Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare - Essay Example

?Close Reading Assignment –Shakespeare Scene Analysis Titus Andronicus by Shakespeare Selection  4) 5 98-151 from Titus Andronicus Indeed, I was their tutor to instruct them...Sirs, stop his mouth, and let him speak no more”). Shakespeare has used the characters and the set up in this scene to bring his main themes. His use of colour black and the role he gives to the character Aaron gives the readers another change to explore the Moors in England history. Blackness was the colour closely associated with decay, death, moral evil and Moors in theatres. The same role has been stereotyped and assumed by Aaron in the scene. He bares the typical characteristics of the Moor from England of being vicious, lecherous and cunning. The set up of the play also guides the audience to realise another theme being conveyed by Shakespeare. His distasteful utilization of graphic violence, the choice of costumes and the timing used in the scene depict the Roma Empire during its latter days. The inclusion of the Roman lifestyle and set up to serve as costumes to the characters who had earlier been introduced as to be from England brings out the association of England with Rome and its lifestyle. The aforementioned quote is from a scene that takes the audience back to the 16th century when the exploitation of the Moors took place in England. The events, especially when Aaron presents his son for forgiveness and the way he is treated as well as the judgment he receives after Lucius learns of his misdeeds in the past, paints the real picture of what used to happen to African people in Elizabethan England. Moreover, the structural and thematic patterns invented in this scene enunciate the Roman idea, which appears repeatedly in the dramas unfolding in this play. The discourse of military and manhood heroism is evident as the play is dominated by rhetoric and dominant values (Shakespeare 204). The scene takes place in a set up to represent plains near Rome, where Lucius enters with an army of Goths equipped with colours and drums. It is before the Roman Empire that Aaron and Lucius together with the Goths engage in an exchange of words shifting blames and judging each other of their holiness before the gods. Aaron is at some point given a leader to go up and meet the gods, who supposedly could help save his child. Lucius serves as the lord and the Goths as the princes to the rest of the characters in the play and to Aaron in this particular scene. Aaron is not happy about the reception and judgment he receives thus engages the lord and the princes in a heated argument forcing Lucius to order Goths to silence him.  Aaron had brought his son before the gods to be saved so that the child is bearded from him and handed to the empress. It is when he is accused of his heinous deeds by the Goths and Lucius that he says these words to defend himself. His reaction to the birth of the son introduced for the first time the issue of his race. His actions defend his son by defending the colour, which he had, since the start of the play, led him to be ostracized. The side he takes in this incident enables the viewer to get a better sense of Aaron as the main victim of society that is biased about race.  His wish to salvage the life of a child provides a clear insight as to the reason why Aaron is set on an evil path.  His spontaneous attachment to his newly born son, his only bond with the world, shows just how unallied and alone he was throughout the play.   The scene gives Aaron the opportunity to expose his evil deeds through his uninterrupted long speeches, which revealed the absence of scruples, blasphemy, and lack of regret about everything that he did. Even after explaining every detail of the atrocity he had committed, he goes ahead to add insult on the injury already committed by explaining how much satisfaction he finds in the suffering of those he victimized. His violent acts are closely matched with the veracity of his own wrongdoing appetite. This fragment from the scene inspires horror to the audience as it effectively erases all the sympathy the audience might have developed for Aaron as being a paternal figure (Shakespeare 204). Race discrimination was common during Elizabeth reign in England. Shakespeare introduces the subject in this scene confronting Elizabeth with the dramatic figure of Aaron. His characterization of Aaron can be viewed as a striking departure away from the black inferiority that had been earlier established. The rhetorical devices applied in the scene indicate to some extent Shakespeare’s revenge and despise to the white race. The periphrasis and exclamatio of Aaron’s speeches reflect vengeance for discriminating and belittling behavior of Lucius and the Goths. The scene features themes of madness and realistic deception of violence onstage. At a first glance, the play offers the view of Romans as a civilized society in contrast to Goths and Moors that are barbarous in nature. In the very first act, readers were presented with Romans that think nothing of human sacrifice and filicide. Similarly, association of black man with hypersexuality during Elizabethan period was common stereotypical view of the negro race. Shakespeare’s depiction of Aaron as Tamora’s lover, clearly demonstrates this idiosyncrasy. It is the Aaron, that accepts twenty kisses from Tamora for his evil deeds (Shakespeare 204) Titus Andronicus is characterized by revenge tragedies in the genres as grim considering the cynical statements uttered by Lucius and Aaron on the spiritual and moral chaos of the situation before them; this brings out the real picture of society characterized by moral decay and disintegration. Both characters have their evil sides, which they try very hard to disguise themselves from. Lucius passes harsh judgment against Aaron in what can be termed as revenge.  