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Titus andronicus critical essays
Titus andronicus critical essays
Titus andronicus critical essays
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Titus Andronicus has had a fair share of mixed reviews over the last centuries but has still remained a work of fascinating symbolism as well as a violent, poetic story. The story was meant to entertain the lower classes of England at the time who enjoyed such activities as bear baiting, where a bear would have its claws and teeth pulled out before being tied to a post where savage pitt-bulls would bite it to death (White). The people of sixteenth century England were also very accustomed to public hangings and torturous punishments. Colin Burrow, a researcher of early Tudor literature, noted that, "Cruelty is part of Shakespeare's World and it generates a high proportion of the energy into his drama." (Smith 4). When the play was first published, it received exceptional reviews, but later it was spat on as one of the most disgustingly violent and worse written Shakespeare play. How did the reviews turn so sour so quickly? The culture at the time had the most to do with it. With such violent epics such as The Godfather, Scarface, Natural Born Killers, and Pulp Fiction, it is no wonder that Titus Andronicus has once again revealed itself to the masses as an entertaining piece of work. The idolization of violent entertainment in recent years is the reason for the increase of appeal towards Shakespeare's play Titus Andronicus.
The reviews of this play from the 1930's show us that most people did not like violent literature. It was around this time that America fell into the Depression. Reading Titus probably did not amuse them because of the heavy burden of poverty. In 1934 T.S. Eliot dismissed the play as "one of the stupidest and most uninspired plays ever." If only he had known that stupidest wasn't a word, he probably would'...
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...r the raping of Lavinia, Titus kills Tamora's sons, bakes them into a pastry, and serves it back unto Tamora's stomach, where they came from. Titus also kills her after letting her know that she ate her two remaining sons, so for this Saturninus, in a fit of rage, murders Titus. To top it off, to avenge his father, Lucius kills the Emperor, Saturninus. "Revenge has the final grim chuckle, having wracked havoc on fractured human psyches and the Roman state." (Smith 32).
Works Cited
Smith, Henry. Shakesphere's Tragedies. New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 1984.
Nightingale, Joesph. Symbolism in Shakesphere. Boston: Delmar, 1995.
Shakesphere, William. Titus Andronicus. England, 1596.
White, Janet. "From the Gallows to the Stage." 6/17/99. Ebsco host. Accessed at HCC lib., MA. 12/03/04.
Titus. Julie Taymor, Jody Patton, Shakesphere. VHS. Fox Searchlights, 2000
This is a comparative analysis that seeks to examine Shakespeare's play, Titus Andronicus, and compare it to several scenes from Julie Taymors’ film, Titus. The main focus is to see whether the film stays true to the play when it comes to violence and dialogue. Both are filled with grotesque scenes that have to do with rape, mutilation, murders and even cannibalism. The most important topics are revenge and violence, for that reason violence is going to be the center of focus in this analysis.
The murder of Mutius indicates that he was not as equally cherished as his older brother, Lucius. Although Titus called Lucius a traitor, Lucius was never in danger of being killed by his father. Lucius, as the oldest, appears to be in a position of immunity while Mutius, and his brothers who were killed in battle, were expendable. It is of no consequence that so many bodies were laid to rest because, most importantly, the eldest son survives and the family name is able to continue. Titus instills loyalty in Lucius and, in turn, Lucius honors his father.
One of the distinguishing factors in portraying Titus centers in its origin: "Titus Andronicus [...] must be considered as an experimental play" (Bowers 118). Being Shakespeare's first attempt at tragedy, it obviously has room for error. Yet, as some critics and scholars would say, I believe there is a similar element found in all of Shakespeare's works, no matter when they were written: "Shakespeare constantly reminds us that the character's predicament and humanity is very like our own" (Barton 184). No matter what the plot is, or where he chose to set the story, Shakespeare captures a fundamental element of humanity. Within Titus Andronicus, it is undoubtedly humanity's search for revenge: "Titus Andronicus is a play of social piety, outrage, suffering, and revenge" (Barber 133). The first three elements that Barber attributes to the work are consequential to the fourth; it is the revenge and spite of Titus, Tamora, and Aaron that fuel the other three elements.
