Violence In Julie Taymor's Titus Andronicus

William Shakespeare's play, Titus Andronicus, is a very convoluted play that could have easily failed to connect with its audience when first performed on stage. With poor props, setting and theatrical effects, Shakespeare’s major themes in the play could easily have been lost on the audience. Over four hundred years after it opened at The Globe Theatre, film director, Julie Taymor used techniques including time travel, costume choice and a mixture of ancient Roman and contemporary artifacts to emphasize and revamp the major ideas of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. 

To focus on violence, one of Shakespeare's major themes, Julie Taymor set her film in many different eras. In the opening of the film, Taymor places us in a little boy’s kitchen. He is yelling and violently playing on the kitchen table with his Roman army action figures

while squirting ketchup and destroying his dinner. The room begins to shake as if the little boy was in the midst of a war and eventually crawls under the kitchen table,  to hide from the noise, and begins to cry.  The window shatters and smoke races into the room. An old man, who appears to be a pilot, grabs the boy and runs out of the kitchen and into a parallel universe. Suddenly, the man and the little boy are transported to ancient Rome. It is interesting the way Taymor uses fantasy, particularly in the film’s opening moments, to concentrate her dramatization of violence. The characters, and the way they are transported across time, underscores her idea that the basic human instinct to be violent lives in all of us and has throughout time. In this scene which she added to Shakespeare’s original story, Taymor is foreshadowing the ridiculousness of the revenge-driven brutality to come later in her film. 

The use of costume choice is consequential in any film or play. Costumes allow the viewers to determine first impressions, characterization, mood during a particular scene and/or ideas regarding any individual in the story. As we are introduced to the little boy at the beginning of Taymor’s work, he is wearing a black shirt and a paper bag over his head with two holes cut out for him to see. The paper bag resembles a Roman helmet or face mask used in battle. The choice of a black shirt can represent the colour of death, sorrow and can also represent control; all themes in Shakespeare’s tale. Black is a very gloomy colour that can be worn to cover up feelings or fears. The combination of the two create a significant, foreshadowing ensemble.

There are many instances in the film where the men are clothed in leather, a suit and tie and pattern-like material. Taymor uses the different types of fabric to convey a particular idea or mood that may not have been illustrated during Shakespeare's play. The use of leather by Saturninus, Lucius and Tamora’s two sons symbolize the persona of a tough exterior, strength and power in a character. A suit and tie was worn by both Marcus and Aaron. When watching the film, I recognized that the suits were worn during profound and intellectual scenes. Perhaps, Taymor wanted the viewers to recognize when a scene is serious, as shown not only with dialogue but the way the characters are dressed. For example, during the scene when Lavinia was discovered by Marcus, he wears a nice suit and tie. The characters’ clothing added to the heavy atmosphere of the scene. Perhaps this is the reason Taymor demonstrated the use of the suit in this setting instead of disregarding costume choice as Shakespeare chose to do.

During the scene of Lavinia's capture and impending rape and mutilation, Chiron, one of Tamora’s sons, wears a tiger print jacket.

We know, in Titus Andronicus the tiger was used to symbolize predatory violence and revenge. Earlier in the play, Titus states: “That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers. Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey.” The use of this pattern in this scene was very clever as it had complimented Shakespeare’s idea of tigers. When discussing Lavinia’s multination and rape, we notice her appearance changes in both the play and the film. In the film, Taymor decides to dress Lavinia in a white, delicate undergarment that is now dirty, ripped and stained with blood. Perhaps this item of clothing was chosen to portray Lavinia’s  vulnerability. White is a very clean and pure colour easily stained by any other colour. In this scene, her hair is down, something we have not seen before. In contrast, in the play’s text during Marcus’s soliloquy he says, “Alas, a crimson river of warm blood, Like to a bubbling fountain stirr’d with wind, Doth rise and fall between thy rose lips,…But, sure, some Tereus hath deflowered

thee.”

Marcus does not mention any clothing in the text other than her blood and stained lips. Taymor, once again does an incredible job at ensuring that the full message is portrayed in this scene with the added visuals of Lavinia’s garments. The combination of the stained white clothing and the looseness of her hair both are evidence of her assault. 

In addition to time travel and costume choice, Taymor uses a setting mixture of ancient and modern day Rome in the film. Early in the text when Saturninus and his brother Bassianus enter the scene, it is ancient Rome while in the film the two brothers are both wearing contemporary outfits. They are either riding a motorcycle or a car and each holding a megaphone  speaker, campaigning to become elected emperor. The use of these modern-day items in an obsolete setting really emphasizes the significance of dominance and control in this scene that might not have been easily publicized in Shakespeare’s 16th Century production of Titus Andronicus. The public are walking on foot or on horse-back, while the two brothers are in motorized vehicles, demonstrating the power of the spoken word (another one of Shakespeare’s themes) with moderns megaphones.

In addition to the representation of various ideas, Taymor also uses modern-day items to develop  the story’s characters. For example, during the scene when we see the hideout in which Aaron and Tamora’s two sons live, we notice how the room is filled with arcade games and a pool table surrounded by empty cans of cola. These items are placed in their hideout to represent the childishness and filthy behaviour these characters possess in the play. 

In conclusion, Shakespeare’s themes in his text, Titus Andronicus, are not nearly as concentrated and obvious as the ones portrayed in the film version of Titus. Perhaps setting the play in one time frame, having the characters in only one period costume, and only having ancient objects could have somewhat diluted the play’s meaning. Tamor’s screenplay followed the text’s plot yet was able to capture the text’s broader themes and messages by amplifying Shakespeare’s message through visual settings and props, making the story significantly more powerful.