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The Symbolism And Motifs Of Titus Andronicus

1347 Words6 Pages

Duncan Riley
Prof. Martinson
THE 421
5/24/23
Corpus of tragedy: An analysis of the symbolism and motifs of Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus is a play populated almost exclusively by Oxymorons given flesh. Civilized generals murder their own kin, noble blooded princes brutalize and rape, and a sadistic, brutal, plotting goth is allowed one of the highest positions in the empire. The very notion resurfaces a very simple question, the question of why these characters seem to act in a manner unbecoming of their station in life. While never didactically stated in the play, the answer to this question is given through the visual motif of dismemberment and its relation to the philosophical concept of body politic. The concept of body politic refers …show more content…

By analyzing the play through this lens one is illuminated to the fact that these characters are not acting in contrast to their station out of some error in entropy; rather, they have been placed in stations unbecoming of their natures, causing the very fabric of Roman society to deteriorate as the play goes on, much like how a body would deteriorate with its limbs and organs disheveled. The premier example of this discongruent body politic throughout the play comes from its namesake, the titular Titus Andronicus. A respected and renowned general of the roman army, Titius is a model leader and a pious man at heart. We first meet Titus at the conclusion of a long and arduous campaign against the goths. Upon his return to Rome he is offered the seat of the emperor; however, due to his old age and hesitance to break tradition, he rejects the offer and instead supports Saturninus as a candidate. The elder son of the deceased emperor of Rome, Saturninus’ bid as emperor …show more content…

It almost reads as an adaptation of The belly and its members, one of Aesop’s fables about quarreling appendages and organs causing the destruction of the body as a whole. While Titus believed himself to be a simple hand of his empire, his refusal to take his proper position was the first domino in a long line of tragedy. Unlike The belly and its members: tragedy arises in Titus andronicus in response to displacement as opposed to absence. The loss of three hands, two heads, and three whole bodies are representative of the chaotic wrath of disorder within a body politic, an empire brought to its knees not through brute force; but rather, through its devouring of itself like a snake biting its own

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