In the Play of “Titus Andronicus”, Shakespeare’s
character Titus is a Roman general who gives up the throne to another and kills
the son of Tamora, the Queen of Goths, who later plots revenge against him. This
revenge is the rape and brutal savagery attack of Titus daughter, Lavinia, by
Tamora’s sons, Demetrius and Chiron, who cut off Lavinia’s hands and tongue so
that she will not speak of her rapists. Titus’s who has gone insane, kills
Tamora’s sons Demetrius and Chiron and has them baked into a pie, which is
eaten by Tamora and others. In the end, Titus has his revenge after killing his
own daughter, and almost everyone important to the story is dead.
Given the plot of the play, how
would Shakespeare react to the modern crime show “Law Order: Special Victims
Unit.”
Let’s take a moment to explore how
similar the two forms of entertainment are. “Law and Order : SVU’s” episodes
are mostly filled with cases of rape and brutal murder, more than often enough
young females. While the show’s main target of villains is perverts and aggressive
men, once and a while the show’s victim is a victim of revenge, due to jealousy
or wrath that the villain felt for the character. Shakespeare’s rape victim,
Lavinia, is the product of revenge on Titus from Tamora, who ordered it for the
death of her son. In addition to victims of crimes, Law & Order: SVU has
the father or close confidant of the victim target the rapist out of revenge. In
Shakespeare’s case, it is Titus killing and cooking Tamora’s sons into pies.
Both the show and the play portray the
darker sides to humanity and society of mankind. Do you think that Shakespeare
would be appalled by “Law and Order’s” plots? Is it possible “Law and Order:
SVU” is inspired by the play of Titus Andronics? What are your thoughts?
