The Argument in the Play Titus Andronicus - Essay Example

The Argument in the Play Titus Andronicus Titus Andronicus Has Been Referred to as a Spectacle of Brutal Excess. How Do These Performances Contain Any Form of Love, and How Is it Manifested? Titus Andronicusis a tragedy thought and believed to be written between 1588 and 1593. It is Shakespeare’s bloodiest, violent and graphical for of poetry. So much so that is arguably the least favorable form of art among his readers. Titus Andronicus, however, is thought to emblaze the grave conditions of the 17th century society. It is a play with a record 14 killings. There is one live burial, 9 killings on stage, 6 injured people, 1 rape, 1 case of mental illness as well as an act of cannibalism. Critics say that this play is more morbid than any other, and is in itself a morbid case. The play opens with Titus Andronicus, who is a roman general having returned from a ten year long battle. He arrives with four of the twenty five sons he went with. One of the Titus achievements during the battle is capturing Tamora, her three sons and Aaron the Moor. Shortly after his return and in pursuit of Roman cultures, he sacrifices Tamora’s eldest son to his own dead sons. This is much to the chagrin of the queen who plots with his lover, Aaron shortly after being made an empress in the latest emperor Saturnius, to frame Titus sons for the murder of Bassanius. Consequently, Titus’s sons are beheaded. As if this is not enough, Tamora goes ahead and urges her sons, Chiron along with Demetrius to rape Lavinia, Titus daughter. Lavinia’s rape is more of a criminal act in that her tongue and hands were cut off so that she could not tell about it by either speaking or writing. His very last surviving son Lucius is exiled from the Rome and liaises with the Goths to attack Rome. Unfortunately, each new misfortune has a new and profound effect and starts to behave oddly and everybody thinks that he is mad. However, his craziness is pretentious. Unaware of this, Titus tricks Tamora, confines her sons, kills her sons and serves them as pie to their unsuspecting mother in the last scene. Ironically, he also kills Tamora herself and Lavinia his daughter. After that, an epidemic of killing ensues and the only people left lively are Lucius, Young Lucius, Marcus and Aaron. Lucius engineers the act of burying the unrepentant Aaron alive. Tamora’s corpse is also frightened to the beasts as he turns out to be the new ruler of Rome. (Shakespeare 133). Titus shows no remorse in Mutius’ death and rather believes that Mutius has dishonored himself and the family. Mutius death turns out to be vain because as soon as Saturnius views Tamora, he now wants her to be his queen instead of Lavinia. This elevation now raises Tamora to a very good position of power where she can be able to manipulate and enact her revenge against Titus. So, how do these acts show any act of love or its manifestation? Perhaps the most dominant theme in Titus Andronicus is revenge and its inherent desire for more vendettas. The entire play from midway through Act I revolve around revenge. Essentially, I feel that the play sympathizes with those people to whom evil was extended and is still being extended in the current society. A critical look at the entire play illustrates that devoid of love, revenge, and the uncontrolled desire to avenge, can instigate a vicious circle of revenge and madness. It opens up our soul’s eyes and evokes our intrinsic humanity and sense of people as it shows explicitly what evils human beings are capable of doing to each other. Love, in Titus Andronicus, is seen to be synonymous with revenge. The reason why Tamora disguises herself as revenge is to try and right Titus’s heinous acts of sacrificing her sons to his dead sons. As a mother, and a captured queen, Tamora feels that this is a very grave act of humiliation which should be avenged. Although her incredibly initial speech explains her to be a very caring mother, Tamora is associated with barbarism. Thefollow-up to this is that the sons are killed after their raping Lavinia (Calderwood 71). Critics and feminists like to see her as an embodiment of a woman under and fighting a predominant male society. That is why she adapts to the ruthlessness which she later exhibits. Shakespeare brings up Lavinia as a meek good girl. The title “good girl” in Shakespeare’s 16th century Era symbolized chastity, silence and obedience. So much so that at the beginning of the play, Bassanius calls Lavinia “Rome’s ornament.” Instinctively, the readers mind is opened to how beautiful Lavinia is and also that she is viewed and valued as an object. Well, any father loves his daughter. At least all fathers do. This explains why Titus was offended after learning of his daughter being subjected to such an ordeal (Shakespeare 170). Lavinia in her own personage is seen to engineer some acts of revenge, although unknowingly. She rejects Saturnius offer to make her his empress because she is in love with Bassanius. It should be remembered that Lavinia is engaged to Bassanius. He therefore steals her away when Saturnius wants to make her his empress creating another set of deaths in the play. Aaron is Tamora’s Moorish lover. Being among four of Shakespeare’s black creations before Othello, Aaron passes out as the most substantial of them all. He is involved in almost all the evil acts that happen and cannot be classified as moral. However, his protectiveness of his own child depicts an exciting difference in parenthood of Titus and Tamora. Aaron, despite his evil acts to others, can be seen go manifest his love upon his child. The contrast in the way he treats other people and his own child present an interesting case of parental love in an evil society. In this play, unlike his other plays, Shakespeare invokes more questions regarding honor and valor and their extents. The above analysis therefore shows the heinous acts committed under the guise of love. To the reader, the question of what passes to be right in protecting love and honor is incessant. It is also clear that these acts can be viewed as absence of love for humanity. For example, Titus sacrificing Tamora’s son to his own sons is quizzical to the modern reader. A thin line between carrying out religious duties and the love for humanity seems to exist (Calderwood 56). Even so, the mutilations are the mentions of tongues and hands can be seen to metaphorically show a love that never was. For instance, one will sometimes need a tongue to proclaim of their love and hands to demonstrate of it. Figuratively, the absence of love can be seen in the mutilations and rituals that happen in the tragic play. Shakespeare may have been creating a platform to show the tragic consequences in a society devoid of love. This is seen in that almost all characters die in gruesome conditions and the only ones who survive do so out of scheming and devious ways. Works cited Calderwood, James. Shakespearean Metadrama: The Argument in the Play Titus Andronicus. Oxford University Press, London. 1971. Print. Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus (an adaptation). Harvard Press, London. 1999. Print. Read More