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Title: Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare, Eugene M. Waith ISBN: 0-19-283610-2 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: April, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (24 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Manly tears and excessive violence: the first John Woo film?
Comment: On a superficial first reading, 'Titus Andronicus' is lesser Shakespeare - the language is generally simple and direct, with few convoluted similes and a lot of cliches. The plot, as with many contemporary plays, is so gruesome and bloody as to be comic - the hero, a Roman general, before the play has started has lost a wife and 21 sons; he kills another at their funeral, having dismembered and burnt the heroine's son as a 'sacrifice'; after her husband is murdered, his daughter is doubly raped and has her tongue and hands lopped off; Titus sacrifices his own hand to bail out two wrongfully accused sons - it is returned along with their heads. Et cetera. The play concludes with a grisly finale Peter Greenaway might have been proud of. The plot is basically a rehash of Kyd, Marlowe, Seneca and Ovid, although there are some striking stage effects.
Jonathan Bate in his exhaustive introduction almost convinces you of the play's greatness, as he discusses it theoretically, its sexual metaphors, obsessive misogyny, analysis of signs and reading etc. His introduction is exemplary and systematic - interpretation of content and staging; history of performance; origin and soures; textual history. Sometimes, as is often the case with Arden, the annotation is frustratingly pedantic, as you get caught in a web of previous editors' fetishistic analysing of punctuation and grammar. Mostly, though, it facilitates a smooth, enjoyable read.
Rating: 4
Summary: What were you thinking, William Shakespeare?
Comment: On a first reading of this macabre play all hints of Shakespeare's poetic genius are overwhelmed by rape, mutilation, and murder. This cannot be Shakespeare. And yet, despite fervent efforts by many scholars to prove otherwise, the evidence supports Shakespeare as author.
Although popular in the Elizabethan period, later generations dismissed Titus Andronicus as a practice play, a huge joke, a gristly theatrical feast, and a quease-inducing play. Contrastingly, the commentary in my Oxford Shakespeare edition argues that the revenge motif was a suitable topic for Shakespeare. The Elizabethan audience was acclimated to violence, including bear baiting as a sport, weekly public hangings, and an occasional witch execution. Revenge drama, like The Spanish Tragedy by Thomas Kyd, was immensely popular. Shakespeare knew his audience.
Did the young Shakespeare intend this play to be serious drama, or was it a brutal parody of Elizabethan revenge drama? There is little agreement among scholars.
In a re-reading of Titus Andronicus, I attempted to see beyond the gore and carnage for indications of Shakespeare's poetic style. Tamora's poetic plea - Sweet mercy is nobility's badge - offers advice that is ignored by all, including Tamora herself. The lengthy speech by Marcus upon encountering the mutilated Lavinia is poetic, although one questions the propriety of a dramatic speech while Lavinia is bleeding profusely. Also, Aaron's proud confession to Lucius is chilling drama.
Few characters seem fully developed. The close relatives of Titus Andronicus seem one-dimensional. Marcus Andronicus is the loyal brother, Lucius is the noble son, and Lavinia is the innocent daughter. Likewise, Tamora, the captured queen of the Goths, and her two sons, Chiron and Demetrius, seem almost caricatures of evil. They joyously plot rape and murder.
The revengeful Titus Andronicus offers some complexity, possibly foreshadowing Shakespeare's later creations like King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello. We see him as a heroic chieftain that is politically inept, a stoic parent that accepts the sacrifice of his many sons in battle, a distraught and nearly insane victim, and a cunning practitioner of revenge.
I was puzzled most by character of Aaron the Moor. Is he merely a villain? There is a spark of humanity in his concern for his young infant, but it sputters out and we see only implacable evil: But I have done a thousand dreadful things as willingly as one would kill a fly, and nothing grieves me heartily indeed, but that I cannot do ten thousand more.
Not surprisingly, Titus Andronicus is seldom performed. The Royal Shakespeare Company's recent production is their first since 1981. Interestingly, Titus is played David Bradley, an actor known to millions as the irascible caretaker Filch in the Harry Potter movies.
I highly recommend the Oxford Shakespeare edition. I give this edition four stars, largely for the extensive commentary and editing by Eugene M. Waith.
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent
Comment: Since this was Shakespeare's first tragedy - it's understandable how he could write something so utterly out of character for him. Everyone must find their own feet to stand on. I find that the college students I teach respond well to this particular piece. The violence, gore and blood keep our up-to-date students involved. They also seem to respond well to Aaron. They are amazed at the evilness and the twisted plot. I will continue to teach this in my classroom and think this version is just fine for the beginning Shakespeare student.
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Title: RICHARD III by William Shakespeare ISBN: 0671722840 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: Cymbeline (Oxford World's Classics) by William Shakespeare, Roger Warren ISBN: 0192833502 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: November, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Coriolanus (Pelican Shakespeare) by William Shakespeare, Jonathan Crewe ISBN: 0140714731 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 1999 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: MEASURE FOR MEASURE by William Shakespeare ISBN: 067172276X Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1997 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title:Titus ASIN: 6305962987 Publisher: Twentieth Century Fox Pub. Date: 15 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $22.48 |
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