Tamora And Lavinia And Women In Titus Andronicus

Agency is a term describing one's ability to reason and to act freely. Back in the time of the Trojan War, women were not considered to possess full agency as Aristotle once illustrated in his Politics “The deliberative part of the soul is entirely missing from a slave, a woman has it but it lacks authority.” In Book 3 of the Iliad, Homer illustrated the enticement of Aphrodite luring Helen to the bed of Paris and Helen’s corresponding resistance. From Helen’s dispute with Aphrodite, we can see that women in the Homeric world attempted to achieve agency through defying their fate of being materialized as mere sex partners, but eventually all the attempts were conquered under the mental compulsion from gods.

It is this over dedication to Rome and his lacking of the lacking of the feminine, which also causes Titus to turn a cold heart to Tamora's pleas. "Victorious Titus, rue the tears I shed, a mother's tears in passion for her son; and if thy sons were ever dearer to thee O, think my son to be as dear to me!" (Shakespeare, I.i, 106-108) However, Titus' devotion to Roman customs and inability to identify with a mother's pleas, that her "son is mark'd and die he must, t'appease their groaning shadows that are gone" (Shakespeare, I.i, 125-126.) His lack of femininity and desire that Roman tradition be followed allows him no sympathy for this upset mother and as result will suffer later in the play.

The basis of Shakespeare’s plays appears to focus mainly around the dominant male character and his conflicts, which tend to deal with a woman. There are only three women in the play Othello; Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca. The way in which these women behave and present themselves strongly reflects the ideological expectations of women within Shakespeare’s imagined Venetian society as well as the Elizabethan society in which he lived. This patriarchal Venetian society presented in the play depicts women as possessions of men who should remain submissive and meek at all times. The women are expected to unselfishly and unreservedly devote their lives to serve their fathers until they are of age to do so, their husbands. All three women love

A central theme of Titus Andronicus is the unyielding cycle of revenge. Tamora’s monologue is rich of

In the play “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare, women play an important role. The women are important factors in foreshadowing and in the development of many of the characters. To look at the role of women in the play we must look deeper in to the roles of the only two women in the play; Calpurnia, wife of Caesar, and Portia, wife of Brutus. Both of these women are key in foreshadowing the murder of Caesar. After Caesar’s murder we do not hear much of either of them.

In the play ‘Othello’ written by William Shakespeare, we see not only the main male character leads. But we also see the female characters, Desdemona, Emilia, and Bianca. These three women were portrayed in ways that showed them being inferior to the other male roles as well as society during the Elizabethan Era. But Shakespeare made each of these individual ladies characteristics quite unique to one another having the traits of a feminist. Even though in the play we read how the male characters did somewhat control them and made them look weak compared to them, there were moments where Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca stood up for themselves.

Tacitus as a main example writes about Agrippina the Younger in his “Annals” in such a way that it portrays to us a powerfully negative image of a power thirsty mother figure. Tacitus himself was a Roman historian and senator who disliked the Julio-Claudian dynasty, mostly its women because of the individuality and power they held. Tacitus holds Agrippina the younger responsible for the falling of the dynasty due to Nero’s character. He believes her influence was a negative one, she was only after power for herself and went about getting it by exploiting her son and entering into false marriages. “In public, Agrippina was austere and often arrogant. Her private life was chaste-unless power was to be gained. Her passion to acquire money was unbounded. She wanted it as a stepping stone to supremacy” (Tacitus, 7.5-7, Annals) It must be taken into account the criticism towards Agrippina the Younger is most possibly due to his own morals and opinions. In that time of Roman history women did not have many rights under law and were viewed as inferior so Tacitus may be sexist when writing these accounts of Agrippina. She was a powerful woman who posed threats to many people. Tacitus also was born in AD 55 meaning that he was only an infant when Agrippina the younger died, these accounts are not eye witness they are recreated and therefore are not completely reliable.

