Titus Digiturgy
Titus Andronicus
Digiturgy
DRAMATURGY
is an in-depth look at the background and inner workings of a play in order to give the audience context and a better lens into the story played out on stage. Put it online and you have
DIGITURGY.
Student Research Essays
Three of Dr. LoMonaco's students--Kierstin Jones, Kiersten Bjork, and Chase O'Brien--wrote wonderful research essays on William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus
that are now featured on our website. Click one of the boxes below to read their work!
The Life of William Shakespeare
Fallon Sullivan ('20), Dramaturgy Intern
William Shakespeare, born April 23rd, 1564, is widely considered to be the greatest English dramatist. He was the third of eight children born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. Based on his writings, Shakespeare seemed to have a normal childhood. He apparently enjoyed hunting and hawking, as his writing contains an extensive knowledge on these hobbies.
It is believed that by 1588, Shakespeare left his wife and children in Stratford-upon-Avon to go work in London. By 1592, he was a successful actor and playwright. He wrote 38 plays, two epic poems, and over 150 sonnets. His work was immensely popular, appealing to members of all social spheres including Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. While they were well-liked, Shakespeare’s plays were not considered by his educated contemporaries to be exceptional.
Shakespeare wrote most of his greatest plays during the first decade (1599-1608) of his company's occupation of the Globe Theatre, perhaps the world's most famous playhouse.
By 1610, Shakespeare was a well-established playwright, director, and actor who enjoyed great success, He was earning ten times the amount of the average school teacher, the equivalent of around $50,000 per year, today. This can be most clearly observed in the sharp increase in the publication of Shakespeare’s name on the title pages of his later works, or quartos, as well as the publication of Shakespeare’s first collection of sonnets by Thomas Thorpe in 1609. Similarly, the growing popularity of The King’s Men, Shakespeare’s troupe, led to the purchase of the Blackfriars Theatre in 1608. Shakespeare was a co-owner of the theatre, where a number of his plays came to be performed in the winter months.
Despite his commercial success in the city, it is now commonly believed that during the later portion of Shakespeare’s life, he resided primarily at his home in Stratford-upon-Avon and was only an ‘intermittent lodger’ in London.
It is possible that Shakespeare fled London to his country home as an epidemic of bubonic plague swept the city in 1609, limiting theatrical production and contributing to the speculation amongst scholars that Shakespeare ‘retired’ in his final years. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. On January 29th, 1741, a memorial statue of him was placed in “Poets’ Corner” in Westminster Abbey that can be visited today.
Shakespeare's Coat of Arms
The motto that runs along the bottom of the crest reads, “Non Sans Droict” is old French and translates to “Not without right.” The coat of arms can be seen on Shakespeare’s monument, above his grave in Holy Trinity Church, and versions of it can be seen at Shakespeare’s Birthplace, above the entrance to the Shakespeare Centre, and at Shakespeare’s New Place.
Who Were the Goths?
The plot of Titus Andronicus
includes a bloody and destructive rivalry between the war hero Titus Andronicus and his family and Tamora, Queen of the Goths, her sons, and their companion, Aaron the Moor. While we know a lot about Roman history, and who the Romans were, it is important to understand who the Goths were as well.
The Goths were a nomadic Germanic people who fought against Roman rule in the late 300s and early 400s A.D. They help to bring the downfall of the Roman Empire, and the ascendancy of the Goths is said to have marked the beginning of the medieval period in Europe.
There are two divisions of the Goths:
VISIGOTH = the name given to the western tribes of Goths
OSTROGOTHS = the name given to the eastern tribes of Goths
Ancestors of the Visigoths mounted a successful invasion of the Roman
Empire in 376 A.D. which ultimately led to the defeat of Rome in the Battle of Adrianople in 378 A.D. This is interesting because Titus has been described to have been set in “late-Imperial Christian Rome,” (Clifford Huffman), possibly during the reign of Justinian I (537 – 565). The script mentions Caesar, so we know that the play has definitely taken on the setting of Rome after Caesar, after Brutus, after Ovid.
The Visigothic Code:
In 643 A.D., the Visigoth King, Chindasuinth, ordered the writing of the Visigothic Code/Law, which were later expanded under his son, Recceswinth, in 654 A.D. It combined elements from the Roman, Catholic, and Germanic tribal laws as it established the rules for marriage and the inheritance of property. The Code applied equally to the conquering Goths and the general population of the kingdom, most of whom had Roman roots.
The Code was remarkably progressive to the rights of women, who were allowed to inherit property and
manage assists independently, separate from their husbands and/or male relatives. Under the Code, women could represent themselves in legal proceedings and arrange their own marriages. The Code is also known to have formed the basis of the laws established by the Moors following their conquering the kingdom in the early 700s. Under the rule of the Moors, Christians were allowed to live under their own laws, provided they didn’t conflict with those of the conquering Africans.
For more information on the Goths, visit the History channel's website:
