Love Between a Parent and a Child, Essay Example

The relationship between Titus and Lavinia inspires much confusion and speculation. Throughout the play, Titus and Lavinia seem to have a good relationship, yet it was Titus who killed her at the end. The story was set in ancient Rome and written in the Elizabethan era, and attitudes about women were very different than they are today. When Titus killed Lavinia, he may not have been acting out of cruelty; rather he may have acted out of both compassion and a sense of duty.

Titus is always kind with Lavinia, who truly seems to make him happy. He kills his own sons out of anger, but is forgiving of Lavinia after her disobeying his wishes. When she runs away with Bassianus, he is angry, but all appears to be forgiven by the next day. Before Lavinia’s rape, the two wereshown to have a mutual admiration for one another. In the beginning, upon Titus’s return, the twoclearly express their love and respect. Titus was exceptionally loving and gentle with Lavinia when trying tofeed her. He sees her sorrow and perhaps understands what the rest of her life will be like.

When Marcus, Lavinia’s uncle, finds her after her attack, he knows that taking her homewill hurt her father. Most parents do not wish to see their children in pain, and in addition to witnessing the murder of her husband, Lavinia was brutally raped and mutilated. In the time of Titus Andronicus, rapevictims were not looked on with compassion, rather they were looked on as ruined. Even in theBible, if a woman was unmarried, she was forced to marry her attacker. If she was married, thenshe was put to death. Lavinia’s painful ordeal would cause society to look at her with scorn.

When Marcus returns with Lavinia after her attack, all are heart­broken at herpain. Titus expresses his sorrow and Lucius must beg him to stop crying because seeing Titus so distraught, only makes Lavinia more upset. Titus wants to know how he can stop Lavinia’s pain, butrealizes that he is powerless to undo the injustice which has been done to her.

Her attackers, Chiron and Demetrius, cut out her tongue so she could not speak and cut off her hands so she could not write. Perhaps without the mutilation, Lavinia could have recoveredand lead a better life. She may never have married, as she was tainted, but Titus may have let herlive. However, her mutilations would prevent her from living a normal and fulfilling life. Not only could she never marry, but would always have difficulty communicating with her friends andfamily. She could no longer engage in activities which she used to enjoy. Not having a tonguewould make eating and drinking a difficult process at best. Each time she saw the stumps where herhands used to be or tried to speak, she would be reminded of her violent attack. Her life essentiallywas over. Though Titus killed Lavinia physically, he was correct when he stated that it wasChiron and Demetrius who were responsible for her death.

At the final banquet, Lavinia is veiled. The veiling both signifies her shame and concealsher mutilations. Before her rape, she begged Tamora to just kill her. Lavinia knew that the consequences of her attack would mean her death, but yet she begged Tamora to spare her such a horrible experience.

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, 913-918)

After her mutilation, Chiron and Demetrius taunt Lavinia, because she has no hands to kill herself. Death was not something from which Lavinia ran away. She may have even been happy to no longer live in suffering. After allowing her to see her attackers punished, Titus ended her pain.

Like many women of her time, Lavinia was not seen her own person, rather she was viewed as an object. Lavinia was both in love with and betrothed to Bassian us, but when Saturninus wanted to marry her, Titus consented without even asking Lavinia. After stating that Saturninus should be the emperor as opposed to Bassian us because he was the eldest son, Saturninus thought he would return the good gesture by offering to make Lavinia the empress of Rome. As unusual as this may seem in modern society, in ancient Rome and Elizabethan England, women did not have a say in whom they married.

Even though Titus is obviously broken­hearted at seeing his daughter’s pain, he pities himself almost as much as he pities Lavinia and it becomes difficult to tell whether his desire for revenge stems more from a parent’s broken heart or from a personal insult. Had Lavinia not been attractive, wealthy, or born into such a position of power, she would not have been such a desirable object. But since she possessed all of these qualities, Titus had the privilege of knowing that she could be used as a great bargaining tool in order to enhance the power of the Andronicus family.

Titus also indulges in self-pity because of his sorrow. At the banquet, he is upset after his brother Marcus kills the fly and expresses empathy for the fly’s parents.Titus has Aaron cut off his hand and at the small banquet, laments about the loss of his limb with his daughter right beside him. He compares their lack of limbs, yet Titus had a choice, where Lavinia did not. Titus still had use of one hand, as he was able to prepare food and try to feed Lavinia, and he possessed the ability to speak, where Lavinia could not.

There is the question of whether Titus killed Lavinia because her presence made him upset. Before killing Chiron and Demetrius, Titus scolds them for their brutal attack on Lavinia. However, he seems more upset about the rape and her lost chastity, than the fact that she no longer has a tongue or hands. The fact that Lavinia had to endure being raped was horrible. However, the mutilation was far worse because it impeded her ability to perform basic functions and to live her life. Thought Titus had every right to be upset that Lavinia was raped, his words seemed to insinuate that the insult of the rape to the Andronicus family was far worse than the physical and emotional damage that it had on Lavinia. At the final banquet, he asks Saturninus whether or not it was right for Virginius, a famous Centaurian, to kill his daughter after being raped. Saturninus answers that it was a just act

Because the girl should not survive her shame,
And by her presence still renew his sorrows.

(V. iii. 2573-2574)

It is at this point where Titus kills Lavinia. Whether or not Lavinia’s death was used to set the stage for Titus’s vengeance is unclear. Saturninus’s words reflect the attitudes of the times and Titus, who valued duty and tradition, appeared to agree.

Despite the complexity of politics and cultural views, Titus and Lavinia appear to have a strong connection. While it is true that Lavinia’s rape was considered to be an insult to the Andronicus family and that seeing Lavinia in pain caused Titus unrelenting sorrow, compassion had a strong motive in Titus’s killing of her. If their actions are judged by today’s standards, then the relationship between Titus and Lavinia would be considered unloving and unhealthy. However, by trying to understand Titus and Lavinia in the context of the times, their actions take on a more loving note and Titus’s killing of Lavinia may be viewed with more compassion.

Work Cited

Titus Andronicus. George Mason University. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. <http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/playmenu.php?WorkID=titus>