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English 333 Brin Murray 9/23/15 First Paper Titus Andronicus Titus Andronicus is a play rich with metaphor and parallels. No doubt, this revenge tragedy is about the play's namesake, Titus. However, the argument can be made that Titus's daughter, Lavinia, The final scene opens up with Lucius and Marcus, along with the Goths arriving at Titus's home for the banquet. With them, they bring Aaron and his child to expose Aaron's relationship with Tamora. Then Saturninus and Tamora arrive, having agreed to a peaceful meeting with Lucius. Titus, in a show of dark humor, steps out to serve the meal dressed a chef. As they begin to eat the meal, Titus brings up the topic of Virginius, a reference to Chaucer's "The Physician's Tale." In which, Virginius …show more content…
murders his daughter to, supposedly, protect her honor. Titus asks Saturninus whether or not he feels Virginius was right in murdering his daughter, to which Saturninus says Virginius was, because "the girl should not survive her shame," (5.3.41). Titus then kills Lavinia, much to the surprise of everyone there. Lavinia's death is perhaps the most shocking for the audience. Unlike the other deaths, though still an act of revenge, Lavinia's seems to be the most premeditated and controlled, not a murder done in the heat of the moment. From Lavina's first scene, to the last, she is unable to make a single choice regarding her life. Everything is determined for her by the men around her. In the very first act, her father shows no care in giving her away to Saturninus, despite her engagement to Bassianus. In the later quarrel between the two, Lavinia doesn't say a word. Despite the accusations slung by Saturninus and his saying, "Thou and thy faction shall repent this rape," (1.1.407). Though, in this instance, by "rape" Saturninus means "seize," it could be argued that even before her tongue is cut out in the woods, she has already been silenced and raped by the pride and possessiveness the men of Rome seem to encompass. Titus is very much a man of pride. He often acts on instinct, without thought. Everything he does seems to out a sense of pride. Especially his murder of Lavinia in the final scene. "And with thy shame thy father's sorrow die!" (5.3.47) shows how little Titus cares his daughter. The fact she's been so disgustingly wronged bears little consequence to him in comparison of how he's been wronged by act. By taking her life in such an unceremonious manner, Titus rids Lavinia of the option to even choose how she dies. Lavinia, herself, is a metaphor for Rome--she's even described as "Rome's royal mistress," (1.1.244).
Right from the beginning, parallels are drawn between Lavinia and Rome. The play opens up with two brother, Bassianus and Saturninus, fighting for Rome, just as the rape begins with two brothers, Demetrius and Chiron, fighting for Lavinia. There's a contrast between how Rome is described and how Lavinia is described in each respective scene. Bassianus personifies Rome, talking about Rome as if it were a woman with honor; "And suffer not dishonor to approach / The imperial seat, to virtue consecrate," (1.1.13-14). Whereas, while Aaron is laying out the plan for Demetrius and Chiron to rape Lavinia, he dehumanizes her, describing her as if she were a city to be pillaged; "And revel in Lavinia's treasury," (2.3.131). The connection between Lavinia and Rome strengthens, as Saturninus and Bassianus go from arguing about who should get Rome, to who should get Lavinia. Just as Rome is given to Saturninus, Titus tries to give Lavinia to Saturninus as well. After all of quick succession of deaths in Act 5 Scene 3, Marcus remarks, "O, let me teach you how to knit again / This scattered corn into one mutual sheaf / These broken limbs again into one body," (5.3.70-72). Very often in this play, Rome is referred to as if it were a human missing limbs. A big, reoccurring theme throughout the story. Titus' s sons are beheaded, Titus himself loses a hand, and, of course, Lavinia's tongue and hands. Titus's decision to make Saturninus king leaves Rome with an ill-fitting head, disfigured as Lavinia will soon
become. Despite all that's happened, it seems as if the play returns to the beginning at the end of the final scene. Lucius takes place as the new head of Rome, and his first act is to order Aaron to be buried and starved until he die and to not allow Tamora a proper funeral. This leaves the ending ambiguous as to whether or not Lucius will truly lead Rome into a better state. Titus Andronicus started with
Shakespeare's first tragedy has been a topic of discussion since the day it was written. Titus Andronicus "was staged on 24 January 1594 by the Earl of Sussex's Men at the Rose Theatre" (Welsh 1). Though this tidbit of information seems somewhat irrelevant to Titus, we must note that there are certain standards and practices established by a play from its first performance. It is also important to establish the general attributes that audiences attribute to Shakespearean performance.
There are only two female characters in the entire play Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare. These two women, Tamora and Lavinia, seem to be complete opposites. Tamora appears to give up her femininity in the name of revenge and power, while Lavinia’s femininity and value as a woman is taken from her. Tamora has power outside of men, but Lavinia only has power when men aid her. The play portrays Tamora as a sensual strong being, whereas Lavinia encompasses the more traditional virtuous, passive role that a woman would be expected to take. By creating this dichotomy between the two women, the play is able to explore female sexuality and power.
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.
In the play, Oedipus the King, blindness is used metaphorically and physically to characterize several personas , and the images of clarity and vision are used as symbols for knowledge and insight. Enlightenment and darkness are used in much the same manner, to demonstrate the darkness of ignorance, and the irony of vision without sight.
The movie is based on the play Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare, which is also the original source. There are a few differences between the play and movie adaptation and one of the most obvious is the added character of the young boy. Taymor also adds some newer technology as she incorporates cars, guns, and modern costuming into the movie. These did not exist during the time it was written by Shakespeare around 1593, with the first performance being in early 1594. (Shakespeare in quarto)
...f his honor. When Titus allows Aaron to cut off his hand, he is letting Aaron take away his honor. By the end of the play, Titus has nothing to show of the honor he once killed for.
