Taymor's Titus: Reviving Ancient Rome for Present Day Audiences

            Julie Taymor's Titus, a film adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, evokes a strong response from viewers by taking the problematic themes of Shakespeare's time and presenting them in a way that can be easily interpreted by modern audiences.  After several centuries Titus Andronicus is as culturally relevant as it was when Shakespeare penned it.  Taymor, seeing a link between contemporary themes of violence, sexuality, and race, takes a number of liberties with the play, enhancing the message for a modern audience.  She does this through a barrage of anachronistic symbolism that suggests a link between the themes presented by the play and contemporary society.  Taymor's symbolism focuses on a link to dark human issues like fascism and modern day criminal activity.  Most highlighted of these criminal acts is rape, as Taymor calls attention to modern opinions of rape and its victims through the character of Lavinia. Issues of race in modern times are also highlighted to show how attitudes have changed little throughout history.  These symbols come together to show how they are imprinted on children with the character of Young Lucius. Taymor depicts the boy as a spectator. This depiction further emphasizes Shakespeare's suggestion of a cycle of violence.  Through this bloody tale of revenge, murder, and rape, Taymor asserts a common thread of social issues reaching back two thousand years.

            Although the violence of Titus can be interpreted as disturbing, Taymor claims that the themes represented in the play mirror today's society.  In an interview with Maria De Luca and Mary Lindroth, Taymor defends the violence of her film: "Every day I'll read something that is right out of Titus Andronicus, so when people think this is 'over the top,' they're absolutely wrong. What could be more 'over the top' than the Holocaust?" (31).  Her aim with the film is not gratuitous violence, but rather the evocation of an awareness of these contemporary issues.  Commenting on this, Taymor notes, "I thought, 'My God, something that was written four hundred years ago is so moving, so shocking, so powerful and palpably contemporary'" (Johnson-Haddad 34).   Taymor claims that Titus Andronicus is the most relevant work by Shakespeare because it involves race, violence, and a link to Elizabethan times (Johnson-Haddad 34).  She utilizes this relevancy to illustrate the parallels between Shakespeare's vision of Rome and contemporary American culture.

            The attempt to link the film and play to contemporary culture is evident in Taymor's heavy use of symbolic imagery.  With a nod to anachronistic inconsistencies that were permitted in Shakespeare's time, Taymor brings a host of images that are out of place in ancient Rome.  According to Elsie Walker, Taymor's film "evokes various epochs, an ancient world of ritual, mausoleums and orgies along with elements of modern America. Tanks, horses, and carriages, limousines, bows and arrows, machine guns . . ." (194).  There are many elements in Titus that remind viewers of present day items and attitudes.  Standing on the steps of a Roman Coliseum, Young Lucius catches a newspaper carried by the wind. Titus removes his hand in a modern looking kitchen, where Aaron takes it, inserts it into a plastic baggie, and hangs it from the rear-view mirror of his automobile as a trophy.  Titus suggests a contemporary link by being dressed in a modern day chef's costume in the play's final scenes.  These examples serve as a constant reminder that the values of the ancient world are similar to contemporary society through their simultaneous depiction of imagery from ancient Rome and present day.

            Taymor shows how the violent nature of ancient times is relevant by depicting modern day atrocities.  Taymor observes that "it's amazing how innocence can be twisted, whether it's the gang rapes in Central Park, or Littleton, or the Nazi Youth; you get that person who can harness prejudice and hate. I think all wars do that" (Johnson-Haddad 36).  The film suggests a link to wars and European fascism through the imagery of the soldiers, wearing uniforms not unlike that of a Nazi soldier.  Alan Cumming's portrayal of Saturnine shows a man driving a 1930s style vehicle alongside Mussolini era architecture.  The Coliseum presents a further link to the fascist era.  The actual location used in the film was the "Square Coliseum" built under Mussolini's government.  Saturninus speaks in a hyperbolic manner through a microphone, addressing the people in a way that imitates a fascist oration style.  Speaking of his performance, Roberta Barker confirms that Cumming combines "feminized feyness with the menacingly authoritarian stance of a fascist dictator . . . His expensive haircut recalls the androgynous 'New Romantic' pop stars of the 1980s and Adolf Hitler in equal measure" (89). Barker continues to affirm the link to fascism: "Similar juxtapositions characterize his gestural language when he harangues the crowd outside in the Roman Forum, figured significantly by Mussolini's 'square coliseum'" (89).  Instead of Roman era weaponry, characters carry guns and the army of Lucius convenes in a tent converted into a modern looking war room.  This link to the past is aimed at reminding viewers of great tragedies that have afflicted the world, and how easily they can come to fruition.

