How have extremes of emotion expressed in Titus Andronicus and selected WWI poetry been effectively created by the writers’ craft and performance of the drama text on stage, on screen and in the classroom?
Both William Shakespeare and the poet, Wilfred Owen, have expressed strong emotions in their texts through the use of things such as metaphors, personification, the iambic pentameter, and the use of emotive language.
One of Shakespeare’s earlier plays, Titus Andronicus, is extremely bloody and gruesome and it is full of murders, rapes, mutilations and general plotting. The play shows how a series of very unfortunate events completely upend highly respected Roman general, Titus Andronicus’s life. Upon returning from war, Titus executes the captured enemy Queen Tamora’s son resulting in the beginning of Tamora’s plot for revenge. All in all, Titus’s sons are beheaded, his daughter raped and mutilated, his last surviving son is banished, and he himself is driven to insanity. Shakespeare transcribes these dark and sinister events through different language techniques in the characters’ dialogue which expresses their own anger and distress.
Wilfred Owen’s poems, Dulce et Decorum est, which means “sweet and fitting to” and Wilfred Owen uses it in the context that it is “sweet and fitting to die for your country”, and Anthem for Doomed Youth, are both poems about World War 1. Wilfred Owen was a soldier in the First World War and his poems were popular because they pointed out the hardships and all that is wrong with war. Both of the poems’ messages are quite similar, in the sense that soldiers are surrounded in death and misery while in the battlefield, though Dulce et Decorum est focuses on the post war trauma that causes soldier to constantly have images of the pain and agony of war in their head, whereas Anthem for Doomed Youth tells us that the soldiers who die in battle do not have a proper funeral and the sound of warfare around them, are their “passing-bells”. As Shakespeare does, Wilfred Owen uses language devices to express the pain and suffering of war.
At first, Shakespeare’s play was quite popular with the audience, most likely for its originality with the violence and the fact that it was extremely graphic. This suggests that people enjoyed watching other peoples’ misfortunes and that is relatable with modern times, as horror films are quite popular nowadays. Titus Andronicus was believed to be written in between 1588 and 1593 and the debut of the stage performance was thought to have been in 1594. The play was built around violence and anger, which was displayed through the characters’ actions, when Tamora had Titus’s daughter, Lavinia, raped and mutilated out of revenge and anger, and through dialogue, during Titus’s soliloquy about the tribunes. The constant violence and plotting, drew a large audience and this was one of Shakespeare’s earliest plays that put over Shakespeare as a playwright.
Wilfred Owen was a gay English soldier, who was used to being an outcast of society, and so he was when he spoke out against war after experiencing what a battlefield was really like. But in his poems he put across his deep passion and anger for war and he highlighted the violence in the battlefield to give the reader a good idea of what the soldiers felt during a battle. He was strongly against war and this shows in a lot of his poems, like Dulce et Decorum est and Anthem for Doomed Youth. Wilfred Owen fought in World War 1 and unfortunately, he died towards the very end of the war. The emotion outputted in his poems is quite similar to Titus Andronicus; full of anger and hate. A lot of real, detailed violence is written by Owen, for example the trench warfare and the gas attacks, just like in Titus Andronicus, when all the violent murders and graphic crimes occur.
Shakespeare uses extended comparisons which are often metaphorical to compare certain characters with inanimate objects for extremity. He uses these comparisons to exaggerate the characteristics of certain characters. In act three, scene one, Titus Andronicus has a soliloquay about trying to reason with the tribunes. Titus’ sons, Martius and Quintus, have been falsely imprisoned for the murder of Bassianus and Titus is deciding whether it is worth it to try and make the tribunes listen to his case. However, he has many doubts about whether it will have any effect as he says that he would rather “tell my sorrows to the stones” as although they can’t talk back, or “answer my distress,” he would prefer them to tribunes. Titus says that while he would weep, the stones would “receive my tears and seem to weep with me,” which is better than what he expects the tribunes to do. In this passage Shakespeare is going so far to display the emotion of hatred Titus has towards the tribunes, to compare them with stones that are personified with characteristics that are the opposite of what authors would usually compare stones with, just to show how hard and merciless these tribunes are.
Shakespeare uses a simile to describe the stones, which is then used in comparison to the tribunes. In Titus’ soliloquay, he says that “a stone is as soft as wax,” and he then goes on to say that “tribunes are more hard than stones.” Yet more personificatino is used, as Titus says that “a stone is silent, and offendeth not,” while making a point that a although a stone doesn’t speak, it won’t offend you, whereas tribunes will “doom men to death.” This is showing extremes of emotion in Titus, as he is going so far into detail to describe just how much he loathes the tribunes and thinks that they are against him and would never help him, even though they are the council of Rome.
In Wilfried Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est, the poet uses many extended comparisons and he amplifies his metaphors to produce more extremitiy in his poems. While describing the soldiers fighting in a war, he said they were “drunk with fatigue.” This is a metaphor for how tired the soldiers were and Owen used “drunk” to show how extremely tired they were. He amplified this metaphor by adding an adjective that meant that they had too much to the point where it was beyond their control. Owen also uses personification for extremity when describing the canons, by saying that even they are tired, “outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.” War tiring everyone and everything is a focal point in Owen’s Dulce et Decorum est.
