Touchstone's Merriment

Welcome to this Bardolist's glimpse to our multi-layered universe.

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Thought on Titus

After reading through Titus Andronicus and watching the presentation in class I couldn't help but to draw from it what I've come to understand about Roman History. Being presently enrolled in Dr. Cherry's History of Rome, the one clear fact that Rome had immensely difficult times in controlling bloodshed with regards to their government. A quick review of Late Republican Rome (prior to the rise of Augustus) and post Claudius Rome are clear examples of this violence. Now, there does exist an interesting paradox here. Often held up as one of the bastions of the civilized world, how could such repugnent and horrendous violence be so wide spread. Using Frye's examination of the different natures of the early modern world, could Shakespeare, in fact being using Titus to explore this idea? Are we in constant freefall from the grace that we once enjoyed with our gods? Does the mythologic idea of fall from grace captivate the Bard's mind? Or is this simply a very Dark comedy about Roman follies?

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