How have extremes of emotion expressed in Titus Andronicus and selected WWI poetry been effectively created by the writers’ craft and performance of the drama text on stage, on screen and in the classroom?
Poems and Shakespeare are two sides of the same coin; both crafted to be performed vocally producing high amounts of emotion and conflict, in a multitude of ways. However the main aspect of both texts is that they can be interpreted differently due to that of the language used, as even with a definite ending the morals are relatively elusive. This factor impacts the audience in the way of giving a variety of emotion as every word line and syllable is interpreted differently by each person. This difference of emotional impact may be due to preferred style of thinking and knowledge of the language it is performed in however even to someone who cannot understand the language Shakespeare expresses emotion in the acting; this ultimately is the main difference between Shakespeare and poetry. There is no acting in poetry.
Shakespeare is most well-known for his plays. The supposed literature genius wrote 37 plays; in this essay I am going to talk about his first. In Titus Andronicus the main theme is revenge. Revenge is an act not an emotion however emotions are portrayed inside it such as hate, sadness, grief, sorrow etc. Characters in Titus Andronicus are the embodiment of emotion as various emotions are assigned to each character. However these emotions change due to the occurrence of conflict that resides in the play a great example of this would be the character that experiences the most extreme emotional distress, this would be Titus himself.
Having returned from the war with the Goths and the loss of his 21 sons, Titus returns from the war expressing, grief, sorrow and anger.
– “These are their brethren, whom you Goths beheld
Alive and dead, and for their brethren slain
Religiously they ask a sacrifice:
To this your son is mark’d, and die he must,” – Titus Andronicus Act 1, Scene 1
He expresses these emotions in the act of revenge; killing the eldest prince of the Goths, but announces it in front the population of Rome, more importantly he announces it in the face of the prince’s pleading mother, Queen Tamora. Titus is angry that his sons have been killed so he announces in front of Rome showing he contains a passionate but is sad as the line “Alive and dead, and for their brethren slain” is a depressing line that holds the word brethren which was repeated from the first line signifying that it is the subject of the matter. This repetition builds tension to the climax where Titus announces that the prince is to be killed. “Religiously they ask a sacrifice” is the most interesting metaphor of the verse as it describes family honour to be a religion, meaning that vengeance of death is supposedly justified by the cult of brethren, a brother for a brother. Hence the word sacrifice is used as people who are condemned to die for a religion are called sacrifices. Religion is an excuse for revenge.
Schadenfreude is the most apparent emotion at this instance in the play in the case of the audience. Shakespeare has written this scene to draw the audience’s interest into the world of the play through the death of Tamoras son Alarbus. Furthermore, Shakespeare causes this Schadenfreude to give the audience satisfaction as it is very arguable that everyone likes to take pleasure in others misfortune and if this gives the audience a positive emotion (enjoyment) Shakespeare produces a success in his works as plays were made to be enjoyed by others. Not to mention that whenever death is the subject of Schadenfreude the feeling is amplified as death is possibly one of the most extreme cases possible in life and for changes characters and sometimes the very nature of people.
In the poem “Dulce et decorum est” by Wilfred Owen similar styles of writing to that of Shakespeare are apparent, such as the syllable scheme which is in the form of a sonnet, ten syllables per line. This differs from Shakespeare’s Iambic pentameter in the way that the iambic pentameter has 5 stressed beats which is a stressed beat followed by an unstressed beat. The reason for this scheme of wording is due to the vocal performance of both pieces; helpful to those who perform them as the scheme causes clarity of voice and a quite predictable way of speaking as the wording comes in a predictable pattern.
– “Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through
sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.”
– “Dulce Decorum est”- By Wilfred Owen
This sonnet is of “Dulce Decorum est”, which means Sweet is the graceful however the last line elaborates more clearly that the title is only the hindered by an old lie “Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.” which when translated poses It is sweet and glorious to die for the fatherland. The sonnet follows a 10 syllable line scheme in exception of the lines 4, 9, 11 and 14 which all have 11 syllables and more importantly line 5 has 9 syllables. This irregular syllable count evidently flaws the sonnet’s 10 syllable policy but is used to emphasise the occurring events that reside within the poem. An example of this emphasis would line 5 which could be considered as the greater anomaly. This line has 1 less syllable than that of the sonnets requirements, this is due to the emphasis of the line, “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots”. The lost syllable is referring to the lost boot and possibly the forgetfulness or lack of attention of the sleeping soldier. This poses a somewhat drowsy emotion from the text and when vocally performed a break in the voice almost as if the next line might hold some larger importance to the poem.
The extra syllable occurrence on lines signifies terror especially in the second paragraph where all lines that describe the impact of gas on either himself or the man have an extra syllable; this when performed will stress these lines dramatizing the line. On the other hand in line 4 “And towards our distant rest began to trudge” is emphasising the longevity of their journey this extra syllable is due to this cause.
In the case of Shakespeare, the iambic pentameter is used by important characters, especially those who are of aristocracy at critical points in the play. Similarly to the emphasis of points syllable anomalies from Wilfred Owen’s sonnet, Shakespeare shows the change of character with the degradation of the meter.
If there were reason for these miseries,
Then into limits could I bind my woes:
When heaven doth weep, doth not the earth o’erflow?
If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad,
Threatening the welkin with his big-swoln face?
And wilt thou have a reason for this coil?
I am the sea; hark, how her sighs do blow!
She is the weeping welkin, I the earth:
Then must my sea be moved with her sighs;
Then must my earth with her continual tears
Become a deluge, overflow’d and drown’d;
For why my bowels cannot hide her woes,
But like a drunkard must I vomit them.
Then give me leave, for losers will have leave
To ease their stomachs with their bitter tongues.
– Act 3 scene 1 Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
The first two lines start off following the iambic pentameter however the third does not. At this moment in time Titus has lost everything, his sons have been killed, his daughter, raped and mutilated, everything he fought for in the war brought no significance to his wellbeing; fighting for an empire that doesn’t care about him or his kin. Overwhelmed by grief and anger he speaks his soliloquy and as the words are spoken, the iambic pentameter starts to degrade, representing Titus’ fall in sanity and nobility. For example “Then must my sea be moved with her sighs;” this line has 9 syllables therefore breaking the meter and becoming notable to the audience as a pause. The pause is generated through the actor ending the line with a stressed beat, causing a slight pause due to the actor keeping the rhythm of the performance by substituting the pause into the place of the 10th syllable. Shakespeare has designed this specifically to produce this effect of degradation, a process that grief causes and resides in. This emotion because apparent to the audience particularly this vocal scheme as well as the acting.
tbh
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