Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - Titus Andronicus

Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

16 reviews

in_memoriam_bonnie's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m not entirely sure how to feel about this. On the one hand, the way Shakespeare writes Black characters (particularly Aaron) plays into a lot of awful stereotypes. It moves far too fast for the gratuitous violence to have any real impact on a reader, but I’m sure that part is much more powerful as a performance. On the other hand however, this play contains one of my favorite comebacks in any piece of media ever. Act 4 scene 2 lines 75-76 in the edition I read. The language is witty and sharp. This definitely isn’t my least favorite Shakespeare play, but it’s also far from my favorite.

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buzzcutduck's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely deranged but honestly a slay.

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lifeasabookbutterfly's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

so deranged???? so insane but might be up there in my top 3 Shakespeare plays???

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_christinahood's review against another edition

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dark funny sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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mtmarriott's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Classically not considered the best Shakespeare play but it does feature perhaps the first “yo mamma” joke in history so there’s that. I’d love to try and stage this one day.

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kingcrookback's review against another edition

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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.

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readingwithalex02's review against another edition

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dark medium-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

4.5

This might be my favourite Shakespeare play I’ve read/watched so far (shout out to the Globe theatre production). It felt like something out of Game of Thrones; so dark and tragic and violent. One of his most underrated plays I think

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