Titus Andronicus Character Analysis

In the play Titus Andronicus it would initially appear as if Shakespeare created characters such as Aaron to be antagonistic individuals, however, as the play progresses we are given insight into the reality of the characters and the discrimination and possible violence that they’ve experienced. Consequently, in order to understand the actions and ideas of the play’s characters one must realize that there is a bigger picture to it all, a more elaborate use of characters than one would think. So it seems that in Titus Andronicus numerous characters such as Aaron and young Lucius seem to exist with a set moral compass. For example Aaron is illustrated as a malevolent ingenious man, while in reality Shakespeare utilizes Aaron and young Lucius …show more content…
However, there are some intricacies that give his role greater meaning. For example, it can be assumed that young Lucius is named after his father, Lucius, as a representation of his development to become like his father. This seems obvious when taking into account the fact that he is the only character that is named after his father and does not serve a clear purpose throughout the entire play. Throughout the play young Lucius has been exposed to violence, as shown by the following quotation, where Titus sends young Lucius to retrieve weapons from their armony and send them to Demetrius and Chiron after he discovers that it was them to raped his daughter Lavinia, "That you are both deciphered, that’s the news, For villains mark’d with rape. --May it please you, My grandsire, well advised, hath sent by me The goodliest weapons of his armoury to gratify your honorable youth, the hope of Rome; for so he bade me say” (4.2.1689-1673). In this quotation we can observe how Titus realizing who’s to blame for the rape of Lavinia sends his nephew, a mere boy, to deliver weapons to the perpetrators of the act, as a sign of his understanding that they are responsible. This quotation shows how even a young boy such as young Lucius, was responsible for following through with the commands of the elders of the family, even when those commands could endanger the child’s life. Thus, the quote could be an indication of why Titus’s children were so willing to lose their life in battle, and why even his remaining two sons, Marcus and Lucius were so willing to cut their own hands off in order to save their brothers. It may very well be that the Roman’s according to the play had complete obedience towards their fathers, thus illustrating how young Lucius himself would later become a soldier willing to sacrifice his own life, in order