The Relationship between Titus and His Only Daughter Lavinia in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus - Essay Example

Relationship between Titus and his only daughter Lavinia It has been said that there is a very thin line between love and hate. While a strong character may sometimes be misinterpreted, Titus shares a strong and mutual positive relationship with his daughter and loves her through all odds. Titus and his daughter share a positive mutual father-daughter relationship characterized by love. Titus loves her daughter and adores her. She considers her as the main reason for him fighting for Rome. When he comes back from the battle, he praises Rome for taking care of her daughter. This goes to show how much he loves her daughter. He is happy and declares his affection for her by daughter by wishing her a long life. In (I. i, 167) she adores her saying: “Lavinia, live, outlive thy father’s days”. It is evident that their relationship is his motivation to fight and come back from the battle after defending Rome so that her daughter can live old and happy in Rome. Titus metaphorically uses ‘Ornament of Rome’ to mean Lavinia. This correlation shows his love for his daughter and the importance of Lavinia in his life. The use of the metaphor also shows that he holds her in very high esteem and that is why he was willing to go to the battle for her. He views her daughter as a decorative and someone worthy in Rome to be fought for. He is willing to kill even his own son to rescue her daughter when she runs way with Bassianus. This is also demonstrated when he thanks Rome for sustaining her daughter associating her with Rome’s rightness and his justification for going into war to rescue Rome. He says, “Kind Rome that hast thus lovingly restored / The cordial of mine age to glad my heart. /Lavinia, live; outlive thy father’s days, / And fame’s eternal date, for virtue’s praise” (I.i.169-171). Lavinia reciprocates the love she receives from her father. She loves him and respects him for being a brave worrier. This shows that their love is mutual. Her love for his father makes her obey him in all ways and Titus believes that she would obey every decision he makes for her. This relationship, thus, can portray her as a submissive daughter who obeys her fathers in all ways. She regards him highly; this can be shown by her comprehension of her beauty which is molded on particularly what her father has told her. When Titus tells her that she is the richest ornament of Rome that is how she perceives herself because she is a girl who has not been exposed to the outer society other than to her father. Her obedience to Titus is demonstrates when she reiterates the benediction which Titus used: “In peace and honor live Lord Titus long” (160). She also values her father’s blessings and “O bless me here with thy victorious hand, / Whose fortunes Rome’s best citizens applaud” (166-67). By receiving her father’s blessings, she is bound to obey his father with her wishes and desires limited to those of her father. The repetition of the benediction which she repeats after her father shows the act of obedience and duty to her father. The repetition of the benediction also shows how much her world is shaped by Titus. Her respect and obedience to her father shows her love and submission to her father. Titus love for his daughter turns him into a controlling father who makes decisions for his daughter. This can be seen in another perspective as a controlling force on her life which limits her free will. Although Titus imposition on her daughter is meant to ensure her bright future and for her own good, and that is why he agrees to give her away for marriage to Saturnius. He accepts to marry her off to Saturnius as he saw it as the only way he would ensure that she Become the queen of Rome. This shows that although he has a strong character, Titus cared deeply about the future of his daughter and that is the reason why he chose for her to marry Saturnius as opposed to Bassianus who he calls a villain since he does not have wealth to take care of her daughter. Even though his actions are filled with pride, as a father, he cares about the future of his daughter and acts according to ensure that her daughter gets a prosperous future. Titus is very distressed by the fate that befell her daughter after she was mutilated by Tamora’s sons. His anguish could not allow him to live anymore seeing the suffering her daughter was going through as a result of his mistakes of sacrificing Tamora’s sons to the gods to appease them for the death of his own son. I think Titus killed her daughter Lavinia because he could not cope with her fate. To him, that was his greatest punishment. Her fate has come contrary to what he had wished for her when he said at the beginning of the play; "Lavinia, live; outlive thy father’s days" (1.1.167). Titus weeps when Marcus brings Lavinia to him and laments that that was the worst thing that could have happened to her; the destruction of her daughter. He says: "he that wounded her Hath hurt me more than had he killed me dead [...] This way to death my wretched sons are gone; Here stands my other son, a banished man, And here my brother, weeping at my woes. But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn Is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul" (3.1.92-103). His sorrow multiplied every time she saw how much her daughter was living in agony and prefers that she dies to save her from the pain she is going through. As he kills her, he tells her: "with thy shame, thy father’s sorrow die" (5.3.46) and "Die, die, Lavinia" (5.3.45) which is very contrary to what he had wished for her in the first act. Even if this was an act of murder, Titus did it to save her daughter from going through more hardships in life. Work cited William, Shakespeare. Titus Andronicus: The Pelican Shakespeare. Penguin Classics; Revised edition, ISBN 978-0140714913, Penguin group, January 1, 2000.   Read More