The Objectification Of Women In Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus

In the Elizabethan society women were dependent on their male relatives to support them. Married women in particular, were to submit under their husband’s decisions without the opportunity to question or critique them. All women, irrespective of their socioeconomic status believed they were inferior to men, as a consequence, a women’s voice was absent in the political and economic atmospheres. Any sign of disobedience to these norms was seen as a crime against the holy establishments ordained by God, since the church constantly reinforced this idea by using the Bible as a justification to their rules. William Shakespeare’s tragedy Titus Andronicus is a presentation that fundamentally challenged the pre-conceived notion that women were no more valuable than …show more content…
In essence, Shakespeare is telling his audience that this is exactly how women live every day in their society, and no one seems as horrified has they are now when they are witnesses of this crime. In an artistic way, Shakespeare is confronting his audience with their own prejudice about the role of women in their society, as the audience clearly knows that women have no voice and no agency in public matters. Right in the start of the play, the objectification of women is obvious, as Bassianus says, “Gracious Lavinia, Rome's rich ornament” (1.1.57). In other words, women’s value in the Elizabethan society is compared to the value of a hat worn by a man. Until this point, the groups of women in the audience are terrified but they are also shaking away the blindfold from their eyes when they see themselves through Lavinia’s experience in one degree or another. At this point, women are able to recognize that the church has mutilated their hands and tongue since they are to take no part in the political matters of the community, the economic affairs, and even in their