The Stepmother's Tragedy is a play written by Henry Chettle and Thomas Dekker and is now considered lost. The play is mentioned in Philip Henslowe's diary in August of 1599.
It's unknown, but the play may be associated with a ballad called "Isabella's Tragedy" or "Cruelty of a Stepmother". The Ballad is about how a duke was away hunting leaving his daughter Isabella behind with his wife. The wife and kitchen cook planned to kill the girl together and bake her into pies. When the Stepmother sent the girl to the kitchen and the cook attacked her. A scullery boy tries to prevent the murder and even offered himself to be put in the pies, but the girl was murdered and served instead. The Duke on his return did not see his daughter and refused to drink and eat until he saw her. The stepmother claimed that the girl had gone to church for prayer, but the scullery boy revealed the evil deeds of the stepmother and cook. The stepmother was burned at the stake and the cook boiled in lead. The scullery boy would become the duke's heir.
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