Titus Andronicus: The Material Effects of Sexual Assault and Trauma as Represented Through Design

Abstract

William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus was written between 1588 and 1596. The revenge play focuses on the cycle of retaliation between Titus Andronicus and Tamora, Queen of the Goths. While the themes of Roman Militaristic Society and Gender and Politics are all at the forefront, the themes of the Sexual Objectification of Women and Sexual Violence Against Women can all be examined within in the text. Because of the latter two themes, the piece had fallen out of audiences’ favor by the end of the 17th century, being considered too sensationalist. But the same themes that classify this as sensationalist are the exact themes that speak to its relevancy today. The sexual objectification of women is not exclusive to current day. Walk through any fine art museum and sculptures by Bernini, painting by Reubens and Degas, as well as drawings by Picasso show the same tendencies as Durex condom ads and Axe Body Spray commercials. This sick obsession with the reduction of women to their sexuality has effectively, over time, stripped them of their humanity, therefore making the violence committed against them akin to breaking a coffee mug or having a flat tire. It has turned women into a commodity; one to be bought and sold and consumed. The World Health Organization estimates that between 20% and 35% of women have suffered some sort of sexual violence, with numbers changing dependent upon the intersection of a woman’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and physical ability. Lavinia, Titus’s daughter in Titus Andronicus suffers the brunt of violence throughout the show. This design tells her story because like Lavinia, so many women suffer the same fate.