He was paying back for the sins Aaron had committed earlier of murdering Bassianus, raping Lavina, and undertaking parenthood of the child. Shakespeare used his characters to show how violence was so extreme in the play. There are a number of gruesome deaths carried out for the sake of spectacle with additional cases of cannibalism and rape. This is evidence in Aaron confessions and the way the lord decides torture him a form of punishment. Such violence was characteristics of the Moors in England who engaged themselves in violent acts such as rape, murder and cannibalism in order to service. Aaron takes after the Moor in the scene. Lucius and Aaron scrutinize the masculinity embodiment in exclusive and absolute terms. The words used by the two characters reveal the masculinity being the cardinal virtue for barbarian regression and imperial ascendancy.  The events in the scene show the binary demarcation between the Roman Empire and other empires with reference to antithesis, civilization, and barbarism. This is seen in the way the lord and the Goths handle Aaron’s case passing judgment with regard to his actions and not what he had asked them to do. The gods were the healers and offered a source of forgiveness, thus every member of the society had to go before them when seeking forgiveness.   In relation to the speech, the entire scene was characterized by the real exploitation of the Romanness and Rome’s epistemological framework. Rome had emerged as the main protagonist in terms of civil order witnessed earlier in England.  The use of the Roman set up was crucial as through the play was linked with pervasive and intangible set of metaphors, images and rhetorical devices which demonstrated Shakespeare’s interest and message. Association of Romans with crypto-Elizabethan public suggested the idealization of violent behaviour as the means of securing political power. Shakespeare’s placement of England and Rome in tandem remained suggestive in the scene preceding the Aaron’s confessional speech. As Lucius gathers an army of Goths and Roman supporters, it is precisely through the violence that the justice was ought to be persuaded. Shakespeare’s use of classical text in the play based on knowledge of Roman customs and symbolism presents several examples of symbolic allegory. For instance, the segment makes the use of words as weapons and tools in the play. From the dialogue taking place in the scene, Aaron is seen to be a possessive, protective and short tempered man.  The essence is that knowledge and words of the play spin and constitute strength as they allow the characters in the play to communicate and relate thereby attacking each in their deceitful world.  Lucius as the lord is seen as being judgmental and tempered from the way he reacts to Aaron. The Goths on their side are loyal and stick to anything they are instructed to by the lord. The first Goth says in the scene “What says our general” while at some point all the Goths react in unison saying “[...]he saith, so...we all with him” (Shakespeare 200). Similarly, other examples of symbolic allegory in the scene included colours, a leader, drums, diamonds, and stones. The ladder was a symbol used to mark the action of going up to address the god that is separating the earth and the heavens. The colours and diamonds indicate the beauty, holiness, especially accentuating how different the empire was from the rest of the places in the play. Drums used by the Goths indicate the role of the servants before the Lords. The drums and colours served as costumes worn by the Goths as they served as servants as well as entertainers to the lords. Nonverbal sounds were barely used in the scene with most of the messages conveyed through words.  The speeches in the scene were monologues in nature rather than side conversations or soliloquies, as Shakespeare makes the use of direct lines in the dialogue among characters. The characters address each other directly as they receive direct responses. However, most of the dialogues in the scene were to some extent eavesdropping, as all the characters take equal chances in responding to any allegations directed to them. There are no observers as each character was directly involved in the issue at the scene thus contributing equally to the conversation. The conversations between Aaron and Lucius were directed at one another but it gets to a sided conversation when the lord refers to the Goths, which either respond to the wishes or continue to remain silent.  Moreover, the scene is not free from disguise as all along the Goths and the lord were not aware of the evil deeds carried out by Aaron who disguises himself as a pure person until he had to confess his misdeeds for the safety of his son. Lucius is in some way is also considered to disguise himself in his role as the lord as he engages in the evil acts against Aaron. The Moor confronts this dark side of Lucius and insists that they will both go to hell if that’s the place meant for devils.   The role played by Lucuis as the lord as he judges Aaron while trying to restore order in the scene can be qualified as be similar to the role played by Elizabeth in England. He emerges as the Rome redeemer just as the way Elizabeth did in England. He was not that holy yet he was given the position of the lord. Elizabeth on her side had her evil side as she discriminated her subject on race basis. She also introduced Christianity in England and remained as the goddess of justice. Lucius tries to bring justice in Rome with his role as the redeemer. With the use of plot set up and the role played by the characters in this scene, Shakespeare manages to bring out the themes of exploitation of Moors in the history of England and the association of Rome and its way of life with England. The role given to Aaron represents the part played by the Moors in England full of evil. Just as their fate was in history, Shakespeare decides that Aaron should face a similar fate. Lucius Empire and governance is comparable to that of Elizabeth in England. They are both charged with the responsibility of ensuring justice prevails yet they both act in ways to suggest that they are not just themselves. Work Cited Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005. Print Read More