Catharsis and Hamartia in Titus Andronicus, Essay Example

Titus Andronicus is a play by S. Clarke Hulse. In the play, Titus Andronicus, a roman general returns from ten years of war only with four out of twenty-four sons left. He has managed to capture the Queen of Goths called Tamora and her three sons together with Aaron the Moor. While trying to abide by the Roman rituals, he sacrifices Tamora’s eldest sons of his own deceased sons. This makes Tamora hate him where she promises to revenge. When Tamora becomes an empress she schemes to have two of Titus’s four sons framed for murder of Bassianus with the purpose of revenging her son’s death. This leads to the beheading of Titus’ although she is not satisfied; she urges her sons Demetrius and Chiron to rape Lavinia (Titus daughter). In the end, Titus two remaining sons are banished from home. Misfortunes hit the aged Titus eventually making him acts in a strange manner and everyone assumes that he is mad. Titus, who had been feigning his madness all this time, tricks Tamora to capture her two sons. He then murders and makes tart out of them: in the final stage, he feeds to Tamora. The pie kills Tamora and her only daughter Layina that causes many killings.

The Catharsis provided during the conclusion of the play when most of the antagonist were killed in quick succession. However, this action goes against the Aristotle model since Titus acceptance that his Hamartia caused ill fate does not bring about the Catharsis. Shakespeare employs catharsis in order to create sympathy for most characters in the play. Lavina forms the best example of this because she is brutally raped and her tongue and hands are cut off. This eventually creates sympathy for not only Lavina but Titus also since Lavina was her only daughter. This action sets the stage for the rest of the strategies in the play.

Most of the plays of Shakespeare were daring; not only did they break literary rules, but they also broke the rules of the society. Therefore, the fact that they did not fit with highly specific genres only suggest that the audience was able to connect with them since they exhibited the unreliability of life. His harmatia was to become the third candidate for Emperor, but he turns that down ailing for Rome to reward his two surviving sons. The decent burial offered to his sons killed in battle against the Goths so that finally they can sleep in peace. By the time he realizes that he has to take action against the emperor, he had undergone much damage. Perhaps, if he could have acted earlier enough, the tragedy could have been prevented. Titus’ desire for revenge only confirmed the fears that he might probably die the way he lived (by the sword).

William Shakespeare employs the use dramatic elements to make the play captivating. The level at which, brutal violence portrayed in the play helps to build catharsis; Titus’ struggle with his own harmatia is tragic and unique in itself. At the conclusions of the play, Shakespeare kept some loose ends open to execute the end ending of the story. Concisely, William Shakespeare uses catharsis to keep the audience engaged and display a clear progression of the character that mostly is predestined by hamartia meant for Titus.