Aaron and Race

September 24, 2008

Jim Schulz

Our class has really helped me to look at things in a whole new perspective. When viewing Julie Taymor's version of Shakespeare's "Titus" I really never thought of race as an issue. I suppose as I was watching it, I viewed Aaron only as an evil person and didn't move much beyond that. I'm not sure if I really felt that Shakespeare would bring race into his plays. Viewing clips presented in class, I can now see where race does possibly play a role in it. Aaron isn't treated well at all and I now see that perhaps there is more to it than just the fact that he was evil. The fact that a bi-racial child is brought into the picture also shows that Taymor wants the viewers to look at race. Although Aaron isn't treated well and it was stated in class that a black man is treated as an animal, I wonder if it is really a race issue. Look at how Titus just killed his daughter. Much like an animal might kill their offspring if something was wrong.