How have the 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?
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in his lifetime, in this essay I am going to talk about his first: Titus Andronicus.
Similar to plays are poems, this essay is going to draw a comparison between both Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth. Separated over a period of 400 years you would have expected literature to have changed however there are more similarities between these two authors than meets the eye as both of their works were made to be projected by the voice. This causes a range of similar techniques and styles throughout the literature that they created to ensure that the message of the words were heard by their audience which caused a stir of thoughts inside the masses.
Emotions are the key to empathy. Both writers triggered the release of emotions in their works to develop an emphatic link with their audience. Wilfred Owen, born in March 1893 was a soldier stationed on the front lines at the time he was 21. He died on the 4th of November 1918, 7 days before the armistice. He was most famous for his war poems. The reason that he wrote poetry was to spread word of the actual happenings in war as there was a large amount of propaganda giving false information about the glory that war would bring you to ensure the support the war effort. The fact that he died in the war in which he was forewarning produces a large amount of dramatic irony within all of his works. This amplifies the concepts that reside in them and in particular the emotions that they induce.
Similarly, Shakespeare wrote for a large audience, however he wrote for the audience of the theatre in Elizabethan England. This consisted of a dominant male figure as the equality between male and female genders was unbalanced in those times resulting in more gore and stereotypical masculine content such as anger and violence. Being Shakespeare’s first play, he may have written Titus Andronicus commercially, which may be the reason for the fact that the revenge tragedy holds so many scenes of violence and anger. Overall it is seen that his first play was the most violent; with the ending consisting of most of the characters being killed off and giving the effect of pure disgust and pain.
Shakespeare interacts with his audience through acts instead of sole emotion. Acts such as revenge consist of emotions such as anger, grief and hatred, which altogether induce a higher effect of empathy to the audience than just by themselves. So it could be said that the effects of emotions arise when being done in act and acts are some of the ways that Shakespeare communicates the thoughts of his characters. Characters themselves also play a significant part inside the plot line of Titus Andronicus, as they have assigned natures but not just as personality, but as they are the embodiments of the acts themselves. For example, the embodiment of the act of evil inside the nature of Aaron as Aaron has no motive present inside the play to compensate for his actions which are specifically malicious to that of every character besides his son.
Furthermore a major emotion in Shakespeare that is felt by the audience is Schadenfreude. This German lend word means taking pleasure in others misfortune. A great example of this emotion being exploited would be in Act One Scene One where Titus announces the execution of Alarbus, the heir to the throne of the Goths and Tamora’s first born.
“Alive and dead, and for brethren slain
Religiously they ask for sacrifice:
To his your son is mark’d, and die he must,
T’ appease their groaning shadows that are gone”
Being the opening scene to a revenge tragedy, it seems just right to open up with the death of a character. This is Titus’ revenge for the death of his 21 sons fighting in the war, hence his announcement of this line: “Alive and dead, and for brethren slain. Religiously they ask for sacrifice:”
Shakespeare uses the technique of repetition of the words associated with death, such as dead, sacrifice and die. This is Shakespeare building tension in the play as words repeated suggest that something drastic is going to occur and the words that reside with death are some of the most powerful.
The line “Religiously they ask for sacrifice” is the most interesting line of the stanza, as it is a metaphor that refers to family vengeance as a religion. Meaning an eye for and eye was more than accepted in this play but actually promoted. This reflects the thoughts of those who dwelled in the ancient Rome, who thought that avenging a family member was justified due to family being a religion, which could be considered as a type of honour. This type of honour relates to that of Wilfred Owen’s works, especially in the aspect of his message about propaganda and the governments censorship of information to ensure that people would support the war effort.
Overall the effect of Schadenfreude is greatly induced by this act of revenge as it communicates the emotions of the characters on stage and in particular those of Titus. In social terms taking pleasure in others misfortune is generally shun upon however we as people do enjoy it. This is exactly what Shakespeare rides upon to kick start the chaos of his revenge tragedy which also pleases that of the audience by providing them with the feeling of Schadenfreude. This play could be Shakespeare exploration of the world of playwright, by pushing the limits of violent and vengeful drama. Yet still an alternate interpretation may be Shakespeare’s lack of experience in his field causing him to write a play that contains too much violence that gives more disgust than Schadenfreude.