Shakespeare's sources for the play are quite clear. He makes it no secret that the rape of Lavinia is analogous to the rape of Philomela in Ovid's Metamorphosis. In this tale, The daughter of the King of Athens, Procne, marries the King of Thrace, Tereus, and the two of them have a son, Itys. After a number of years, Procne desperately wishes to see her sister, Philomela, and sends Tereus back to Athens to bring her to Thrace. When Tereus sees Philomela, he becomes obsessed with her and carries her into the forest, rapes her and cuts out her tongue to prevent her from telling anyone. Upon returning to Thrace, he informs his wife that Philomela is dead. In the meantime, Philomela weaves her story into a cloth and sends it to Procne. Procne becomes so enraged by this knowledge that she and Philomela plot and kill Itys, cook his flesh and serve it to Tereus. He discovers their ploy and tries to kill them, but Philomela is changed into a nightingale, Procne a swallow and Tereus a hoopoe (Bullough, vi. 48-58).
Oedipus Rex”, by Socrates, is a play that shows the fault of men and the ultimate power of the gods. Throughout the play, the main character, Oedipus, continually failed to recognize the fault in human condition, and these failures let to his ultimate demise. Oedipus failed to realize that he, himself was the true answer to the riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus ignored the truth told to him by the oracles and the drunk at the party, also. These attempts to get around his fate which was determined by the gods was his biggest mistake. Oedipus was filled with hubris and this angered the gods. He believed he was more that a man. These beliefs cause him to ignore the limits he had in being a man. Oedipus needed to look at Teiresias as his window to his future.
It led to her being raped, her tongue and hand being cut by the sons of Tamora while Aaron influence them to be more evil than they can be, making them think of worse than death. Likewise, he even manipulate Titus Andronicus to do actions for his own amusement than let him know the truth after all his action. The two sons of Marcus were captured by the emperor Saturnitus, Aaron came as a messenger for the emperor saying “Titus Andronicus… Let Marcus Lucius or Thyself chop off your hand…Will send thee hither both thy sons alive” (51). However, Titus did not know that Aaron naturally was a villain person so as a result he let Aaron cut his hand. On the other hand, Titus thought that villain were so as the Moor considering this “Look by and by to have thy sons with thee…Their heads I mean...”
“Lysistrata” is a tale which is centered around an Athenian woman named Lysistrata and her comrades who have taken control of the Acropolis in Athens. Lysistrata explains to the old men how the women have seized the Acropolis to keep men from using the money to make war and to keep dishonest officials from stealing the money. The opening scene of “Lysistrata” enacts the stereotypical and traditional characterization of women in Greece and also distances Lysistrata from this overused expression, housewife character. The audience is met with a woman, Lysistrata, who is furious with the other women from her country because they have not come to discuss war with her. The basic premise of the play is, Lysistrata coming up with a plan to put an end to the Peloponnesian War which is currently being fought by the men. After rounding up the women, she encourages them to withhold sex until the men agree to stop fighting. The women are difficult to convince, although eventually they agree to the plan. Lysistrata also tells the women if they are beaten, they may give in, since sex which results from violence will not please the men. Finally, all the women join Lysistrata in taking an oath to withhold sex from their mates. As a result of the women refraining from pleasing their husbands until they stop fighting the war, the play revolves around a battle of the sexes. The battle between the women and men is the literal conflict of the play. The war being fought between the men is a figurative used to lure the reader to the actual conflict of the play which is the battle between men and women.
Laertes is greatly influenced by revenge for his actions especially when he is seeking revenge for his sister. He shows his brotherly love for Ophelia when he says “For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favor,/Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood,/A violet in the youth of primy nature,/Forward, not permanent, sweet, not
Marcus and Lucius argue that they should be the one to sacrifice their hands, but while Titus sends them off he gets Aaron to cut off his hand hence the quote "Lend me thy hand, and I will give you mine.” (Shakespeare 53). The message turns out to be a trick. After Titus loses his hand he receives the severed heads of his two sons Quintus and Martius. Titus is now devastated and completely overwhelmed from what he has seen. Aaron is now considered to be an evil genius and Titus is left handless and
Act two of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar begins the detailed planning of Caesar’s assassination, which follows soon after in the third act. One particular passage of interest during this act is found in scene one. This particular passage deals with the conspirator’s justification of their motives for wanting to kill Caesar, as well as the fine-tuning of their machination. As is consistent throughout Julius Caesar, Shakespeare’s verse here differs much from his usual, flowery, beautifully poetic, and complicated verse that can be found in plays as Macbeth. The verse in Caesar is simple. This change in Shakespeare’s style has been attributed to his desire to imitate Roman society in this work, as to give the audience or the reader some context through which to receive the play, and to accurately portray his Roman characters.
The second part of the play consists mainly on “the increasing political and military unrest […] the growing isolation of Brutus, the swift ascent and yet almost programmed decline of Antony against […] Octavius, the climatic battles […] and the final submission of Brutus”.
Oedipus and Tiresias, characters of Sophocles' play "Oedipus Tyrannus," are propelled to their individual destinies by their peculiar relationships with truth. Paranoid and quick to anger Oedipus, is markedly different from the confident and self-assured Tiresias. In the dialogue between the two men, Oedipus rapidly progresses from praise of Tiresias as a champion and protector of Thebes in line 304, to blatantly accusing the blind prophet of betraying the city in line 331, to angrily insulting him in line 334. Rather than be intimidated by the protagonist's title and temperament, Tiresias draws strength from what he knows is true and is able to stand his ground.