Titus Andronicus One of Shakespeares Lesser Plays - Essay Example

? The role of Aaron in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus Introduction Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare’s lesser well known plays and is also one of his most violent. In the process of the play 14 different people are killed, and in addition to mere killings are acts of rape, insanity, cannibalism and live burial. The play is thought to be Shakespeare’s first tragedy, and appears to be trying to mimic similar plays around the time period; as such it lacks some of the refinement of his later tragedies. It is filled with blood and gore, with the main theme of play being violence, murder and bloody revenge. The play focuses on Titus Andronicus, a roman general, and was set towards the end of the reign of the Roman Empire. Titus has returned to his home after many years of war to find that only four of his twenty-five sons are still alive. During the war Titus captured the Queen of the Goths, Tamora along with her three sons and Aaron who is a Moor. What ensues is a cycle of revenge between Titus and Tamora, as Titus earns the hatred of Tamora by sacrificing her eldest son to his dead sons in accordance to Roman ritual. Though Tamora pleads with Titus for her son’s life as one parent to another, he refuses to listen. Aaron’s position in the play may traditionally be considered a minor one. He is a Moor, a black man in a time and location where white men predominated. He is Tamora’s secret lover and acts as an antagonist in many of the events that unfold, plotting with her to exact revenge on Titus through whatever means and methods are available to them. While Aaron’s lines throughout the play are comparatively few with respect to the other characters in the play, indeed he has no lines in Act I despite being onstage the entire time, he is fascinating due to his extreme villainous nature. Aaron is a villain, a particularly cruel and plotting villain that gives no reason for why he enjoys these violent acts. An unrepentant villain A major part of his role takes place in Act II. Here he the creator of the action, taking Tamora’s dreams of revenge and providing a way for these to see light, spurring other characters into action and plotting all the while. It is he who suggests that Tamora’s sons, Demetrius and Chrion rape Titus’s daughter Lavinia, proposing that they lead her somewhere secluded and sate their desire with her. Furthermore, he speaks of the plan with excitement, saying “Which, cunningly effected, will beget: A very excellent piece of villainy” (Act II, Scene 3, 8-9). He follows through with forging a letter that frames Titus’s sons for the task. However, it is not just in Act II that Aaron plays a major part. Despite his relatively few lines, all of the murders throughout the first three acts are masterminded by him. While he gives the reason for his actions that he is helping Tamora to seek revenge, it is clear through his dialogue that violence is simply something he enjoys, and he has no regrets towards what he does. He says himself that there was no crime in Titus that he was no involved in. In Act V, as he faces death for his crimes, he does not relent on what he has done, nor show any regret. Instead he proclaims: “Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things As willingly as one would kill a fly, And nothing grieves me heartily indeed But that I cannot do ten thousand more” (Act V, Scene 1, 145--148). This produces a very clear image of Aaron as an unrepentant villain, despite the apparent purposelessness of his actions. A foreigner who breaks stereotypes Aaron plays an interesting role within the play for more than just his villainous nature. He is a Moor, and this introduces a racial dynamic into the play. Stereotypically, Moors are considered to be driven sexually, having little control of their sexual desires and letting these drive their actions. This isn’t the case with Aaron. He is very controlled of any sexual nature. He is schooled, which again goes against the stereotype of the Moor. Aaron can write in Latin, as well as knowing Goth literature better than the Goths themselves do. He is a resourceful character, manipulating gold and friendships to forward his own desires, able to manipulate all those around him. Around the time that Titus Andronicus was written there was a fascination with the differences between the races of people that were present. The incorporation of the Moor Aaron in this play reflects this. In Aaron, Shakespeare has created a character that both breaks and keeps stereotypes. As examined in the previous section Aaron is an evil character that is villainous for the sake of it, with no apparent driving reason. This fits many stereotypes of Moors of the day. However, his intelligence and non-sexual nature calls into question the stereotype, making him a very interesting and thought provoking character. A foil for Titus Aaron is interesting in that he serves, not as a mirror for a major character but as a foil. He acts to counterpoint much of the