Wilfred Owen uses acts such as betrayal in his poem “An anthem for doomed Youth” which communicates also emotions of anger and grief but moreover the emotion of despair. This act of betrayal is caused by the propaganda that prophesised that whoever went to war would come back with glory and honours, therefore associating war with honour. A concept that is almost unapparent inside Titus Andronicus. Wilfred Owen wrote this poem to tell those on the motherland that glorification of war was nothing but a mere façade and that joining the war would lead you to your death. Ultimately the poem was created for the younger audience, around the age of 14-21 as people that were underage were put under heavy pressure to join the war as their fathers and brothers had.
An anthem for doomed youth is a poem in a sonnet styled structure, 14 lines, with 10 syllables per line and it talks about the utter despair and pointlessness of fighting on the front lines. This is enveloped by features such as assonance, which reside in the title, “An anthem for Doomed Youth”. The assonance of the “oo” sound is depressing which communicates the emotion of despair as death by “the monstrous anger of the guns” is not a pleasing nor glorified way to die in battle, promoting the poem’s message.
The title to the poem however holds more than just assonance to hint the reader of the poem’s message as it could actually be considered as an oxymoron. The two words, doomed and youth are never really used into the same context as there is no association between them. A youth is to be ignorant of its mortality whereas a doomed man is to die but without any alternative future. Furthermore, the fact that the word anthem is also present inside the title expresses the link between the state and the doom of the youth as an anthem is to be sung by the patriotic. Ultimately an anthem is stating the glory of the country and the heroism of its inhabitants, not stating the despair and pointlessness of sending its future (The youth) to die in a conflict that they are not fully aware of.
“No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.”
Similarly to Shakespeare, Wilfred Owen uses effect of repetition in his poem to carry the emotion of despair. This works by building upon the word or meaning of no. “No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs.” This use of repetition creates tension within the poem by building upon the concept of no via it being reiterated many times. Which further increases the effect of the emotion despair that is present in the soldiers in the war. Yet still the assonance, repeated vowel sound of “o” is apparent in this verse, also contributing to the overall expression of despair.
The most effective language technique in this verse is simply metaphor, “The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;” This powerful metaphor displays both an image and sound of the doomed soldiers marching into their death, being set free from their terrible fate. This line does quite well with the first line of the poem, “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle”, which describes the pointlessness of the soldiers marching into the by describing them as cattle, an anthropomorphic effect that downgrades the value of human, sentient life to that of an animal.
The most apparent reoccurring feature inside this poem would be the reference to instruments and musical elements such as choirs, bells, voices, bugles, etc. This language feature builds upon the concept of the poem being an anthem, however these references are paired with depressing adjectives, strengthening the concept that the poem is a negative anthem. Thus conveying the emotion of despair through the demented chanting of the soldiers on the front line. Overall this amplifies the effect of irony within the poem, which builds upon Wilfred Owen’s death and influences the views and impressions of the audience to side with the poem’s message.
However both works of literature share the aspect that they are both designed to be projected vocally. This can be seen via the presence of a meter, a 10 syllable policy that enables the reader to clearly project his voice in a rhythmic and steady beat. In Titus Andronicus this is called Blank verse, which is any verse composed of unrhymed lines, normally in iambic pentameter. However universally Blank verse is described as poetical device, not playwright.
“Blank verse is poetry written in regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always iambic pentameters.”
Wilfred Owen uses a sonnet which is a poetic device similar to that of Shakespeare’s Blank verse. Iambic pentameter is spoken in a 2:5 rhythm. This similarity overall may be due to the writers preference or simply their paths of education. Both authors were raised in England but were raised at different times with different paths of education however both still write in a similar style; an even systematic and symmetrical structure that provides footing for a performance of their works however differing in rhyme which is a language device that Shakespeare does not use in his Blank verse.
