...were a movie, I would either have walked out sometime during the third act, or sat quavering in my seat and cursing the day I shelled out eight fifty to see it.
I don't like horror movies. I don't like injustices. I don't like unnecessary violence and bloodshed. These are not things I look for in my entertainment. However, if Titus Andronicus were a movie, I bet it'd be a box office smash, especially with a Halloween release date and a splashy ad campaign.
But seriously, to give you the highlights:
We begin with an emperor dying, and the country arguing over who will replace him. Things seem to work out, although for some reason we inaugurate the new ruler with a human sacrifice. But later, the two princes Titus's daughter, Lavinia, and cut out her tongue so she can't tell anyone, and the queen gives birth to biracial child, fathered by her slave-lover, who immediately kills the nurse who birthed the child, and kidnaps it. Too bad his efforts are in vain--they will all die before the play ends.
My personal favorite monstrosity is when Titus is told his sons' lives will be spared if he cuts off his own hand. He does so, and gives it to the messenger. The messenger returns with his sons' heads on a platter. Poor Bloody Stump Titus.
Actually, no, I don't feel that badly for him. After all, he figures out that the princes raped Lavinia, kills them and cooks them into a pie, which he serves to their mother, the Queen. Then he asks the emperor if a father should kill his daughter if she was raped. The emperor says, in general terms, "Hell yeah!" and so Titus proceeds to kill Lavinia and the Queen all at one nightmarish dinner party.
I can't say that I'm a fan of a play in which every major character is killed in sundry horrible ways, but I know that many people are. Much like sex, blood sells. It's just a little distressing to see that this was as true back in the 1580s as it is now in 2007. But there is something to the madness. I read Titus in one sitting, whereas it has taken me three days to wade myself through the comedic banter of All's Well that Ends Well. There is something to be said for sitting on the edge of one's seat.
Ah well, to keep you posted, the current play count is 16/37. I'm working on it!
Molly
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2 comments:
Unfortunately, they did make a movie out of it. Called Titus. Anthony Hopkins. Helena Bonham Carter, I think. Totally. And. Completely. Gross. I don't recommend anybody watching. Not that it's poorly done. Just, you know, an ick-fest.
What? You're too good for human sacrifice now?
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