Titus Andronicus Essays

Titus Andronicus

I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble -Augustus Caesar (63 BC - 14 AD)

In his essay, Titus Andronicus and the Mythos of Shakespeare's Rome, Robert Miola uncovers and explores the myths Shakespeare uses as bedrock for the...

Titus Andronicus

Charles Forker argues that Marcus Andronicus, upon discovering the maimed, raped and mutilated Lavinia, "erects a barrier of fanciful language between himself and the object of his contemplation." It is an interesting question: does Marcus create...

Titus Andronicus

"The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil"

-Cicero-

There are villainous characters throughout the history of literature that capture our utmost fears of hatred, vengeance, and psychotic behavior. The complexity of the...

Titus Andronicus

Often instead of the gallant, chivalrous hero, it is the deceptive, wicked villain that leaves a lasting imprint on the audience. The subversive and incorrigibly horrendous actions of the villains in Shakespeare’s Othello and Titus Andronicus,...

11th Grade

Titus Andronicus

One dominant idea that is recurrent throughout Titus Andronicusis the symbolism of the ‘body of Rome’, which acts as a metaphorical parallel to the events of the text. This motif follows the changing statuses of the characters and power structures...

College

Titus Andronicus

While certain of William Shakespeare’s plays have so ingrained themselves into popular culture as to be ubiquitous, others are rarely performed or read and are, in fact, largely ignored. Shakespeare’s Othello, one of the former, and Titus...

College

Titus Andronicus

Shakespeare's first tragedy, Titus Andronicus, sets the foundation for most of his future works. According to the scholar Danielle A. St. Hilaire, throughout the whole play, Shakespeare uses quotes from Greek and Latin works of literature both to...

College

Titus Andronicus

T.S. Eliot once said that Titus Andronicus "is one of the stupidest and most uninspired plays ever written, a play in which it is incredible that Shakespeare had any hand at all." This was an amusing choice of words on Eliot’s part, as one of the...

College

Titus Andronicus

In his tragedy Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare successfully engages his audience in a variety of emotions. Although these emotions are often negative, they still provide a cathartic release for the reader. Catharsis is defined as “a sudden emotional...