Shakespeare does have some other features that support his cause as a playwright, such as his use of a monosyllabic line: “If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad.” The use of this language technique fits perfectly with both the 10 syllable policy of blank verse and Iambic pentameter. This is due to the staccato sound that is emitted when they are pronounced. 10 syllables consecutively projected conveying a quick angry tone, as if you were taking ten rapid blows to the chest. When said by Titus in act 3 scene 1 this turns his speech from sadness to anger and is easily recognisable to the audience as a turning point in Titus’ thoughts.
“If there were reason for these miseries, 10 syllables
Then into limits could I bind my woes: 10 syllables
When heaven doth weep, doth not the earth o’erflow ? 11 syllables: Break in the meter
If the winds rage, doth not the sea wax mad 10 syllables
Threatening the welkin with his big-swoln face? 11 syllables: Break in the meter
And wilt thou have a reason for this coil? 10 syllables
I am the sea; hark, how her sighs do blow! 10 syllables
She is the weeping welkin, I the earth: 10 syllables
Then must my sea be moved with her sighs;” 9 syllables: Break in the meter
In act 3 scene 1 Titus is portraying his emotions to the audience by talking about the trauma that he has experienced throughout the play. In this scene Shakespeare subtly shifts the metre. This shift embodies Titus’ fall in nobility and sanity as a break in the metre. Usually a break in the metre shows a change of thought however in this case it is constantly being broken, almost as if Titus is stuttering when he speaks. This communicates to the audience that Titus is no longer the character he once was. In reality people under high emotional pressure stutter, this is due to them recalling their troubled past as when a past situation is serious enough, it becomes engraved into your mind. This is usually as the memories from traumatic situations are so vivid causing them to keep remerging and breaking trains of thought. Thus Shakespeare, however not a supposed psychologist manages to reflect aspects of reality by twisting the nature of a post traumatic candidates speech through a constant break in the meter which in turn subtly hints the audience of Titus’ degrading mental state.
This exploration of playwright is a common aspect that remerges throughout the play. This is shown through scenes such as Lavinia’s rape which would not be in the work of any playwright in this century. This is possibly due to the more balanced society of our times. Our society looks upon rape in utter disgust, ultimately as it is an act of evil. This putrid act or any “non-consensual offences with the involvement of the victim’s sexual autonomy” will give the offender at least 13 years in custody with a shunning of society. This was not the same case at the same times of Titus Andronicus as the Romans were known for a large amount of incest and sexual crimes. Shakespeare was simply trying to reflect the nature of the Romans inside his work however with the essence of an experimentalist. This shows just how the interpretations of Titus Andronicus has changed throughout its lifetime. Thus showing how violence and anger has retained, if not grown its effect throughout time.
Furthermore Shakespeare was greatly inspired by the works of Ovid’s metamorphoses. These tomes of myths and legends were written in Latin around the Roman period (25 BC) and contain stories similar to that of the rape of Lavinia. Wilfred Owen was not someone who was inspired by that of some old tomes but by that of the terrors of war. The combat of World War One was tragic, compared to Titus Andronicus the scenes of violence were more void and surreal, yet when someone looks upon and reads scenes such as Lavinia’s rape, the scale seems to tip in the way of her rape. This shows that even with the deaths of millions, one brutal offence of rape gives a larger emotional effect of horror than that of death.
The reasons for this are beyond me. Maybe it is the affection that we give to individuals, than that to a whole, focusing on one sole person and trying to understand them gives us emotional attachment to that person. While with a couple million people, the affection is shared.
Possibly the style and language that Shakespeare uses is simply better than Wilfred Owen’s as it communicates a much more precise and drastic emotional effect. Wilfred Owen uses much more subtle techniques to cross his message such as layers in poems.
Or maybe it is just our evolutionary stage. In Elizabethan Britain, vengeance of a family member is seen as honour, almost as a religion. At the times of the great conflict of World War One, supporting the war was seen as a duty, similar to that of honour for our fellow citizens. Today it is simply our honour for one another, the kindness that we have evolved to give through learning about the pain of others. Extremes of emotion simply keep us evolving, that’s why war, rape and violence are so fruitful in effect. This is why World War One is not just seen as a disaster, but as a lesson or a turning point for future generations.
“It’s usually the deepest pain which empowers you to grow to your full potential.”
React!