by Orlin Damyanov,
EN 120 course with Prof. Lurie,
The American University of Paris
In this part of the play, we encounter the intense inner struggle of Titus
Andronicus and the extent to which his hardship and anguish have affected
his perception and behavior. The need for revenge has reached an extreme
level, very close to madness, expressed by his ever-changing mood and inadequate
way of reasoning. Shakespeare further develops the character of Titus,
adding new features, achieving a remarkable evolution that presents us
with an interesting personality and mentality.
The reactions of Titus are a consequence of this gradual formation of the
character. From the very beginning Titus kills one of his sons unscrupulously
(I.i.292) and even if we assert that the state stands before his family,
his behavior in this case is unjustified by the hasty and thoughtless manner
in which he stabs Mitius. This particular scene is indicative of the whimsical
and unsteady nature of Andronicus. This notion is enhanced by the following
actions in the play and we realize that his reason is easily obscured by
rage and prejudice. It is logical that after the heinous act done with
his daughter, he is no longer capable of accepting the loss and humiliation,
and his decisions become more and more unreasonable and inconsistent. The
"black Moor" manages easily to take advantage of the created
situation and weakness of Titus, to cut his hand off. Having in mind the
scene when he sees the messenger with the two heads of his innocent sons
and his own hand (III.i.234) revenge will inevitably become the driving
force in Titus' actions from now on.
The motivation of Andronicus' conduct after Marcus kills the fly is understandable
because of the suffering and pain that have put revenge as a major priority
in his mind. Just before this episode, Titus is still more distressed by
the mentioning of the word "hands" by Marcus (III.ii.22). Titus
is irritated by this remark and this is one of the reasons for his being
so easily enkindled when Marcus answers his question:
"What thou strike at, Marcus, with thy knife?
At that I have killed, my lord--a fly." (III.ii.53-54)
Titus reacts to Marcus' answer with an outburst of fury. He has seen so
many people die in front of his eyes is now deeply upset by the death of
fly. This as I mentioned before has its reasons. Too many disasters have
stroke him for a short term of time and Titus has fallen in a serious mental
conflict. He has been strictly following the Roman set of values and virtues
throughout his life even if this meant for him personal sacrifice or was
against his interest. The reward for this utter obedience to the state
and Rome has caused him self-destruction and incessant misfortunes on his
family. For example, one of his first words when he sees the raped and
maimed figure of his daughter, and consequently understands that her husband
was killed, he immediately refers to the law as the only tool for establishing
order and justice:
"If they did kill thy husband, then be joyful,
Because the law hath ta'en revenge on them." (III.i.116-117)
The execution of his two sons and the lost of his right hand has proved
that the law and the ones who stay behind the law actually bring injustice
and crime instead of justice. This finally leads him to the increasing
need to change his value system which naturally is associated with a turbulent
and shocking contradiction with what he had believed and followed his whole
life. This, on the other hand, leads him to this utter confusion and frustration,
insofar as he is still under an immense shock, and is unable to recuperate
from it quickly. Unable to control himself, he calls his brother a murderer
(III.ii.54) for killing a fly. Murderer is attributed to those who kill
a person unlawfully and on purpose. Titus accuses his brother on the terms
that there is "a deed of death on the innocent" (III.ii.56).
He views this act as analogous to his terrible situation. At this moment,
Andronicus does not take into consideration that the victim is only a fly
and the perpetrator is his own brother but he isolates the words of Marcus,
ignoring the circumstances and concluding that if somebody has killed he
is therefore a murderer. His woolly mind abruptly derives the conclusion
from a false argument and from this we can judge how deeply he is affected
by the unexpected and accumulated sorrows. Shakespeare uses very powerful
words in the speech of Andronicus--murderer, kill, tyranny, death, innocent,
and puts them in a logical order so that, on the one hand the audience
can find the conclusion of Titus reasonable and on the other--to reveal
his inner perception. Before the eyes of Titus all these words have real
substance, and it seems that his entire life is now solely influenced by
them and, at the same time, completely dependent on them. This could be
one of the reasons why Andronicus uses such a strong language in a seemingly
trivial situation.
The reasonable protest of Marcus to his charge:
"Alas, my lord, I have but killed a fly" (III.ii.59)
does not make Titus reevaluate what he had said but makes him "strengthen"
his previous statements. Now he looks at the victim itself and not at the
act of killing. He involves himself in an expressive and figurative language
that, however, in its sense, sounds ridiculous in the mouth of an old man
with his experience of life. The words of Titus and the epithets he uses
make the image of the fly very much resemble that of Lavinia. He describes
the consequences of its death and we can clearly see that every line, every
word can be linked to the grief of Andronicus and to what happened to Lavinia.
"How, if that fly had a father and mother?