Baz Lurhmann’s creation of the film Romeo and Juliet has shown that today’s audience can still understand and appreciate William Shakespeare. Typically, when a modern audience think of Shakespeare, they immediately think it will be boring, yet Lurhmann successfully rejuvenates Romeo and Juliet. In his film production he uses a number of different cinematic techniques, costumes and a formidably enjoyable soundtrack; yet changes not one word from Shakespeare’s original play, thus making it appeal to a modern audience.
The play, Titus Andronicus, is almost bursting with disfigured and distorted bodies. The most obvious and apparent of these is Lavinia, who is raped and has her tongue and hands cut off. In addition, one of Titus’ hands hand’s is chopped off, and the remaining dead body parts of Demetrius and Chiron are cut up and made into a pie that Titus serves Tamora in the final act. All this bodily disfigurement can be related to a common metaphor that personifies the empire of Rome as a body. For example, when Marcus wants Titus to become emperor of Rome, he tells him to “set a head on headless Rome.” Similarly, at the end of the play, Marcus promises to restore Rome, saying that he will “knit...these broken limbs again into one body.”
Julie Taymor’s film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus has many theatrical elements that aid in creating an interpretation of the written play. One of the most prominent elements that Taymor uses is color. Taymor uses color to develop Shakespeare’s characters. Many times throughout the film, color is used to represent a character’s mood or their hidden agenda during a scene. We also see color used to represent good versus evil. The three colors that are most widely used during the movie to show symbolism and imagery are black, white, and red. While there are some references to color in the written text of Titus Andronicus, Taymor’s use of color allows the viewers to see a more clear representation of mood, tone, and character. The colors may be used in costume or in setting. Regardless of how they are used each color plays a large role in distinguishing the tone that is being set for a scene or character.
Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet is a film that converts Shakespeare’s famous play into a present-day setting. The film transforms the original texts into modern notions, whilst still employing Shakespearean language. Compared to Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Luhrmann’s picture is easier for a teenage audience to understand and relate to because of his modernisations. Despite the passing of four centuries Shakespeare’s themes of love, hate, violence, family and mortality remain the same regardless of the setting.
The premise of the play Titus Andronicus can be easily summed up in one word. That word is simply ‘honor’. Honor means a different thing today than it did during the Roman Empire or Shakespeare’s life, but it is important to know honor’s definition in order to understand Titus Andronicus. Honor was used to justify murdering multiple times throughout the play. Titus killed two of his own children to protect his honor. Titus’s honor was also destroyed by Lavinia being raped and mutilated and Aaron tricking Titus into cutting off his hand, an important symbol of his honor. The word ‘honor’ has a huge impact on the play Titus Andronicus.
While Romulus is credited for exemplifying many of Rome;’s fundamental values, his reign over Rome is one that is infamous for its abundant bloodshed, violence against Rome’s neighbouring cities and demonstrations of his accumulated power. In comparison to Romulus’ rule, King Numa Pompilius reign is filled with undisturbed peace and coexistence in Rome and its neighbouring communities. Romulus often resorts to utilizing methods like violence or deceit to achieve his aspirations for the glory of Rome. One of the very first of Romulus’ acts of violence “to obtain sole power” (Livy 37) is to brutally murder his own twin brother, Remus in an angry fit of rage. The murder of Remus is a reflection of Romulus’ violent, ruthless nature and demonstrates the drastic measures he will go to achieve ultimate power. “To increase the dignity and impressiveness of his [ki...
