Titus Andronicus Act 1 Scene 1 Notes
Steph Jackson | Monday September 28, 2009
Categories: Courses, GCSE, AQA GCSE, AQA GCSE English A, Drama, Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Plays, Writing, Drama Analysis
Titus’s Character
- This is sometimes seen as a revenge tragedy – why do you think this would be important, given what was going on in society at the time? Why might Elizabethans want to see violence at the theatre?
- Research the myth of Procne and Philomela on which parts of this play are based
- ‘Hail’ – think of the formality and power this implies (general)
- Focuses on deaths of sons – self-centred at times, personally affected by war
- Talks about himself in 3rd person – ‘Titus’, ‘Andronicus’, ‘defender’ – as if to distance himself from tragedy – also analyse use of ‘defender’ (bear in mind that at the time Shakespeare wrote this (early 1590s) Elizabeth I was queen and she was the daughter of Henry VIII, who was called the ‘defender of the faith’ when he made himself head of the Church of England and destroyed the monasteries)
- Focuses on victory a little but more on sorrow/tragedy, as if to gain sympathy of the people and because of his self-importance – he is focused on revenge and personal retribution
- Look at his reference to ‘King Priam’ – why is it important?
- Look at his religious language, like ‘rites’ and ‘sacred’, and his use of mythological language, like ‘Styx’ (a river in the Underworld). Why does he use it?
- Why does he use a rhetorical question in his first speech?
- Why does...
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