ENG208.001 -- Survey of British Literature: Beginnings to 1789

Prof. Eileen Joy

Fall 2007

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS #2 (Titus Andronicus)

Figure 1. Julie Taymor with Anthony Hopkins on the set of Titus Andronicus

Respond to TWO of the following prompts:

1. Is it possible to sympathize with Tamora at all? Why, or why not?

2. Who, or what, do you think is ultimately to blame for the tragic chain of events that leads to the downfall of Titus and his family, as well as to the death of all the main characters (excepting Lucius) by the end of the play? [Pause before you rush to provide an overly simplistic reponse to this question--consider that the chain of events in the play is complex, indeed, and carefully consider the psychological motivations behind different characters' actions.]

3. How do you ultimately judge Lucius's punishment of Aaron the Moor at the end of the play? Does he get what he deserves? Why, or why not?

4. Based on your reading and viewing of Titus Andronicus , would you say that there are certain situations in which revenge is justified, or conversely, would you argue that revenge is never justified? Explain your justification in detail, with reference to the events of the play.

5. Are people inherently evil, or are they somehow made evil? Respond with reference to one or more characters in the play, and be sure to begin by defining how you interpret, in detail, the term "evil."

Please respond to the questions with full, complete sentences. You should write at least one typed, double-spaced page in response to each prompt (but let's not get distracted by these fine points of detail--what matters to me is that you respond to the prompts with thoughtfulness and care and show me that you have something of substance to say in relation to the reading and discussions we have had in class, and what that ultimately means is: MORE is always better than less, but one page is the minimum for each prompt). The questions are always interpretive in nature, and therefore there are NO right or wrong answers, only your interpretive opinion (an opinion, nevertheless, that's hopefully grounded in a close reading of the text as well as a close attention to background material presented in class). Be sure to always quote specific passages from the text, as well as paraphrase specific scenes, in order to support your observations and ideas (that will help you practice a skill that will become an absolute necessity when you are writing your critical essays). Furthermore, be sure to demonstrate that you have read the entire text in question; for example, do not respond to the question by only referring to events that occur in only one place in the text, or I will assume you have not done the entire reading. While one page per prompt does not give you enough room to point out everything in the text that you think is pertinent to the question, I expect to see you highlight enough aspects of the text that it is clear to me that you have read the beginning, middle, and end. And finally, NO SUMMARIES OF PLOT!!!