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Historical Criticism In Titus Andronicus

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Historical Feminism Criticism
Throughout Titus Andronicus we find two leading female characters, Tamora the Queen of the Goths turned Empress of Rome and Lavinia the victim of a rape symbolic of the current chaos the country is in. Through the use of a feminist along with a slight historical analysis, I will explore the importance of these character in relation to the story and to the lead character, Titus.
In Douglas E. Greens “Interpreting ‘Her Martyr’d Signs’: Gender And Tragedy in Titus Andronicus.” Green 's gender analysis of Titus Andronicus, which focus on the overshadowed female protagonist. Throughout the play characters, actions and spectacles seem to be absorbed into Titus’ character including Lavinia. He states that whenever the two of them share a scene Titus seems to steal the spotlight from her and consequently downplaying her misfortunes. The main purpose of the piece seems to be focusing on the relationship between the female characters in Titus Andronicus, Tamora and Lavinia, and the leading male character, Titus. By doing this he attempts to analyze their meaning and purpose within the play. His continual references to Tamora’s …show more content…

This shame that is felt comes from the social-political beliefs of the ancient Romans. According to Roman law what had been violated was primarily the right of the head of household (paterfamilias) to give or withhold his consent.The victim 's consent was usually not a factor in Roman rape cases, since raptus (Latin for "seized", from rapere "to seize". In Roman law the term covered many crimes of property, and women were considered property) could refer to a successful seduction as well as abduction or forced sex. So because what had happened to Lavinia occurred without his consent it can be interpreted as a crime against him instead of a crime against Lavinia. This furthers the idea that the events that involve female character only serve to strengthen the audience 's ties and help progress the actions of

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