            These atrocities are also depicted through relations to contemporary crime  and violence.  Titus murders Lavinia for what he believes is her benefit, but it is also for the benefit of her purity and reputation.  Taymor claims, "Absolutely, he killed his daughter and they're doing it today in Bosnia and in many Muslim countries" (De Luca and Lindroth 31).  Chiron and Demetrius embody the symbolism of restless youth by drinking, playing video games and pool, and listening to loud rock music.  They are easily influenced by the violence of their games, and thus easily influenced by Aaron.  Taymor suggests this link herself as she acknowledges that an outsider "whether it's Hitler or Aaron—can harness that hate and turn it into violence. I want people to see that if you instill hatred and racism into any person—whether it's the average German in Germany . . . I keep using the Holocaust because it's the biggest event of our century—it can be twisted and manipulated. People in groups can justify their actions" (De Luca and Lindroth 31).  Taymor suggests that acts like the rape of Lavinia or the great lengths characters go to exact revenge are contemporary in many ways because such crimes are often fueled by similar circumstances and feelings. 

            As Chiron and Demetrius commit the rape of Lavinia, the film furthers the link of modern and past atrocities in the ideas of sexuality and sexual violence.  This linking is done by highlighting still prevalent opinions in some circles of society in relation to a victim of rape.  In the nightmare scenes Taymor calls "Penny Arcade Nightmares," Lavinia is a depicted wearing a dress that blows upward, providing a link between herself and Marilyn Monroe's character in the film The Seven Year Itch.  Suggesting a modern link to rape victims, the author Pascale Aebischer claims that "the association with Monroe codes Lavinia both as a victim of male exploitation and as 'available' and 'asking for it' in the ambiguous sense in which 'ravish' can refer both to the male act of rape and the female condition of being 'ravishing'" (47).  Taymor's Lavinia mocks attitudes of women "asking for it," by showing a brutalized and helpless Lavinia juxtaposed in the Penny Arcade Nightmare as willing victim.   Taymor comments on the relevance of the nightmare scene as a reliving of the experience, saying that "when a woman has to testify at a rape trial she is re-experiencing the rape" (De Luca and Lindroth 30).
            As conventional thought of violence and rape is shown as changing very little, Taymor furthers the idea by comparing ancient and modern day ideas of race.  The characters of Titus Andronicus have a wealth of racist attitudes towards Aaron, and Taymor highlights this through the film's anachronistic style.  Aaron, like many minorities in contemporary society, is misunderstood and faces discrimination based on his appearance. As David McCandless writes, "Taymor professes to find in Aaron's nihilism 'an extraordinary contemporary image' of the disaffected young black man whom one can find 'in any ghetto,' who 'doesn't give a damn about the consequence of his violence, doesn't give a damn about the future'" (493).  This image is portrayed through the alienation experienced by Aaron, which Taymor emphasizes through the film.

            This alienation is highlighted in Taymor's choice of appearance for some characters.  According to Kartelli and Rowe, the scarring of characters like Tamora and Aaron "not only marks their ethnic difference from the 'ancient' Romans but resonate with the contemporary vogue for tattoos and body art in a way that makes them seem a different, more compelling form of outsider" (71).  Linking with contemporary body art gives Aaron more humanity and makes it easier for audiences to relate to him.  The focus in Titus on the converging societies of Moors, Goths and Romans reminds audiences that modern society has not yet eclipsed ethnic and religious hostility, nor had it during Shakespeare's time (Keller and Rowe 72).