How would he hang his slender gilded wings,
And buzz lamenting doings in the air!" (III.ii.60-63)
Again we can observe the bitter analogy between the "slender gilded
wings" and the fact that Titus is deprived of one of his hands. This
striking difference in the two parallel structures draws the attention
of the audience on the missing hand of Andronicus and prepares it for the
next step in the dialogue when the fly is identified with the black Moor.
Titus is deprived of one of his hands and he is incapable of fully associating
himself with the lamenting of the father fly. He is a handicapped person
and the father fly has wings and can "buzz lamenting doings in the
air". Even when he takes the position of defending the fly, he indirectly
puts himself in a much worse situation.
Later on Andronicus refers to the fly itself as a "poor harmless fly"
(III.ii.63). This exactly corresponds to the image of Lavinia who was ravished
and handicapped without any specific reason. She does not deserve her disastrous
fate simply because she has not done anything, neither bad nor good as
a character in the play. The only reason for her living was to be used,
to serve with her beauty to the others. She was to satisfy her father's
pride and with her chastity be a desirable object for a marriage or finally
and unluckily to satisfy the lust of her aggressors. The purpose of hr
beautiful voice was also exclusively to please the ears of others with
its "heavenly harmony" (II.iv.48). Titus' description of the
fly falls into the same category:
"That with his pretty buzzing melody,
Came here to make us merry! And thou hast killed him." (III.ii.63-65)
We should observe that although the fly is related to Lavinia, she is not
killed as the fly which exhibits the fact that for Titus there is almost
no difference whether Lavinia is dead or alive but without any reason for
living. This argument is clearly displayed in the scene when Titus kills
her (V.iii.48).
The position of Andronicus dramatically changes after Marcus states:
"It was a black ill-flavored fly,
Like the Empress' Moor. Therefore I killed him". (III.ii.66-67)
It seems that the sole addition of black to the features of the fly makes
a significant difference in Titus' perception of the fly. The act of killing
is not without a foundation--the fly is killed because it resembles the
Empress' Moor. We have to note that, at this particular moment, the plan
for revenge has not clearly crystallized in the mind of Andronicus. He
knows revenge is inevitable but he does not know who is the direct author
of the heinous crime done on his daughter. He only knows that Tamora and
Aeron are the main cause for the tragedy in his family. This is why the
mentioning of the "Empress' Moor" is sufficient to enrage him.
The "deed of death done on the innocent" has now become a "charitable
deed". Andronicus switches so quickly from one position to another
because the desire for a revenge has acquired tremendous dimensions in
his mind. He knows that stabbing the fly with a knife would be no solution
but the emotions are overwhelming and irrepressible. Titus' state of mind
is in disequilibrium. Grief, sorrow and humiliation are unbearable and
the only way to partially reduce their destructive effect is revenge. There
is so much accumulated that there has to be a moment when the pressure
has to be released, otherwise the person goes insane. In the case of Andronicus,
only revenge and the feeling for justice and retribution is the only power
that keeps him, to certain extent, sane and alive. He realizes that revenge
is not only a way to exterminate the injustice but a question of survival.
He knows that his enemies are looking for every opportunity to destroy
him and his family. This is the reason why he says:
"as if it were the Moor,
Come hither purposely to poison me.
[He strikes at it.]
There's for thyself, and that's for Tamora." (III.ii.73-75)
One of the reason for Titus hasty and purely emotional reactions is mentioned
by Marcus himself:
"Grief has so wrought on him,
He takes false shadows for true substances." (III.ii.78-80)
He beholds the behavior of his brother as a mad reaction to his internal
torment but it is, in fact, a protective reaction against madness. This
where the human nature is much more powerful than the accepted norm of
bearing.
In the tragedy Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare reveals the typical Roman
norms, values and behavior in the face of his main character. The playwright,
however, attributes purely human qualities to Andronicus whose behavior
sometimes could be incomprehensible for a modern viewer but his remarkable
adherence to honesty and justice makes him a very positive and admirable
person. It is not important how he copes with his incessant troubles but
the fact that he is strong enough to survive and finally to triumph over
his foes. What keeps him firm and resistant in this internal and at the
same time real struggle with his enemies is the need for retribution. He
is the moral winner in Shakespeare's habitual combat between the good and
the evil. Although the conflict is dramatized to the maximum, often excessively,
the playwright has succeeded in creating an interesting and versatile character,
achieved through a continuous but uneven evolution in his behavior. This
unpredictable behavior adds to the uniqueness and value of the whole work.
The author has emphasized on the conduct of his characters and has paid
much less attention to their spiritual and mental side. We can judge for
those qualities from their behavior. This is what makes this particular
play of Shakespeare very close to the contemporary works--the emphasis
on action and the incorporation of violent and taboo themes that would
attract the interest of the viewers and eventually create a powerful impact
on their insight.
visitors since August 1996