patriarchic nature in Titus. Titus enters the play as a hero, a strong leader, who has come back to his homeland, to his country and to his children. However, as a hero and a leader, he quickly loses respect through murdering one of his own sons. While Aaron is clearly a villain, instigating and driving most of the violence within the play, he is not the main killer. This role belongs fully to Titus. Titus kills a total of six people through the course of the play, two of which are his own children. His care and concern for his own family is only apparent after the rape of his daughter, and shows a cold-hearted nature towards both his own family and the Goths that he has captured. For example, he shows no fatherly concern for his own daughter, instead offering her to the new Emperor for marriage, despite the fact that his daughter is already engaged, and happily so. By contrast, Aaron, the villain of the pair, kills only a single individual and does so in order to save the life of his own newly born son. Aaron shows the faults in the persona of the protagonist Titus, highlighting Titus’s uncaring nature towards his own family and willingness to kill those who get in his way. In addition, Aaron shows the ability to act as a mentor, and an influence to younger men. It is at his suggestion and advice that Tamora’s sons rape Titus’s daughter, and he is proud of himself for giving the advice. Fatherly nature Aaron is developed as a character to be despised. He is a Moor, a foreigner in the land and his hue is associated with evil, with sexual desire and with stupidity. However, Aaron embodies only one of these traits. As such he is a character that challenges audience perception. Not only this, but he provides interest as the audience tries to work out what the reasons for his actions are. He appears to have no driving desire beyond his love for hurting others, although he professes to desire to help Tamora obtain revenge for the death of her son. The character of Aaron appears to be fully developed by Act IV of the play. He has spent the prior three acts driving chaos and violence, pushing others to acts of violence and murder. He has no virtues and no redeeming qualities. However, the birth of his son changes this. Tamora gives birth to a half-blood son who is of royal blood because of her royalty, as a result of the union between her and Aaron. Towards his son, Aaron shows a surprisingly strong fatherly nature. He commits his only direct murder in the play towards the nursemaid of the child, and steals him away, to keep him out of reach of those that would harm him. Not only is this surprising behavior for the Moor that cares for no one, but it stands in harsh contrast to the actions of Titus, whose only concern for his family comes too little too late, caring about his daughter only after she has been raped and mutilated. Furthermore, the concern that Titus does show for his family is in the terms of revenge and killing, while Aaron, villain though he may be acts to save the life of his son. A lasting legacy Though he is a villain, the legacy that Aaron leaves behind him is far stronger than that Titus leaves behind. Aaron is buried alive, cursing the Andronici family. His actions to save his son have left hope for his own family and linage, his son will be safe, and though he is half-Moor, the child has royal blood. Aaron, the villain, showed the true nature of a father, using violence to save his child, and sacrifice to protect him. This speaks very strongly of the patriarchal Roman system that is based on honor, that system Titus followed, and it resulted in death and violence, a disregard for his own children, and a focus first on honor, then on revenge. The actions of an outsider and a villain, Aaron the Moor, show that this system within the Roman culture was hollow and empty, bringing little good. Conclusion Aaron is clearly presented as a villain; his nature is towards disorder and chaos, orchestrating killings and violence wherever he is involved. However, he is a fascinating character. He provides an interesting study, reflecting on the fascination of the time with foreigners, and playing on the assumptions and prejudice surrounding Moors. He is the orchestrating figure of much of the violence within the play, helping Tamora to obtain her revenge while pushing Titus towards enacting revenge of his own. He acts a foil for Titus, contrasting the so-called heroic nature of the protagonist with Aaron’s own, much stronger, instinct to preserve his family. In addition, despite Titus’s initial introduction as the hero, through Aaron’s actions, Titus directly commits six of the play’s murders, two of which were of his own sons. Aaron speaks of the political situation both within the play and the time in which it was written, cursing the Andronici lineage, and predicting the son, and his son, will be no better than Titus, and that nothing will change within Rome even as leaders come and go. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. Ed. Craig, W.J.. London: Oxford University Press, 1914. Read More