Lavinia as Co-author of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Bethany Packard Isaac & Katherine

Transcription

1 Lavinia as Co-author of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus Bethany Packard Isaac & Katherine

2 Synopsis 1. Lavinia viewed as co-author due to the violence that restricts her agency 2. Pedestalization of Lavinia allows for her body to be viewed politically 3. Representative of Rome 4. Creates multiplicity of narratives

3 Thesis While Packard convincingly suggests that Lavinia should be viewed as a co-author in the play, we believe that Shakespeare s attempt at providing her a semblance allows her to be seen as a coauthor with restrictions. Agency through Violence Multiplicity of Narratives through Violence/ Agency

4 Agency Through Violence 1. Pedestalization of Lavinia leading to Body Politics 2. Lack of Agency on pedestal 3. Agency attained through violence done upon the body 4. Titus gaining semblance of understanding of Lavinia s plight only after dismembering his hand (mimicry) 5. Agency only available when she names her rapist through the Lucrecean narrative

5 Agency Through Violence Titus is heavily invested in Rome's genealogy, repeatedly referencing Virgil's Aeneid and therefore the original Lavinia, mother of the Romans. He envisions his daughter not only as the perpetuator of Rome but also as its embodiment, her chastity representing the unbroken descent from Troy. Her mortal body symbolizes the pure, immortal body of the state. (Packard 283)

6 Lavinia And her to whom my thoughts are humbled all, Gracious Lavinia, Rome s rich ornament (I.i.56) Lavinia, live; outlive thy father s days, And fame s eternal date, for virtue s praise (I.i.189) Lavinia will I make my empress, Rome s royal mistress, mistress of my heart, And in the sacred Pantheon her espouse (I.i ) Lucrece was not more chaste Than this Lavinia (II.i.109)

7 Lavinia But that which gives my soul the greatest spurn, Is dear Lavinia, dearer than my soul (III.i ) Die, die, Lavinia, and thy shame with thee; [Kills Lavinia] And, with thy shame, thy father s sorrow die! (V.iii.46-48)

8 Agency Through Violence The perverse effect of this rape is that it does not abject Lavinia but rather exposes narrative possibilities beyond her father's proscriptions. (Packard 282)

9 Julie Taymor There is a danger in the literal and graphic portrayal of an image such as Lavinia s dismemberment. It is easily too grotesque and horrific, and can upstage the larger event. - Julie Taymor Playing with Fire: Titus (film)...the cutting off of Lavinia s hands takes place off-stage, and when she returns, her stumps are in fact scraggly twigs...a poetic metamorphosis in the manner of Ovid. But when Aaron lops off Titus s hands with a jackknife, the gruesome action is done in full view. The pain, the scream, the mess of blood, the rags to stop the bleeding, all matter-of-fact and no fancy. Julie Taymor Playing with Fire: Titus Andronicus (stage)

10 Agency Through Violence Titus is heavily invested in Rome's genealogy, repeatedly referencing Virgil's Aeneid and therefore the original Lavinia, mother of the Romans. He envisions his daughter not only as the perpetuator of Rome but also as its embodiment, her chastity representing the unbroken descent from Troy. Her mortal body symbolizes the pure, immortal body of the state. (Packard 283)

11 Harold Bloom Feminist assertions that the sufferings of the unfortunate lavinia, Titus s raped and mutilated Daughter, testify to patriarchal society's ultimate oppression of its females. I am rendered incredulous, and still wish that Shakespeare had not perpetrated this poetic atrocity, even as catharsis.

12 Harold Bloom Yet all his vociferous sufferings do not prepare us for his murder of his own martyred Daughter in the final scene At least one feels that the tormented Lavinia should have had some choice in the matter! Shakespeare in any case has done all he could to develop our antipathy for Titus - link to the idea of how even though Titus was kinda suffering like Lavinia he still has no idea of the extent even though he has gone through the same experience as her.

13 Julie Taymor [Lavinia], the once perfect goddess, is now a tree whose limbs have been lopped off, helpless, unable to get down from her pedestal. Julie Taymor Playing with Fire: Titus Andronicus (stage)

14 Agency Through Violence Titus treats the proffered hand and interpretive words as instruments for achieving specific ends. Marshall argues that both enable him to claim Lavinia's story and that "by masochistically sharing in her mutilation

15 Co-Authorship Through Violence 1. Repetition to Permutations to multiplicity of narratives 2. Intertextual references gives credit and discredit to narratives 3. Use of Agency to form narratives

16 Agency to Co-Authorship The perverse effect of this rape is that it does not abject Lavinia but rather exposes narrative possibilities beyond her father's proscriptions. (Packard 282)

17 C0-Authorship Through Violence Give me a sword, I ll chop off my hands too (III.i.73) Or shall we cut away our hands, like thine? Or shall we bite our tongues, and in dumb shows Pass the remainder of our hateful days? What shall we do? let us, that have our tongues, Plot some device of further misery, To make us wondered at in time to come. (III.i )

18 Julie Taymor...the cutting off of Lavinia s hands takes place off-stage, and when she returns, her stumps are in fact scraggly twigs...a poetic metamorphosis in the manner of Ovid. But when Aaron lops off Titus s hands with a jackknife, the gruesome action is done in full view. The pain, the scream, the mess of blood, the rags to stop the bleeding, all matter-of-fact and no fancy. Julie Taymor Playing with Fire: Titus Andronicus (stage)

19 Julie Taymor Lavinia, Titus s daughter, is often referred to as a doe, and her rape and mutilation have direct parallels in the story of Philomela in Ovid s Metamorphosis. Julie Taymor Playing with Fire: Titus Andronicus (stage)

20 Co-authorship Through Violence Lavinia's coauthorial function is to write herself and the play out of such endings (Packard 285)

21 C0-Authorship Through Violence 'Tis present death I beg; and one thing more That womanhood denies my tongue to tell: O, keep me from their worse than killing lust, And tumble me into some loathsome pit, Where never man's eye may behold my body: Do this, and be a charitable murderer. (II.iii )

22 Lavinia as a Ghostwriter Even though she s being seen through the eyes of the Lucrecean narrative, but due to the fact that she was involuntary killed which negates the Lucresean plot. Therefore the agency that Lucrece attained in her own narrative is being diffused in the play s plot. Due to the fact that she is bound by the patriarchal structure which controls her. So rather than her being the co-author, she is still part of the main structure that Titus has created. Instead, we should view her as a ghost writer who acts as a catalyst Woman is not present in the public sphere, however, Lavinia only speaks within a private setting. Therefore we cannot view her as a co-author due to her absence from majority of the narrative/public.

23 Harold Bloom Though I am fascinated by Titus Andronicus, I do see it as exploitative parody Yet all his vociferous sufferings do not prepare us for his murder of his own martyred daughter in the final scene.

24 Bibliography Bloom, Harold, Titus Andronicus Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998 Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus. Glasgow: HarperCollins Manufacturing Taymor, Julie. Playing with Fire. New York: harry n. Abrams, inc., 2007

25 Critical Questions If we consider Lavinia as a ghostwriter, can we then consider Tamora as a co-author of the play? Or should we simply accept that the men are the only authors? If we consider Lavinia s murder as an Involuntary Sacrificial Narrative, does her death then bring closure to her Victimisation Narrative?