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tamlin_draper's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Gore, Rape, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Xenophobia
amotoquinha's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicide, Xenophobia, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kingcrookback's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This isn't my first time reading Titus Andronicus, but somehow the level of violence was still a bit shocking. Between the violence and the racism, this is one of Shakespeare's most difficult plays, though it's very much in the vein of revenge tragedies of the time. There are also some very interesting and complex details to be found here. Unlike Shakespeare's other Roman plays, Titus's story is fictional, not historical, but it's fascinating to see how Shakespeare drew from the Renaissance humanist education that many boys would have received in England at the time. The myth of Philomela, as told by Ovid, exerts significant influence on the play and raises some intriguing questions about women's behavior in patriarchal societies (for example, how lateral aggression between women upholds a patriarchal value system that exerts control over women). The play also sets up juxtapositions between supposed opposites that actually turn out to exhibit significant similarities--Romans vs. Goths, legitimate vs. illegitimate behavior, etc.--which brings to light the instability of concepts such as normality, propriety, and morality as social constructs and thus arbitrary. The aggressive anti-Black racism around Aaron's whole character is...upsetting, to say the very least. And even though one can argue that his villainy is in service of directing attention to the inhumane treatment he's faced, the fact remains that his character affirms anti-Black sentiments within and without the play. There may be some merit to him, but Othello he is not.
Graphic: Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: War
Minor: Xenophobia
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