I have finally reached the part of Titus where Aaron says the first ever your mom joke (see first post). I watched the movie as I read the text and found the movie version to be like I pictured it. (Personally, I love Shakespeare but I hate to have to read it so I try to find versions of the plays online.) In this movie version, Aaron was quite spiteful, laughing at Chiron, when telling Chiron that he had been sleeping with his mom and impregnated her. I find it funny that Shakespeare chooses to add these little jokes to his tragedy. Does he give Aaron the jokes to further his portrayal of him as an uncivilized Moore? Or does he want to somewhat lighten a very dark play?
In fact, Shakespeare’s play left me with a lot of unanswered questions. In the play, everyone seems to be double-crossing and putting on a mask (oh how Shakespeare loved masks) but how much of this is planned. Did Tamora jump on the idea of ruining the Roman Empire when Saturninus decided to marry her? And how much did Aaron plan? Did Titus loose his mind? At many points in the play he switches from a grieving man to a composed one with a plan. On point, he even goes so far as to make Tamora believe he has lost his mind in order to kill her sons and then bake them into a pie. Has he lost it on some level or is it all a plot to get back for the death of his sons?
I like that this play pushed me to rethink all of the characters from the beginning, how it forced me to pick apart their previous lines to dig up their true intentions. However, I found this play to be a lot like Hamlet. Both plays have the themes of masks and characters that appear insane or sane. Also, the endings are quite similar in that most of the characters died and a seemingly pure character manage to live and take over the country. Did Shakespeare just run out of ideas? Or was he the olden Danielle Steel?
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