The In-Depth Analysis of the Characters: Hamlet and Titus Andronicus - Book Report/Review Example

The In-depth Analysis of the Characters: Hamlet and Titus Andronicus The characters of Shakespeare’s plays especially those under the genre of tragedy, are often very mysterious and immune to pain and death. They are deeply affected by the loss of their beloved and find it extremely hard to make the situation right around them. They struggle with their inner self and try to find ways through which they can make peace with their surroundings and bring an end to the evil which has led them to this state in the first place. Hence, the tragedy is a two-fold genus; it is not only the physical loss which constitutes this genre but also the losses of rationale in which ordinary humans usually survive. For some heroes, their lives depend on the traditional values they were raised to rule a nation. The characters under discussion are Hamlet and Titus Andronicus. In order to fully understand and absorb the personality of each of these characters one needs to assess their speech and action they take during crucial moments in the play. Even after almost five centuries, Hamlet is one of the greatest plays of the 16th century with manifold meanings explored by the academia. Shakespeare’s Hamlet took the people of his time by surprise. The play is significantly appreciated for Hamlet’s soliloquies as well as the tragic overtones. Hamlet suffers from apprehension and resentment which he prefers to keep to himself. But he cannot internalize it any longer. His recently widowed mother married his uncle who murdered his father. He does not know if his mother is sentient of this coarse act. He does not even know if his father’s ghost is real. But the reader is convinced because Hamlet’s friends have also seen it. There is no way that his close friend Horatio could lie to him. Titus Andronicus was a tragic hero who fought to keep the tradition alive. But he drew enemies near him because of his unusual strength. Being the General of Rome, he has fulfilled his duty of fighting the enemies to win honor for his own nation. People love him for his staunch beliefs and piety. But the enemies seek revenge which he pursues till the end and dies in the same act. As opposed to Hamlet and owing to his position, he is an extrovert with the strength of a warrior. Shakespeare made this play one of the most murderous and action play amongst all his tragedies. Titus attracts enemies by performing sacrificial acts which end up into a bloody war of vengeance. He pretends to be mad to protect his interest for his country. In order to comprehend what each of these characters were undergoing in the process of transformation from the beginning of the plays till the end one needs to take a closer look at the lines these characters were given to speak by the playwright himself who reincarnated them through his imagination. Hamlet seems to be an honorable man who has been shaken by his father’s ghost and what he has heard him say. Hence, the reader sees him turn mad slowly and gradually because he does not have a clue about how to deal with his situation. He is a man of creativity so his plans work best when he is philosophizing or conducting a play to see the look on his uncle’s face. He held his uncle responsible for the demise of his father but he does not have any concrete proof to get him arrested. “He that plays the king shall be welcome- his Majesty shall have tribute of me; the adventurous knight shall use his foil and...”(Hamlet II.v.) When preparing for the play, Hamlet is most confident of his moves and knows what he doing. But once he is assured of his fear that his uncle was involved in his father’s murder, he loses all the courage and confidence. He questions his existence in the famous soliloquy “to be or not to be”. He wonders if remaining silent is the best thing to do in his situation: “To be, or not to be- that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune ... To die- to sleep. To sleep- perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub! For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause.” (Hamlet III.i) This speech nearly sums up the whole character of Hamlet if one really needs to act it out on stage to present his character to the present day audience. With Titus the situation is more complex. He is in constant danger of murder and revenge. He is a warrior who returns to his country with only four sons out of twenty-five. He has his price in the form of the Queen of Goths, Tamora as a captive of war along with her three sons from the moor named Aaron. By sacrificing her eldest son to his dead sons he attracts hatred from Tamora, who in turn swears to avenge him. Once Titus’s only surviving son Lucius is banished from Rome, Titus is left with no family. His daughter being raped and his other two sons beheaded, he starts acting mad which is a mere trick to get back at Tamora. In order to understand this complex role of Titus one should recap the following lines: “Peace, tender sapling; thou art made of tears, And tears will quickly melt thy life away....” (Titus Andronicus III.ii) Immediately after these lines he is hear saying in an outrage which confuses the audience “Out on thee, murderer! thou kill'st my heart; Mine eyes are cloy'd with view of tyranny..” (Titus Andronicus III.ii) What does one make out of these opposite gestures? At one instance he is in a consoling mode and at another he has lost his temper. He is so miserably in a tragic situation that it reveals to the audience his darker side in moments like these. Later in his feigned state of madness he not only kills Tamora’s sons but also his own daughter who is raped and left to survive without any senses so that she is unable to claim her innocence. “Come, come, Lavinia; look, thy foes are bound. Sirs, stop their mouths, let them not speak to me...” (Titus Andronicus V.ii) And he exaggerates his welcoming gesture to the Queen of Goths just when he is ready to complete his final sacrifice: “Welcome, my gracious lord; welcome, dread queen; Welcome, ye warlike Goths; welcome, Lucius...”(Titus Andronicus V.iii) In the most ruthful yet mad act, he reveals to the queen after the meal that she had just consumed her sons off “that pie” which lay on the table. The audience is easily disgusted by the scene. “Why, there they are both, baked in that pie; Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,...” (Titus Andronicus V.iii) The characters mentioned above have a lot more hidden in their persona than the lines quoted above. They have a history working behind them. With Hamlet there was more gentle madness attached but with Titus there was rage of madness connected to his tragic past and present. Titus had all the authority to take actions for the unjust acts happening around him but Hamlet was left with no choice but to wait for the right moment to witness his uncle guilty of the crime his ghost father revealed to him. An actor performing the role of these characters will have to experience a strong sense of failure and helplessness. Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Simon and Schuster , 2005. Print. Shakespeare, William. Titus Adronicus. Simon and Schuster , 2005. Print. Read More