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Essay On Gender Roles In Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus

251 Words2 Pages
Similar to Hamlet, Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is very male-dominated with only two prominent women: Tamora and Lavinia. These two leading ladies are complete opposites in this play, however Shakespeare structures them both to meet society’s destructive patriarchal roles. Tamora, the object of male desire and Lavinia a strong woman victimized by a male-controlled society. Lavinia and Tamora’s conflicting traits are demonstrated in Act II, Scene III when Tamora’s sons prepare to sexually assault Lavinia and Tamora refuses to acknowledge Lavinia’s pleas for her feminine compassion. Lavinia curses at Tamora, “No grace, no womanhood? Ah, beastly creature,/the blot and enemy of our general name.” In order to assimilate to the masculine system
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