Titus Andronicus Act 5 Scene 1

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The following lines from Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus from Act five Scene one, starting with the line “Lucius, save the child,/And bear it from me to the empress...” and ending with the line “O barbarous beastly villains like thyself!”, the passage is significant in the reading of the play as a whole as this is a part of Aaron’s final words before he is no longer prominent for the remainder of the play. It is also crucial in that is shows an aspect of Aaron not seen previously as what appears to be a father concerned over the life of his son.
First of all, this passage is significant to the reading as a whole because it is the passage where Aaron reveals to Lucius that his son was conceived by both Tamora and himself and that is was in fact Demetrius and Chiron that killed Bassianus and raped Lavinia before cutting off her tongue and her hands. This affirmation of actions which caused Titus and his family so much misfortune would be the beginning of the end in a way because after these revelations a scene …show more content…

It seems that based on the course of actions, the confession by Aaron serves as a catalyst for the ending of the play.
Furthermore, this passage is of significance as it shows an aspect of Aaron not seen previously. It portrays Aaron as what appears to be a father concerned over the life of his son as he makes Lucius swear that his son will not be killed and shows that he may have a soul, at least it initially does in the beginning of the passage. However, this can also be seen as him trying to save his own bloodline as a selfish act.

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