan Stage. 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The New Intellectuals: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1977. Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The Popular School: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1975. Logan, Terence P., and Denzell S. Smith, eds. The Predecessors of Shakespeare: A Survey and Bibliography of Recent Studies in English Renaissance Drama. Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska Press, 1973. Pitcher, John, ed. Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England. Vol. 11; Madison/Teaneck, NJ, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1999. External links Text of Lust's Dominion at Sheffield Hallam University Text of Lust's Dominion at the Marlowe Society 17th-century plays British plays English Renaissance plays Plays by Thomas Dekker (writer) Plays by John Day (dramatist) Plays set in Spain Tragedy plays