Some may say that ‘Titus Andronicus is too violent to be taught at schools’. Today I will present, to you my audience, my arguments for why the statement above is incorrect.
Through out the years, Titus Andronicus has been one Shakespeare’s least respected work for its use of violence and its shallow meaning of revenge. On top of this, PG-safe parents refuse this great piece of literature to be taught for the same reason it is seen as one of Shakespeare’s most disdain pieces work. Its excessive use of gore. For many reasons, as I will explain later on, this statement is wrong. There are many elements that make Titus Andronicus a great piece of work, using its violence to attract audiences, by exploring the idea of change and being one of Shakespeare’s first tragedy.
Though this may be true, but this play helps us understand how the Elizabethan audience reacted and what their idea of entertainment was. This was a time when public executions and hangings were seen as family entertainment, this clearly why Titus Andronicus was written to have as much gore as possible. It was what the country considered entertainment, it was what the people considered entertainment, it was what Shakespeare’s audience considered entertainment and it was what they wanted. Apart from the gore, the Elizabethan audience also got, some what, of an interest in tragedies as displayed with some of Shakespeare’s more respected piece Othello, Julius Caesar and King Lear.
With all of this hatred towards Titus Andronicus, we have to acknowledge that this was Shakespeare’s first tragedy. It wasn’t going to be perfect first time around but it was a great start which led to write other great tragedy’s such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth. These, are without a doubt, some of Shakespeare’s most recognisable pieces of work. Therefore it would be a disgrace, a scandal and an injustice to say that we are not allowed to learn about the beginning of one of Shakespeare’s most respectful genre, the tragedies, because it is a weak piece of literature or it is to violent. This would be like saying we shouldn’t learn about about the Great War just because the Second WW used more fascinating weapons. It’s complete lunacy.
Titus also explored many fascinating ideas, the main one being revenge, but another important part of Titus Andronicus is the way it explores change in people and how different scenarios change people. With all of this some people still believe it is a story of utterly unnecessary violence and gore. This may be true at first glance but with second inspection the violence is only used to propel the story and the real point of the play/story is to show how great people and villainous characters change as they are faced with many different scenarios. The two most visible during the story are from Titus and Aaron. On Titus’ part we see a great warrior turn into a weak man with mental disability and Aaron, a devious man who manages to change his ways to try and save his only child. Through a great use of language we see all of the characters have some kind of change, which clearly shows that Titus Andronicus isn’t that weak of a play.
As a nation we have a duty to challenge such mentality and demonstrate that that Titus isn’t just a story of gore, violence and rape but instead a great tale of revenge, change and betrayal.
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