Female and Male Honor Playing Key Roles in Shakespeare - Essay Example

Female and Male Honor Playing Key Roles in Shakespeare of Your Shakespeare’s literature has a way of reaching out to the people and these two books; The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Titus Andronicus are no exception. The flow and the character role play are amazing and flaw less, the best for literature students who need to explore the literature world (Howell et al, 2012). If at any time should we judge the position of women in the society, this paper will offer anyone with these patterns based on Shakespeare’s comedies which came during the renaissance period. Initially, playwrights were business people who were keen on pleasing their audiences rather than annoying them. The strategies of active behaviour are basically four—verbal activity (being a shrew), clever manipulation (may be disguised as sweetness and obedience), open defiance (including elopements) and disguise (especially a specific type of disguise, cross-dressing). Tamora in Titus Andronicus is an exclusively important character as highlighted by Shakespeare and this paper will bring out the aspects which make her an important character in this book. On the other hand, Valentine presents himself as a stronger man who ends up convincing the Duke of Milan that he is best suited to marry Silvia. This paper will also discuss the themes brought on board by Shakespeare in the two books. It’s paramount to relate all this classical information and critically analyze it from all angles. Surprisingly, Shakespeare’s school of thought can still be referred to even after all those years and this makes his legacy to be revered even more. INTRODUCTION Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (whose exact date of composition is unknown) is portrayed as a fearless, sober and a diligent man who is a think tank. In his move where he offers Silvia to Proteus (Julia’s Lover) as a sign of friendship to a person who had vowed to rape her if she doesn’t affirm him as his lover is seen as a risky and fearless move which has been always under heavy criticism from the literature fanatics(Howell et al, 2012). “That man that hath a tongue, I say is no man, if with his tongue he cannot win a woman.” William Shakespeare. Tamora in Titus Andronicus plays a vital role in the theme establishment. Apparently according to Titus, she is the queen of the Goths and is responsible for the many deaths of his army. With this, she is exposed to psychological torture from Titus’ side where her elder son Alerbus, is killed allegedly for the avenging of the death of his own sons in the war. The Two Gentlemen of Verona Chastity and infidelity are lead topics in this book and Proteus is the lead character who cheats on his lover Julia for Valentine’s lover Silvia. Proteus propagates the theme of infidelity while Silvia who turns down Proteus offer for a hand in marriage brings out the theme of fidelity and chastity. This prompts Proteus to threaten her by bringing the suggestion of rape on board. “Ill force thee yield to my desire” William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona Valentine is honoured for his bravely to the borne role of protecting his love Silvia against harm from and leading the gang of the outlaws. It’s only a confident person who would attempt such a move (Howell et al, 2012). Outlaws are known to be dangerous people who are merciless killers. He is also known to be an excellent schemer and uses clever manipulation to reach Silvia. Titus Andronicus In this play which has received a huge global acclamation and still does up to date is a non-stop pot boiler which never disappoints. The number of killings has been categorically calculated by Reviewer Mike Gene Wallace where he gives an average of 5.2 atrocities per act or one for every 97 lines making the play to be very engaging and interesting. Tamora is revered for her wits and brains which enable her achieve her target expectations. Titus after accusing her to be the queen of the Goths kills her eldest son with an aim of appeasing the souls of his dead sons who he blames Tamora. In return after being installed as the new empress by the new emperor Saturnius, she plans with Titus’ lover, Aaron, to frame his two sons for the death of Bassianus. Unsatisfied with the result, the drama queen orders her two sons to rape Titus’s daughter Lavina where they cut her tongue her hands and tongue to conceal the incidence (Howell et al, 2012). Titus who is now aging is subjected to a lot of pressure from Tamora’s side where he eventually fakes craziness and starts acting weird. Isn’t this clever manipulation? Tamora has been identified by Shakespeare as a capitalist who grabs the opportunity without a second thought when it comes her way. When Titus feigns madness, she thinks that she can take advantage of his current position by winning more favours and battles. However, Titus’s wrath is in the prowl. He captures her two sons, kills them and prepares a meat pie from their bodies which he serves to Tamora. This move becomes a game changer which brings in a new twist to Tamora’s main story. “Demetrius: Villain, what hast thou done? Aaron: That which thou canst not undo. Chiron: Thou hast undone our mother. Aaron: Villain, I have done thy mother.” ― William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus Tamora in this case is portrayed as an evil woman who like her name as the queen of Goths has ill intentions and is very insensitive. Despite her being a woman, no one expects her to order her sons to rape another woman like her. The reader expects and I expect Tamora to protect the fellow girl child because she is in a position to do so. This being the worst we can expect from a lady, looking upon Titus to be a good person is farfetched from the truth. THESIS In all of Shakespeare’s tragedies, it has been confirmed that revenge is the force behind the plot of Titus Andronicus. Tamora, the Empress is seeking revenge hardly sought against Titus for murdering her sons, Chiron and Demetrius. However, Tamora’s revenge moves seem to enrage Titus who fires in return after his patience hits the elasticity point. The two feel completely nothing towards the atrocities that they commit and this brings out revenge at its best. The killings of Chiron and Demetrius by Titus and the rape of Lavinia which was organized by Tamora brings the issue of sanity into question. From The Two Gentlemen of Verona, we get to learn that females are silenced and powerless in a masculine world. While behaving normally in an enclosed set up, they lack the audacity to speak their minds out and have no reason other than to remain silenced and submissive to the public and the patriarchal society. In this play whether behaving actively or passively, women are found out to be inferior to men and eventually end up submitting themselves to the structure of the patriarchal society. References Howell, J., Shakespeare, W., Sutton, S., Peacock, T., Atkins, E., & Hardwicke, E. (2012). Titus Andronicus (1592). (Shakespeare tragédies.) Paris: Ed. Montparnasse. Sutton, S., Taylor, D., Hudson, J., Butterworth, T., Pearce, J., Peake-Jones, T., Collings, D., Ambrose Video Publishing. (2000). The two gentlemen of Verona. New York: Ambrose Video Pub. Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Ed. David Bevington. 4th ed. NY: HarperCollins, 1992. 75-107. Read More