Children That Pay for Family Duty in Hamlet and Titus Andronicus
External Forces Explored in Hamlet and Titus Andronicus
Children often become casualties when they find themselves pulled into two different directions when it comes to family. Often faced with the responsibility of upholding honor in the name of family, they face challenging conflicts that hurt them. Two plays demonstrating this contradiction are Hamlet and Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare. The perils associated with following one's duty to family can be deadly. Both of these plays illustrate how children "pay" for family duty.
In Hamlet, Hamlet's duty is to defend Denmark is interrupted by an incessant ghost. After grieving his father's death, the ghost tells Hamlet to seek retribution on his father's "foul and most unnatural murder" (Shakespeare Hamlet I.v.1). This conflict trumps any duty from this moment forward, becoming a proverbial albatross around Hamlet's neck. The ghost and his command are enough to push Hamlet over the edge, causing him to vacillate between responsibility and madness. His inability to kill Claudius coupled with ghostly visits only drive him deeper into madness. Resolution is achieved but any duty Hamlet may have felt at the beginning of the play is long gone.
In Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare approaches family duty from another perspective, with the children serving as human sacrifices. Titus, corrupted by power, sacrifices Alarbus with no regard to how Tamora's feelings. He gives his virgin daughter...
When we look at Titus, we see someone for which we cannot sympathize because his devotion to Rome is bordering on zealous. This is not to mention that Rome is, at the time, a corrupt power. The most interesting fact regarding these three plays their protagonists is the fact that Shakespeare does not do anything or allow anything to occur that would make us want to sympathize with Titus. Shakespeare
This final dinner scene and the ensuing bloodbath wrings ever last possible ounce of gory drama out of the script; the talking ceases for a time while the camera observes the members of the dinner party all enjoying the pies that contain the blood and bones (and possibly the meat, although this isn't made explicit in either the script or the film) of Tamora's two sons. This makes the
We actually feel that we are there, one of the spectators, experiencing the story along with Procne and Philomela. Titus lacks these specificities and cultural details. Similarities, however, may be found in other elements. The imagery in both narratives is rich. Both Ovid and Shakespeare have a penchant for enlivening the passages with verbal imagery, particularly in the forms of simile and metaphor. Tamora's praise of the forest alludes to
Introduction William Shakespeare and Robert Burns are both iconic figures in the UK. Also known as the Bard of Avon, Shakespeare is often regarded as England’s national poet. Shakespeare is also considered the world’s greatest English writer and dramatist. During his time, Shakespeare authored tens of plays, over a hundred sonnets, and several narrative poems and verses (Marche, 2012). Shakespeare’s work has been translated into virtually all major languages of the
She's gone forever! / I know when one is dead, and when one lives; / She's dead as earth." (King Lear V.iii.256-260) Titus Andronicus is the central figure and tragic hero of the homonymous play by William Shakespeare. He is a General of Rome and father to Lavinia and Lucius. He is a brave solider of Rome who has spent the last ten years of his life fighting Rome's enemies.
) "Sonnet 130" by Shakespeare and "Sonnet 23" by Louis Labe both talk about love, as so many sonnets do. Their respective techniques however, differentiate them from each other. Shakespeare uses a rhyme scheme that became known as Shakespearean rhyme scheme or English rhyme. He writes about love in a sarcastic manner though. He is mocking the traditional love poems and the usual expressive manner in which women are often compared
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now