Looking at physical disabilities, there is the loss of Lavinia’s hands and tongue. Before her incident she is evidently vibrant and full of life. There is one scene where the emperor, who just said he was going to marry lavinia, hits on Tamora and even tells Lavinia that Tamora is more beautiful and she makes a snide

Throughout this time, they were meant to be loyal to their husbands, and could not speak up and defend themselves. This expectations are illustrated at many points in the story. For instance, when there were suitors waiting at Odysseus’ palace to marry Penelope, she waited for Telemachus to make them leave. She went downstairs to tell the bard to sing a different song, and Telemachus said “Mother, why begrudge our singer/…?/ .../ You should go back upstairs and take care of your work,/ Spinning and weaving.../ Speaking is for men,” (1.366-378). These words show many stereotypes women were tied to, such as not being able to fight for themselves, and not being able to do whatever the. Another representation of the lack of power of the females was exposed in the underworld. While odysseus was talking with the spirits, he had the opportunity to talk with Agamemnon, who has had been assassinated by his wife. Agamemnon explains “As I lay dying with a sword on my chest,/...my wife, turned her back on me,/...Nothing/ Is more grim or more shameless than a woman/ Who sets her mind on such an speakable act/ As killing her own husband” (11.341-346). She was insulted because she did not want to have any type of relationship with her husband, and this shows how tied they were to the idea of loyalty. She was not being shamed because she killed a person, since many men in the story killed sons and daughters and fathers

In Shakespeare’s Othello, the role of women is greatly emphasized. The important characters of the play, Othello, Iago, and Cassio, each have a women that stands behind him. These women each have an obligation to remain loyal and respect their husband's wishes, especially Desdemona and Emilia.

All the persons Shakespeare depicts in Titus are two dimensional, either good or bad. The dividing line falls between those who support Titus, the tragic warrior hero, and those on the side of Tamora, the evil Queen-empress. The former are noble and selfless, demonstrating roman pietas, while the latter are ignoble and selfish. In Jack E. Reese's essay, The Formalization of Horror in Titus Andronicus, he makes the point that Tamora and her sons' allegorical dressing-up as "Revenge, Murder, and Rapine can be viewed as a symbol of the characterization of the entire work" (Horror 79). In this scene, they are as they are, the symbol is exactly the same as the person. The only two characters who might be said to escape the dichotomy are Titus and Aaron the Moor. In Rome, Titus "sacrifices" both his son and his daughter, says Miola, "on the alter of his own personal honor" (Family 67). It is fair to say that personal honor is his concern in killing his offspring, for Mutius represents shameful filial disobedience (or mutiny) and Lavinia represents his inability to protect her and is a reminder of a shameful act done not only to her, but to her whole Andronici family too. It

During the time period of the early Roman Empire, and through the early times of Octavian, it is important to note the roles that each sex played. Unlike current western culture, men and women were not equal. Each sex was thought of differently, with women being less than men. According to Severy, the Romans thought of the Roman women as “weakness, instability, and irrationality” (Severy 23). These viewpoints of women lead to women being treated in way that was subservient to men. According to Severy, in contrast, the Romans thought of men as “strength, integrity, and self-control” (Severy 23). This thought process lead to men being in positions of power and control and ultimately the decision makers. This was so much the case that women had to have a male guardian to go out with them during major purchases to verify that was what was supposed to be bought at points (Severy 23). This thought process bled into the

In a cast of over 30 characters, there are only two women. This is a statement describing the world renown play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare. These two female characters are Calpurnia, the wife of Julius Ceasar, and Portia, the wife of Marcus Brutus. Other than these two women, the cast is composed entirely of male characters. In a work of literature so populated by men, one may ask why Shakespeare takes the time to include any women at all. However, after further reflection, it is clear to see the reason as to why they are included. Upon including Calpurnia and Portia in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare deepens our understanding of their husbands, highlights the social values of the time, and

Women, especially Desdemona but Emilia as well, are obviously targets of male violence in Othello. For some reason Shakespeare’s play often put the emphasis on the role of the female characters and their influence on the main male characters. For instance, the result of the passionate love of Romeo for Juliet, the effect of Ophelia’s insanity had on hamlet, and so on. In Othello, Shakespeare made Desdemona and the other women in the play no different; Othello’s jalousie and love made the play a tragedy. Shakespeare made Desdemona the faithful wife of Othello. She was such a kindhearted and wished to make everything work even when the situation where she lost her handkerchief she tried to fix the situation and calming Othello. However, her innocent sympathy towards Cassio made lago’s lies more credible. Overall, one can say that her naïve nature causes her to become a target for the men in the play.

There are only three female characters in William Shakespeare's play Othello, Desdemona, Othello’s wife, Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s lady-in-waiting, and Bianca, a courtesan. When first introduced to this limited number of representatives of the female gender, it is quickly assumed that they will not be very present or have an important role in story. In addition, the male characters of the play see women as submissive and promiscuous possessions that should be controlled by either their fathers or spouses. However Shakespeare’s female characters are shown to question male authority and to have the ability to speak for themselves, which could be seen as feminist statement during the Elizabethan time that Shakespeare lived in.