Owen also uses a hyperbole in the opening line to create a strong impressino of the soldiers in the war. He says that the soldiers are bent double, which means they are bent over, but not exactly bent in two. It conveys the feeling of exhaustion of the soldiers which is an extreme emotion that is felt by the soldiers.
Both Shakespeare and Wilfred Owen use extended comparisons and metaphorical statements to put across the extreme emotions that they are trying to get the reader to understand and sympathise with. They amplify their metaphors and similes to exaggerate the emotions being displayed which, in turn, creates more extremity.
The iambic pentameter underlies a constant rhythm in both the play and poetry and it used, and broken, to create a feeling of extreme emotion, whether it is anger, fear or sadness. The author or poet breaks and undermines the rhythm which can clearly be heard when read aloud to convey these extreme emotions. Doing this frequently, especially on the final stressed syllable will interrupt the flow of the text, which will signal to the audience the emotional distress being displayed.
In act three, scene one, Shakespeare breaks the iambic pentameter to implement Titus Andronicus’ distress and fear. During Titus’ soliloquay, he says,
“Receive my tears and seem to weep with me;
And, were they but attired in grave weeds,”
There is a syllable left out in the second line; the first line has ten, whereas the second has nine. This is clearly heard when read aloud, and this shows the distress and uncertainty in Titus’ voice, when talking about the tribunes. This break in the rhythm affects the rhythm of the whole soliloquay, and it is used for effect, to display the extremes of emotion in Titus and to further back up his stress and hopelessness.
Wilfred Owen uses the iambic pentameter to create a strong, powerful image for the reader, so he can convey his extreme negative emotions on war. However, he also has breaks in his rhythms. In his poem, Anthem For Doomed Youth, it is used for confusion as he opens with a question that has an extra syllable to support his questioning.
“What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.”
By having this anomalous syllable and this break in the rhythm, Owen is putting across a sense of confusion and hesitation. This is an extreme of an emotion that questions war and argues against it. The next line carries on in the solid rhythm of the iambic pentameter.
Both Shakespeare and Wilfred Owen have used emotive language in their respective plays and poems, which is the most impactful way of displaying extremity in emotions as the reader can directly read the emotions in the text. The language can easily be influenced by the author to try and invoke emotions from the reader, and often it is used to get the reader to empathise with characters.
In act three, scene two of Titus Andronicus, Titus expresses his misery through the use of negative nouns, adjectives and verbs. Titus has found out that two of his sons were executed for a crime they did not commit, and he cut off his own hand, believing it would be exchanged to save his sons’ lives.
“As will revenge these bitter woes of ours.
Marcus, unknit that sorrow-wreathen knot:
Thy niece and I, poor creatures, want our hands,
And cannot passionate our tenfold grief
With folded arms. This poor right hand of mine
Is left to tyrannize upon my breast;
Who, when my heart, all mad with misery,
Beats in this hollow prison of my flesh,”
In this short passage, there are many negative words and phrases used to emphasise the torment that Titus is feeling. The extreme emotion of misery and despair are heard through words and phrases such as “woes”, “sorrow-wreathen”, “poor”, “grief”, “misery”, “hollow” and “tyrannize”. These words are impactful on the reader and we get a strong, vivid idea of how Titus is feeling and what he is experiencing because Shakespeare has intentionally used emotive language and certain words to have that effect.
In Wilfred Owen’s Anthem For Doomed Youth, the title already uses emotive language that foreshadows the poem, and tells us the “doomed” fate of the young soldiers who go to war. Throughout the poem there are many examples of emotive language used for negative emotions that point to death. Owen uses words such as “die”, “mourning”, “demented” and “sad”. These words depict the melancholy mood of the poem and makes the reader sympathise with the soldiers, and the hardships they have to go through. There are also many terms that are used to describe death which is makes the mood seem even more miserable and hollow. “Passing-bells”, “orisons” and “pall” are used to describe the aftermath of the deaths of the soldiers. This creates an extreme emotion of depression and sombreness which Owen has purposefully used with the intention to create this extreme emotion.
“No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,”
The constant use of “no” and “nor” by Owen in these two lines give a sense of hopelessness, like everything is coming to an end. This is an example where language triggers an emotional response in the reader and the constant theme of doom in this short passage, supports the title of the poem, and expresses extreme emotion.
All in all, both Shakespeare and Owen express their extremes of emotions extremely well, with both the play and the poems using many language devices and techniques to display them. Shakespeare uses anger, fear and revenge as his main emotions that he tries to get the reader to understand and sympathise with; with Titus losing everything he has worked for in his whole life, to the many crimes and murders that occured to trigger these emotions of revenge. On the other hand, Wilfred Owen chooses to focus on the reader empathising with his views, and uses extremes of emotions for sentimental purposes that show how the soldiers in wars suffer unfairly, and Owen points out the corruption and injustice of war. Both authors are immensely talented and influential in what they do and they will be remembered for invoking all of these emotions in the millions, if not billions, that have come across their great works.
Recent Comments