            The critical themes presented by Titus converge in the portrayal of Young Lucius, the boy who observes all of these allusions to modern society.  To link Young Lucius to the modern day, the film begins with the young boy acting out a scene of violence.  The boy is involved in this wanton display by playing with army men, roman soldiers, and wearing a bag over his head as a sort of play helmet.  The glow of an off-screen television set suggests the young boy's behavior is linked to the bombardment of media and images, which foreshadows his role as a spectator through the events of the play.  Like modern children, Young Lucius is affected by his surroundings. His television is the ultimate representation of focused viewing.  After he is whisked away to ancient Rome, his role as a viewer is solidified by witnessing murder after murder, experiencing the aftermath of his aunt's rape, and helping serve a cannibalistic feast to Tamora and Saturninus.

            The experience of Young Lucius highlights Taymor's modernization of the message.  As Elsie Walker claims, "Conversely, for Taymor, Titus is as much about violence as it is about how we experience violence as entertainment" (197).  Young Lucius emulates the violence he sees on television, his entertainment, and later becomes accustomed to real violence around him.  Taymor plays on the theme already presented by Shakespeare of a cycle of violence that forms violent tendencies in children. After being instructed to send a message to Chiron and Demetrius on behalf of his grandfather, Young Lucius exclaims, "Aye with my dagger in their bosoms, grandsire" (4.2 118).  Instead of being a spectator, he begins to actively engage and see himself in the context of the violence around him.  Another example follows shortly after as he laughs hysterically in the scene that depicts the killing of the black fly, finding humor in the idea of Aaron's demise.

            The actions of Young Lucius mirror contemporary times as his emulation of the ancient Romans and television converge.  The modern day setting shows how "His headgear, a paper bag 'helmet,' suggests his childish emulation of the 'real' soldiers into whose orbit he will soon tumble" (Keller and Rowe 75).  Much like Taymor's suggestion of Chiron and Demetrius in their rec-room, the character of Young Lucius suggests that whether he watches the ancient Romans or his television he will imitate the behavior of those around him.  Both the ancient Romans and contemporary television promote racism, sexism, and violence.  The Roman public engaged in entertainments such as gladiator sports, while advances in technology have allowed contemporary children a glimpse of ultra-violent content through a myriad of different media.

            The portrayal of violence in Titus gives audiences a new take on a classic Shakespeare play that still holds relevance in present times.  Taymor asks audiences to think about how they interact and promote violence while not displaying violence for the sake of a gory spectacle (Lindroth 110).  What Taymor has done is create a film that refreshes a several-hundred year old theme which still holds true in modern society. As Mary Lindroth claims, "Titus offers young audiences something that they do not expect from a Shakespeare film—the thrill of identification" (108).  Giving Titus Andronicus a modern dress allows a new audience to experience and understand the themes woven into the play.  It is not the theme of Titus Andronicus that requires updating, but the presentation.  While the essential message of the play is timeless and relates completely to human nature, Taymor opens the play to a wider spectrum of individuals who may never read Shakespeare or attend a theatre production, but can still experience the tragedy, loss, and revenge of the Anronici through film. 

Works Cited

Baker, Roberta. Early Modern Tragedy, Gender, and Performance, 1984-2000: The Destined Livery. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print.

 Cartelli, Thomas, and Katherine Rowe. New Wave Shakespeare on Screen. Cambridge: Polity, 2007. Print.

Johnson-Haddad, Miranda. "A Time for Titus: An Interview with Julie Taymor." Shakespeare on Film 18.4 (2000): 34-36. Print.

Lindroth, Mary, and Maria De Luca. "Mayhem, Madness, Method: An Interview with Julie Taymor." Cineaste 25.3 (2000): 28. Print.

Lindroth, Mary. "'Some Device of Further Misery': Taymor's Titus Brings Shakespeare to Film Audiences with a Twist."Literature Film Quarterly 29.2 (2001): 107. Print.

McCandless, David. "A Tale of Two Tituses: Julie Taymor's Vision on Stage and Screen." Shakespeare Quarterly 53.4 (2002): 487-511. Print.

Shakespeare, William. Titus Andronicus. Ed. Russ McDonald.  New York: Penguin Books, 2000. Print.

Titus. Dir. Julie Taymor. Perf. Anthony Hopkins, Alan Cumming. Fox Searchlight, 1999. Film.

Walker, Elsie. "'Now is a time to storm': Julie Taymor's 'Titus' (2000)." Literature Film Quarterly 30.3 (2002): 40. Print.