Misogyny In Titus Andronicus

In the time that, Titus Andronicus is set, women were greatly oppressed and held down by patriarchy. Not only did this play a role in Shakespeare 's writing, but also women being looked down upon in his own time. Natalie Marie DeJonghe explains, “During the early modern period women were considered second-class citizens.” (DeJonghe 4) It is hard to say whether Shakespeare meant to show the misogyny of his time in this play or if he was even aware of it. None the less it is present and shows itself in his writing. Many of these example may very well have been common practice for Shakespeare 's time or the time it was set in. To start off the play off, Tamora and her sons are brought in as prisoners of war. When Titus chooses her eldest son to kill, as a way of getting back for the loss of his own sons, Tamora begs for mercy on her son. Titus will not kill Tamora for the fact that she is a women. She may …show more content…
Cortney Kenow explains this by saying, “There seems to be too much reliance on how Tamora relates to Titus, and therefore more emphasis on the male character instead of the female.” (Kenow 2) Tamora’s presents is only meant for Titus to feed off of. Also for Tamora to have any pull within this group of people she must be married to Saturninus, the emperor. If there was no marriage between her and him, Tamora had no chance of seeking her revenge for the sacrifice of her son. Tamora’s relationship with Saturninus is the thing that gives her a small bit of authority if any. If there is no man present Tamora would be nothing to the story but a slave. For Lavinia, she has the same problem but in a different way. Her father is the great war hero of the country and people know that. She achieves the limited power she has by having relationship between her and her father. Titus, Lavinia’s father, is a larger than life character that is also known by. The shadow of her father even leads to her own