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of an ancient feud where the children of two families at war fall deeply in love with each other. Set in the 16th century William Shakespeare’s play has many different themes running throughout it, which include love, hate, death and conflict. The play opens with a fight but ends with suicide that creates peace between both families who unite from their losses. The conflict, violence and aggression in the play happen from revenge and an ancient family grudge. An audience from the 16th century would have enjoyed Romeo and Juliet because of the real life drama and tragedy the play goes through. The patriarchal society gave women absolutely no rights and they had to obey their man’s ordering a patriarchal system. The theme of conflict is revealed as the characters argue over Juliet’s disobedience.
The main character in the play is Titus Andronicus while the antagonists are Tamora, Aaron and Saturninus. Titus is a roman hero because he has aided in defeating the Goths. On the other hand, he has lost his own sons through conflicts. In the play, he has a strong urge of revenge. Saturninus, late emperor of Rome’s son, does not obey the authority. Bassiunus is Lavinnia’s lover. Tamora is the Goth’s queen with a strong urge to revenge because her son, Alarbus, was executed. Aaron is a moor who has been given evil personification. Marcus, Titus’s brother, always defends the rights of the people. Titus’s sons include: Lucius, Quintus, Martius and Murtius. Publius is Marcus Andronicus son. Sons of Tamora are Alarbus, Larbus, Demetrious and Chiron. Lavinnia is a vey innocent girl who suffers from unpleasant offenses.
Rome had just finished having a war with the Goths, and as a result of this, Titus’s sons were killed in the war. They were to execute Alarbus because Titus wanted to sacrifice a traitor for the lost lives of his sons. Tamora begs Titus not to kill her son, but Titus insists that he can't do anything about it because it will please the gods as the sacrifice would make up for his sons’ deaths in war. This would result in Tamora being furious towards Titus for what he has done. Tamora would get her revenge towards Titus with the help of Aaron, her secret lover. She constructs a devious plan with Aaron, which would lead Titus to lose his sanity, resulting in Titus to be murdered by
In Sarah Kane's Blasted, a woman and a man are raped on stage, eyeballs and dead babies are consumed and a man shoots himself through the head. In Edward Bond's Lear, several men and women are shot, a man is severly beaten and another is blinded, and the body of a woman is disected on stage. Both Kane and Bond claim that the use of violence on stage is vital for the message they want to get across. Harold Pinter, however, seems to deliver the same message by referring to violence without actually displaying it on stage. By looking at the authors' reasons for staging violence, questioning the effect on the play's audience and the plausability and necessity of the violent acts on stage, it can be said that the portrayal of physical violence on stage is a hallmark of shallow melodrama, gratuitously pandering to the sensationalism of the audience.
While the brutal quest for vengeance drives Kyd's play, justice is ultimately its main thematic concern: what is it, who has the right to administer it, and is any sacrifice too great for its final attainment? (Hunter, 217) Central to these questions is the pair of hangings that occur in the middle acts of the play. Poisenings and stabbings happen throughout the piece but hanging was revloutionary. Hanging, decapitation, and burning at the stake was forbidden to be shown in a play. The reason for this is simple: the use of the official methods of execution as part of an entertainment would rob those methods of their value as deterrent to crime. (Shapiro, 100) The same argument is made today over the desensitization to violence caused by television. The Spanish Tragedy is unique in its onstage use of hanging as a device of murder.
Through the reading several connections were made, by way of examples, of how Shakespeare used violence to add to the mood or idea he wanted to bring to his audience. In reviewing Shakespeare’s work, are we can find that at one time or another the use of warfare, murder, suicide, rape, mutilation, and or canabolism were all used as a main ideas. The trouble is that while we can only speculate the reasons from the use of this violence, we will never know the full purpose Shakespeare had in mind when writing. There are, however, several conclusions to be pondered. One ideas is that Shakespeare was simply writing to fit the attitudes of his time. People of his time thought of woman and the poor as less than, so Shakespeare wrote them as such. He could take the idea of stereotypical behaviors, and play them to extreme measures. Another conclusion is that he would use violence as a form of empowerment of the weak, against the strong, in the way of political violence and intolerance.